Jono & Jules do food & wine

We’ve done this recipe a few times and it works a treat. The texture and flavour balance makes it feel very professional. It keeps well too.

Spelt & Cider Bread  – makes one medium-sized loaf

• 250g wholemeal spelt flour
• 250g strong white bread flour
• 1 heaped tsp sea salt
• 150ml full-cream milk
• 1 tsp honey
• 35g fresh yeast (we used 2 sachets of dried yeast)
• 250ml dry cider

Warm a large mixing bowl.

Weight the flours into the warmed bowl and stir in the salt.

Warm the milk in a small saucepan until hot, but not boiling (you should be able to test it with your finger). Dissolve the honey in the milk.

Cream the yeast with a teaspoon in a small bowl and slowly pour in the warm milk and honey. When it is smooth, pour onto the flours along with the cider and mix well with your hands. When the dough has formed a rough ball, tip out onto a lightly oiled or floured surface. Knead gently for one minute.

Lightly flour the bowl you mixed the dough in and put the kneaded dough in it. Cover with a clean, warm cloth and leave in a warm, draught-free place for an hour.

Remove the dough and knead gently for a minute. Return to the bowl, cover and return to the warm place for another 25-30 minutes, or until risen again.

Set the oven to 240ºC/Gas 9.

Knead the dough again, this time forming it into a ball, then put it onto a floured baking tray and dust generously with flour. Cover with a cloth and keep warm for another 15-20 minutes.

Bake the dough in the oven for 25 minutes. When it looks brown and crispy, remove it from the oven, turn upside down and tap the bottom. If it is cooked it will sound hollow. Cool on a wire rack.

(Original recipe from Nigel Slater’s The Kitchen Diaries II, Fourth Estate, 2012.)