8-Strand Plaited Loaf

As-Salamu Alaykum Sisters, Greetings Readers,

I would consider myself to be a morning person. I like to wake up early as morning is the most quiet and peaceful time plus i can get the majority of my housework done before i bake or in most cases i leave  the housework till later and bake fist because lets face it with toddlers you are cleaning and tidying up behind them all day and well the house still looks the same, or is that just me? and well baking always brightens my day like sunshine and makes me feel good!

Yesterday morning, a mixture of bright sunshine, clear blue skys with flakes of snow?! yes, masha'Allah what a combination! i was all up for getting my cleaning done and then on to attempting this challenging loaf that I'd wanted to try for so long....in fact i had tried and failed miserably many months ago, i ended up unravelling all the plait and i don't quite remember after that but i think i ended up making rolls or was it a regular loaf?......anyway i know i didn't bin it.

Not all things went to plan this time around either, i forgot the yeast! PANIC! with the last 500g of bread flour i had in the house, there i was weighing, stirring in the salt, oil, water then letting my stand mixer knead for 5 minutes all the while I'm psyching myself up to face the sequence of the plait/braid, daunting! so i set the dough to 'rise'.....1 hour later and nothing oops.

So what to do? well i googled the problem and read here to knead the yeast in now or mix the yeast with some flour, water, sugar in a seperate bowl and leave it to develop before adding to the dough.
I went for kneading the yeast in, it felt unpleasantly grainy but eventually did smooth out. I left the dough to sit for another hour, it did rise but nothing like usual so i decided to just proceed with the recipe and hope the second rise after shaping would do great things!

As you can see in the pictures above, there isn't that much difference in size but alhamdulillah it was still a good loaf considering the forgetful nature of the baker! It has a shiny golden crisp crust that comes from egg washing with a pinch of salt before baking and a super soft yet chewy interior.

If you would like to try this recipe, click here (it was featured on great british bake off) and note if you plait or braid hair, knit or crochet this should be easy for you considering your experience and skills masha'Allah, so go on give it a go and impress your loved ones.

Ok, so if your not an expert braider, baker or just want an easier yet impressive loaf,  try this braided cheese bread  i also featured on the blog many moons ago & remember if you do try any of the recipes i would love to see your results,  you can e-mail (can be found in about me page), tweet me a photos or leave me a comment including a link to your web space.

The thing i notice about all my homemade bread is that after a few hours the crust instead of staying crisp softens up, I'm guessing because there is no or little preservatives in the bread like shop bought? any ideas let me know.

This bread i loved with a slice of cheddar cheese!

Are you a get up and go kinda girl in the morning or a night owl?