Here I have come up with a lovely soft, delicately flavoured bread which is good for eating fresh with jam or with your dinner, as toast or as sandwiches – it is extremely versatile & slices well. The addition of the honey & the seeds makes it just that bit healthier too!
INGREDIENTS:
- 3/4 cup warm water
- 12 g fast action dried yeast (2x6g sachets)
- 1 teaspoon white granulated sugar
- 1 1/2 cups warm fresh cultured buttermilk
- 2 tablespoons sunflower seeds
- 1 tablespoon poppy seeds
- 1 tablespoon sesame seeds
- 2 tablespoons natural honey, warmed
- 1 tablespoon table salt
- 2 tablespoons melted margarine
- 6 cups strong white bread flour
- 1 egg yolk, beaten
- flour, for dusting & kneading
- seeds, to decorate
DIRECTIONS:
- Mix the water, sugar & yeast together in a large mixing bowl. Set aside to rest for 5 minutes
- Stir in the buttermilk, melted margarine, warmed honey, the salt & 3 cups of the flour. Mix well with your hands or a large spoon.
- Slowly add the rest of the flour until you have a workable dough. Depending on the weather & your altitude, you may need a little extra flour.
- Knead the dough for 30 minutes, until it is soft (but still firm), smooth & no longer sticky.
- Dust lightly with flour & place inside a large, clean plastic bag. Allow to rise in a warm place until doubled in size.
- When doubled, remove from the bag & lightly knead to deflate to dough. Once you’ve done this, grease a large bread tin – I like to use a spring-form 12″ x 4″ round cake tin with margarine. Place the dough in the tin & gently push out until it fills the tin evenly.
- Cover again with the plastic bag & leave to double in size.
- When doubled, brush the exposed dough with the beaten egg yolk & sprinkle your choice of seeds of sea salt over the top.
- Place on the middle shelf of a 180c pre-heated oven for 45-50 minutes.
- Remove from the oven when cooked and allow to cool completely – takes around 4 hours – before eating / slicing.
TIPS:
- If you don’t have any buttermilk, you canj mix 2 tbsp of lemon juice with 1 1/2 cups of milk.
- Use your favourite kinds of seeds – pumpkin seeds, flax seeds, caraway etc.



