Last week I brought you James Martin’s chocolate cake mix and this week we delve into the realm of his bread range which contains 5 different types, we were kindly sent the Seed Bread Mix to give a whirl.
These packets come in at around £1, and you can use the bread mix either in a bread maker or via hand, all you need to do is add 290ml of tepid water. I have to admit I haven’t made bread before, so I got my Mum in on this one who often makes bread for my Dad.
I was surprised at how many seeds were actually included I’m not sure why but I so how had it in my mind that although it said ‘seed bread’ it would be more of a plan bread.
We don’t have a bread maker so we went about it by hand, after adding the water we started off to the mixing with a wooden spoon before getting into the lovely sticky mess that is kneading by hand. There is a few steps in the kneading process.
Step 1. Knead by hand for 10 minutes.
Step 2. Leave to rest for 5 minutes, before kneading and stretching for a further 5 minutes.
Once you have finished the next lot of kneading it’s simple from then on – I’m sure bakers must have some of the strongest arms in history with all the kneading they must do.
Once shaped you need to pop it into a warm place for 40 minutes to rest and rise.
And rise it did..
After that it’s on to the baking stage – gas mark 8 for around 30 minutes depending on your oven. We found we needed a bit longer than stated to cook right through and ended up turned the bread over to cook the bottom as the top was already well browned.
I had my bit just after I took this picture, the bread was straight out of the oven, gorgeously warm so the better just melted in – delicious. The rest has been devoured over the past few days by Ash and my parents, my Dad even asked me to start making a batch on a Monday and a batch on a Thursday so he would never run out.
The bread itself came out soft with a crisp but not too hard crust; the nuts were spread well throughout the bread giving it a lovely nutty taste.
Between us all we tried it alone, toasted, with butter, Marmite, cheese and chicken all went well, a very versatile
bread it makes. Just right for using to make the sandwiches for your summer picnic.
You can grab yourself one of these tasty packet mixes from Asda and Tesco.
Mmm I love warm bread
Sounds like quite a good price for the mix if you don’t have to add anything but water!
I love home made bread. From the sounds of it, James Martin is starting to bring out a range of high quality stuff. This is reasonably priced too.
It’s definitely just water to be honest I’ve seen them cheaper in store but always best to go with the higher RRP just incase it was a special offer (though didn’t seem to be) x
It really seems that way – I’m hoping to try others and see how they go
xx
Looks great. Nothing more satisfying than making your own food.
it looks lovely, i love the smell of baking bread
It’s gorgeous isn’t it x
Mmm that looks yummy! I made bread a few weeks ago but it didn’t turn out very well.
If you want to give it another go and want an easy pre done mixture this is worth a try
xx