Lynne Pope’s bread

Photographer: Emma
Makes 2 loaves

I have a cookbook, the blank kind in which you write recipes you’ve stumbled upon which are too good to pass by.  My cookbook is old, its cover is beginning to come loose and its spine is cracked and in need of repair.  Fingerprints track their way through its browning pages, hinting at the recipes that have become favourites, and at those which over the years have been forgotten. It is worn.  And it is very well loved.

As the title of the post suggests, this is Lynne Pope’s bread.  A good friend of my Mum’s, Lynne is one of those special people, a charismatic woman full of life and energy.  I think I must have carefully copied this recipe into my book over 10 years ago and I love it now just as much as I did when I first tasted it.  It is so easy to make, requires no kneading and is ready in just over an hour, yielding 2 beautifully dense and tasty loaves.

Several weeks ago we had our first long weekend of the spring, a group of friends and I headed out of the city to walk the Tongariro Crossing which is in the central North Island and is recognised as New Zealand’s best day trek.  I baked 4 loaves of Lynne’s bread for the occasion and they were devoured with appreciative enthusiasm.  It was a great accompaniment to our evening meals and made nourishing sandwiches for our walk.  But I like it best when it is toasted and smeared with butter and marmalade and enjoyed with a good cup of earl grey tea.

INGREDIENTS


3 cups white flour
3 cups wholemeal flour
2 cups boiling water
2 cups milk
1 tbsp honey
1 tbsp yeast
½ cup sesame seeds
½ cup sunflower seeds
Olive oil
Sea salt and chopped rosemary for sprinkling over the bread

METHOD


1. Place the flour and seeds in a large bowl and stir to combine.
2. Combine the honey, boiling water and milk and stir to dissolve the honey. Sprinkle the yeast on top of this mixture and leave to sit until it starts to froth.
3. Pour the liquid into the flour mixture and mix well to combine.
4. Divide the mixture between 2 lined loaf tins and place in a warm oven for half an hour to rise. Once risen, brush the bread with olive oil and sprinkle over sea salt and rosemary.
5.Turn the oven up to 200ºC and bake for 35 minutes.