Remember the hazy days of lockdown when we all suddenly got very into making our own bread? Whether out of necessity (shortages at supermarkets were rampant) or boredom, those Covid months were sourdough-scented, our hands sanitised then kneading deep. 

Unlike Zoom pub quizzes and being unable to see any of your elderly relatives, breadmaking is one thing we think absolutely should not be left behind in the lockdown nostalgia. Getting your hands floury and making your own focaccia is a lovely idea, both for reasons of deliciousness and the mindfulness angle. What can be more soothing, more fulfilling, than switching off your screens and getting stuck into something physical on a weekend… and then being rewarded with bread? 

If you, too, want to get back on the bread hype, there’s a book we’d strongly recommend: Two Magpies Bakery by Rebecca Bishop. 

Now, the bakers behind Two Magpies have released a book to share their wisdom wider. Take a flick through to learn how to make everything from croissants to pizzas, along with celebration cakes and slices galore. Ahead, we share three recipes to get you started. 

Ingredients 

Day before: preferment

• 50g strong white bread flour
• 10g rye flour 
• Pinch of active dried yeast
• Pinch of fine sea salt 
• 40g cold water

Bake day

• 270g strong white bread flour
• 5g fine sea salt 
• 230g water
• 5g active dried yeast 
• 50g extra virgin olive oil 
• Flaky sea salt
• Fresh rosemary tips 
• Pitted black olives

Method

The night before, mix the ingredients together for the preferment. Cover and leave at room temperature.

The next day, weigh the flour and salt into a bowl. Weigh the water, holding back 30g. Add 100g of the preferment and the yeast to the main water, stirring to dissolve.

Add the liquid to the flour and use a dough scraper to fold and chop the dough until no dry flour lumps remain. Trickle half the olive oil down the inside of the bowl and under the dough, encouraging the dough to lift from the bottom of the bowl and ‘float’. Cover and rest the dough for 30 minutes, maintaining the dough temperature at 26°C.

After 30 minutes, stretch and fold the dough in the bowl for a minute until it feels strong, then gradually add the reserved water – squeezing and folding it into the dough until incorporated. Allow the dough to rest for 30 minutes, then use the remaining oil to coat a shallow tray large enough to hold the dough and tip the dough onto it.

With oiled/wetted hands, use the stretch and fold technique to strengthen the dough. Turn the dough, taking hold of each side of the dough and folding it into the centre.

Place the dough back into the oiled bowl and continue to bulk ferment for another 1½ hours. Maintain the dough temperature at 26°C and ‘s’ fold the dough every 30 minutes (twice more).

At the end of the bulk fermentation, pour the dough onto a rimmed baking tray or tin lined with baking parchment. The size will dictate the thickness of your baked focaccia.

Wet or oil your hands and dimple the dough firmly all over with braced fingertips, pressing it out to the corners of the tray/tin. This will take several attempts as the gluten will resist, so allow the dough to relax for a couple of minutes before stretching again.

When the dough has filled the tray/tin, sprinkle with flaky sea salt and push the rosemary tips and pitted olives into it. Leave the dough to prove for 1–2 hours until bubbly on top and risen.

Preheat the oven to 240°C/220°C fan/gas 9, placing a heavy baking tray on the middle shelf and a small deep roasting tin in the bottom of the oven (see page 116).

Bake for 15 minutes, creating some steam if possible by turning off the oven fan and throwing some water into the tin at the bottom of the oven. After 15 minutes, release the steam and bake for another 15 minutes until golden brown.

“Stir and allow to curdle slightly for 30 minutes. Delicious with salty butter and a bowl of home-made soup or with scrambled eggs and smoked salmon. This loaf will stale quickly, so enjoy it fresh on the day it’s made or toast the next day. We get our buttermilk from our local raw milk supplier, Fen Farm Dairy, a by- product of their delicious Baron Bigod brie.”

Ingredients

• 200g self-raising flour 
• 120g wholemeal flour 
• 150g jumbo oats
• 1 tbsp bicarbonate of soda, sieved
• 1½ tsp fine sea salt 
• 1 tbsp honey
• 1 tbsp treacle 
• 350g buttermilk

Method

Preheat the oven to 210°C/190°C fan/gas 6–7 and grease your tin thoroughly.

Weigh the two flours, 120g of the oats, the bicarbonate of soda and salt into a large bowl and whisk to combine.

In a jug, measure your honey, treacle and buttermilk and stir to combine. Add the liquid to the flour mix and, using a scraper or a wooden spoon, stir briefly to combine until no dry matter remains. This is more like mixing a cake batter than bread – don’t overmix the dough.

Pour the wet mix into the prepared tin and smooth the top with a wet finger. Sprinkle the remaining 30g of oats onto the wet surface. Bake for 35–40 minutes until golden brown and the core temperature is 97°C.

Bishop says: “Try and source black cardamom seeds for this, grinding them fresh for every bake. The intense, astringent taste is utterly unique. Once tasted it will live in your memory and keep you returning, again and again.”

Ingredients

For the dough

• 450g strong white bread flour
• 80g icing sugar
• 12g ground cardamom 
• 8g fine sea salt
• 75g cold unsalted butter, cubed
• 260g full-fat milk
• 7g active dried yeast

For the cardamom butter

• 100g soft unsalted butter 
• 80g caster sugar
• 10g ground cardamom 
• 10g lemon juice
• ½ tsp fine sea salt

To finish

• Egg wash 
• 50g nibbed sugar 
• Stock syrup

Method

Weigh the flour, icing sugar, cardamom and salt into a large bowl and mix to combine. Rub the cubed butter into the flour mix until it resembles fine breadcrumbs. Warm the milk to the correct temperature (see page 108), add the yeast and stir to dissolve. Add this liquid to the dry mix and bring the dough together using your scraper until all the dry matter is incorporated.

Allow the dough to rest in the bowl, covered, for 20 minutes, then turn out onto the counter and knead for 5 minutes until you have a smooth, elastic dough (see page 109). Place the dough back in the bowl, cover and prove for 1 hour with stretch and folds after 20 and 40 minutes (see page 113). Maintain the dough temperature at 26°C.

While your dough is proving, make the cardamom butter by gently combining all the ingredients in a bowl.

Roll the dough into a rectangle 60cm x 24cm, with the narrowest side next to your body. Spread with the cardamom butter and fold the bottom edge halfway to the centre of the dough, then fold the top edge of the dough to fully cover the first half of the dough (a single/letter fold). The dough will now measure 20cm x 24cm.

Wrap the dough in cling film or baking parchment and chill in the freezer for 20 minutes. Remove and place the longest side of the dough parallel to your body. Gently roll the chilled dough to 30cm high, then trim the sides. Cut 12 x 2cm wide strips of dough. Cut each strip into three sections from the bottom edge, leaving the top edge still attached so that each strip has three sections. Prepare your tin by greasing it well or lining with cases.

Plait the sections and roll each plaited strip so that the ends are tucked underneath when placed into the muffin tin. Prove for 1–2 hours until puffy and increased in size.

Preheat the oven to 200°C/180°C fan/gas 6.

Brush the buns with egg wash and sprinkle with nibbed sugar, then bake for 12–15 minutes. Brush liberally with syrup as soon as they are out of the oven, then turn out of the tin after 10 minutes to prevent the buns sticking. 

Two Magpies Bakery by Rebecca Bishop (£26.00, Headline Home) is out now

Images: India Hobson