Battersea Brown

A long time ago in a city not so far away (Battersea), there was the Lighthouse Bakery. We bought bread there. In particular we loved their Battersea Brown wholemeal bread. We moved to Sussex and there was sadness because we couldn’t buy the bread anymore. I mentioned this to the lovely people who ran the bakery. Clearly, we weren’t the first because they had a printed copy of the recipe and method ready to hand over.

Since we moved, the bakery has shut down and the owners moved on so we’ve only got the recipe. I’ve recently started to make bread again and I’ve been told by the 13 year old budding cook in the family that I need to digitise the recipe. Scanning seems silly when I can type so…

One thing – this recipe is huge. I make half of it and fills a two pound bread tin and two one pound tins (the recipe below is the full amount). Where it says divide into four below, I divide it into two and then one of those again (one big loaf and two small)

Lighthouse Bakery Battersea Brown

This is a 2-day bread.

Day 1: Make the sponge

580 g wholemeal flour

10 g fresh yeast¹

350 ml cool water

Combine the yeast and water in a bowl and add all the flour until you can add mo more. Tip out the contents and knead on a floured surface until all the flour is incorporated and you have a smooth dough.

Place the sponge in a lightly oiled bowl, or plastic container, cover tightly with cling filem, and leave to ferment overnight.

Day 2: Make the bread

1750 g wholemeal flour

40 g salt

35 g milk powder

150 g fresh yeast²

250 ml molasses

115 ml vegetable oil

1 litre water

All the sponge from the previous day

Preheat the over to 200° C / 400° F³

In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine all the ingredients and mix until the dough is soft and elastic. If mixing by hand, combine the dry ingredients first, then add the liquids and the sponge and mix with a wooden spoon until combined. Then tip onto a floured surface and knead until smooth (about 10 minutes).

Place the dough in a well-oiled bowl, cover with cling film, and let it rest in a warm, draught-free spot until doubled in size, about 1 hour.

When risen, punch down the dough and divide into four pieces. Let rest 10 minutes.

Mould the dough pieces to fit tins by flattening the dough and rolling up tightly. Place the dough in oiled tins, seam side down, and leave to prove for 45 minutes — 1 hour, or until well-risen.

Bake for approximately 40 minutes, or until the loaves sound hollown when tapped on their bottoms.