Rye bread

Instructions

1- step 1 Tip the flours, yeast and salt into a bowl.

2- In a jug, mix the honey with 250ml warm water, pour the liquid into the bowl and mix to form a dough.

3- Rye flour can be quite dry and absorbs lots of water, if the dough looks too dry add more warm water until you have a soft dough Tip out onto your work surface and knead for 10 mins until smooth.

4- Rye contains less gluten than white flour so the dough will not feel as springy as a conventional white loaf.

5- step 2 Place the dough in a well oiled bowl, cover with cling film and leave to rise in a warm place for 1-2 hrs, or until roughly doubled in size.

6- Dust a 2lb/900g loaf tin with flour.

7- step 3 Tip the dough back onto your work surface and knead briefly to knock out any air bubbles.

8- If using caraway seeds work these in to the dough.

9- Shape into a smooth oval loaf and pop into your tin.

10- Cover the tin with oiled cling film and leave to rise somewhere warm for a further 1 – 1.

11- 5 hr, or until doubled in size.

12- step 4 Heat oven to 220C/200C fan/gas 7.

13- Remove the cling film and dust the surface of the loaf with rye flour.

14- Slash a few incisions on an angle then bake for 30 mins until dark brown and hollow sounding when tapped.

15- Transfer to a wire cooling rack and leave to cool for at least 20 mins before serving.