How to make beetroot and caraway bread – recipe

http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2014/sep/19/how-to-make-beetroot-caraway-bread-recipe

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We’re just one week into the new school term, and already it’s day after day of packed lunches with omnipresent sandwiches. My kids insist they prefer white bread, but I recently won them over to a healthier option by making it pink – now it’s hard work fending them off long enough for the loaf to cool from the oven.

Beetroot is a terrific ingredient to pink things up. Caraway is always happy with beetroot, and the vegetable kept this loaf moist and in tip-top condition for a couple of days. I know the girls enjoyed unveiling their pink sandwiches at school the next day.

(Makes 1 loaf)

2 small beetroots

500g strong white bread flour

5g salt

5g dried yeast

225g water

2 tsp caraway seeds

1 tbsp sunflower seeds

Boil your beetroot, unpeeled, until tender – about 30-45 minutes. Alternatively, use bvacuum-packed cooked beetroot. Puree until smooth in a food processor and leave to cool – you should have about 150g.

Put the flour, salt and yeast in a big mixing bowl. Add the beetroot puree and water. Cold water is fine – the prove doesn’t need to be jumpstarted by warm water, and a slower prove makes for better bread.

Add the seeds and mix the ingredients vigorously with a large metal spoon. After a minute or so of mixing, the dough should be cohesive and be pulling away from the sides of the bowl in a big ball. It will feel wet. It should do – don’t be tempted to add more flour.

Cover the dough in the bowl with a clean, damp tea towel and leave to rest for an hour or more, until it has approximately doubled in size.

Turn the dough out on to a lightly oiled surface and knock it back with lightly oiled hands. Push, fold and turn it back in on itself for a good few minutes.

Heat the oven 220C/425F/gas mark seven.

Shape the dough into a loaf shape, tucking and folding the seams of the dough to sit at the bottom of the tin. Lightly oil a loaf tin, put the dough in and cover with a damp tea towel. Rest for a further 30-45 minutes.

After resting, the dough should have risen just above the lip of the tin. You want it to have a bit of unexpended energy from the yeast, so when it hits the heat of the oven, the loaf will give a final burst upwards.

Using a sharp, serrated bread knife, gently make a cut along the surface of the loaf about 1cm deep.

Add a pinch or two of extra flour to the top of the loaf.

Cook for 10 minutes, then turn the oven down to 190C/375F/gas mark five and continue to cook for 25-30 minutes.

To test if the loaf is ready, tip it from the tin and give the bottom a good tap. It should sound hollow and have a good crust.

Rest out of the tin on a wire rack for at least 20 minutes before slicing.

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