Homemade bread

I really love the smell of yeast - is that strange? I also love the smell of fresh bread, especially when it is hot from the oven. Bread is one of the oldest forms of prepared food, but these days most people tend not to make it themselves. I don't make bread all that often either, but I really enjoy it when I do - both the preparation and the eating parts!

This is one of my favorite bread recipes. It has the most lovely caramel-like scent from the golden syrup, and is filled with seeds and nuts. I think it would also be great with dried fruit, perhaps next time I might add a handful or so of dried figs.

Seed Bread
I got this recipe from the Good Living section of the Sydney Morning Herald. It was in the Homecook section and unfortunately the recipe was printed incorrectly, but this is my slightly modified version which works very well. Of course, after I had made this recipe according to the incorrectly printed instructions, the SMH added at the bottom of all Homecook recipes "Recipes not tested by Good Living"... I guess it wasn't just me who had problems with the original recipe!

1 cup plain flour
2 cups wholemeal flour
2 1/2 tbsp instant dried yeast
3 tbsp wheatgerm
4 tbsp mixed linseeds and sesame seeds
2 tbsp pumpkin seeds
2 tbsp sunflower seeds
1/2 cup almonds
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup treacle
1 tbsp golden syrup
1 1/2 cups warm water
Olive oil
Cream or milk for glazing
1 tsp sesame seeds

Preheat oven to 220C (or 200C fan forced). Mix flours, yeast, wheatgerm, seeds, almonds and salt together in a large bowl. Mix treacle, golden syrup and warm water together in a jug, add to dry mixture and work together with a spoon or spatula until it forms a dough. Turn onto a floured board and knead for five minutes. Return to bowl, pat with olive oil, then cover and leave in a warm place for one hour or until doubled in size.

Knock back dough. Break into 6-8 pieces and knead each piece for a few minutes, then shape and place on a greased baking tray. Leave in a warm place, covered with a clean tea towel and allow the rolls to prove again for about half an hour.

Brush with cream or milk and sprinkle with seseame seeds. Bake for 5 minutes, then reduce heat to 190C (or 180C fan forced) and bake a further 10-15 minutes or until brown on top. Cool on wire racks.

Ready to go in the oven:

These rolls freeze really well - so I slice them in half and them wrap them individually before popping them in the freezer.

And ready to enjoy:

We had them last night smeared with butter, alongside some minestrone. Yum!