Garlic Bread

This is not a garlic bread for the faint hearted nor any vampires out there! It is from Paul Hollywood's book 'How to Bake'. Whole cloves of garlic are baked into the bread and it is absolutely fantastic.

The crumb is soft and light and the garlic is present but less strong then you may think, an added bonus is the sweet caramelised cloves dotted through.

It is amazing with soup, keeps nicely and is very nice a few days later toasted.

Garlic bread

makes 1 loaf

250g strong white bread flour
5g salt
5g instant yeast (I used dried active and it was perfectly risen too)
15g unsalted butter, softened
160ml cool water

1 1/2 bulbs of garlic, broken into cloves
1/2 tbsp of olive oil
1/2 tsp pcaster sugar
pinch of salt

Put the flour into a large mixing bowl, add the salt to one side and the yeast to the other. Add the butter and ~3/4 of the water and mix the dough around with your fingers, keep adding splashed of water until you have picked up all the water from around the sides of the bowl. 

The dough needs to be soft but not soggy, you may not need all the water or you may need a splash or two more.

Lightly flour a work surface and knead the dough for 5-10 minutes until it is smooth and silky. 

Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl and cover with a clean tea towel. Leave for 1 hour or up to 3 hours until at least doubled in size. 

In the meantime roast the garlic. Preheat the oven to 200C/180C FAN. Peel the cloves and pop them in a roasting dish, sprinkle with the salt, sugar and olive oil. Roast for 20 minutes util golden brown and soft to the touch. Watch them, I found they can get too brown too quickly, you may need less time and if you know that you have a hot oven it would probably be best to turn the temperature down. Leave the garlic to cool.

Add the garlic cloves to the risen dough and knead in well., Stretch the dough into an oblong ~22cm long and place on a baking sheet lined with baking parchment.  
Put the baking sheet into a clean plastic bag (I made a clingfilm dome instead) and leave to prove for 1 hour, or until doubled in size.

Preheat the oven to 220C/200C FAN, sprinkle the loaves with olive oil and oregano and bake for 25 minutes or until they sound hollow when tapped on the base. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.