Dough - Cooks Notes - Step by step

Cook's Notes

Dough from Ideas
The success of your home-baked bread, pizza dough, pita bread and flat bread depends entirely on getting your dough right. Allow us to show you how to master the bread bakers art in five easy steps.

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Pita breads

Cut the dough into 12 equal sections and shape into balls. Flatten with the heel of your hand, then roll into 5mm-thick circles on a floured surface. Dust lightly with flour and cover with a damp cloth.

Prove in a warm place for an hour. Fold each circle in h alf and roll out again to around 5mm thick. Bake in a preheated oven at 240 degrees C for five to six minutes or until puffed.

Flat breads

The dough makes two flat loaves. Divide the dough in two and place on trays, pushing and stretching it into shape to a thickness of about 1 cm. Brush the surface generously with olive oil, cover with damp cloths and prove for an hour before baking in a preheated oven at 240 degrees C for eight to 10 minutes.

Rosemary, garlic, olives or salt can be pressed into the dough, or sprinkle chopped, raw, red onions, cumin, coriander and mint on top.

Pizzas

The dough makes three pizzas in Swiss-roll tins. Divide the dough into three pieces. Working from the centre, press the dough outwards until you have an even layer about 1cm thick. After the second proving in the tins, dimple the pizzas with your fingertips or puncture with a pizza roller to cut the gluten strands. This will keep the base thin and even. Cover the tops with tomatoes, anchovies, olives and a sprinkling of grated mozzarella. Do not smother the pizza with toppings, if you want to achieve a base with a crisp bottom crust. Add a generous drizzle of olive oil and bake at 250 degrees C for eight to 10 minutes.

Important points

Always add yeast to lukewarm water. Water that is too hot will either kill it or deactivate it.

Yeast is a living organism that needs sugar to activate it but too much sugar or salt will kill it.

Kneading the dough develops gluten in the flour, making the mixture elastic and distributing the yeast evenly. The best way to knead dough is to fold the front of the dough into the middle, press it into the centre, then press forward with your hand. Using your other hand, give the dough a quarter turn and repeat until the dough is sufficiently kneaded - it will feel smooth and elastic. It should bounce back, if you press it with your thumb.

Keep yeast mixtures covered, warm and away from draughts while rising. If they become too hot, the yeast will die.

The yeast in the dough releases tiny bubbles of carbon dioxide while it is proving (rising), raising and aerating the dough.

Add other ingredients such as flavourings, fruit and vegetables after the first rising of the dough to avoid destroying the yeast.

Dry yeast has an expiry date and will not activate if it is stale. Active yeast creates bubbles on the surface of the mixture. If the yeast does not activate, stop and restart with fresh yeast.

Bread should be cooled on a wire rack to ensure a crisp crust.

Great ideas using bread dough

Olive, rosemary and onion focaccia

Brown bread with linseed

Cardamom circle

Cheese and onion plait

Courgette mustard bread

Farmhouse bread

Flatbread with dukkah

Flat pot bread

Fougasse

Grissini (Breadsticks)

	Tips of the day
	Bread dough tip To test whether bread is cooked, turn it ou onto a rack and tap its base It should sound hollow. If not, return the loaf to the oven on its side, directly on the oven rack, and bake for a further five to 10 minutes.