Bread no 1 - 8-strand plaited loaf

I got bread crazy. It will soon end with a severe obesity of myself and J, but who cares if the bread baked at home is sooo delicious! Once I started watching The Great British Bake Off I could not miss any of the episodes. And although they did not bake too many breads [mostly cakes and cookies] I got inspired by Paul Hollywood's bread baking skills hence the bread baking extravaganza.

I tried once before to make a sourdough bread, but the starter got completely rotten, so I thought I would rather stick to buying some nice loaves from a small bakeries.

This time I wanted to start again and I was not willing to give up that fast. And I must say, it was all worth it! I still try new things and try to develop the best way [ it has been only a week and a half since I started with the whole project] but I already know that there is no better thing then the soft and delicate in the middle and crusty outside home-baked bread with a homemade butter. You do not need anything else with it. Honestly we both can eat a 600 g loaf at one sitting and not regretting this for a second :-D.

Although I try mostly to do sourdough breads I started with an easier option - yeast dough. It was an easier dough to make but a more complicated shape to master.

8-strand plaited loaf

This challenge was in one of the episodes of The Bake Off and it was one of the funniest moments [for the viewer at home that was! The contestants looked rather terrified!].

I had to try it!

HERE is the whole recipe - and until is there I think there is no point of me repeating it :-).

The only thing I added was oregano, as I wanted a more Italian style taste.

Playing with the strands and organizing them in the right order was not as difficult as I thought - it was rather fun until I started telling J, how easy it was and... lost counting! It took me good couple of minutes to figure out how to finish the whole thing. I have to do it again though!