There are countless online recipes for substituting flour, with almond and hazelnut meal being common replacements. Both will generally result in a denser texture, so add more baking powder to aid 'rise'.
Create your own flour by blending almonds for 10 - 15 seconds or until visibly fine. Hazelnuts and cashews work too, but take care not to over-blend or they'll turn into a creamy butter.
For those who have a nut allergy, other substitutes include chickpea (besan) flour, coconut flour, soy flour, banana flour or even polenta – there are recipes to suit everyone.
You can substitute eggs with carbonated water by using a 1/4 cup for each egg in the recipe. Alternatively, mix 2 tbsp of water, 2 tsp of baking powder and 1 tsp of vegetable oil per egg.
To bake bread at home all you need is a mixing bowl and set of scales. You’ll want to be precise, so ‘aquatronic’ digital scales that measure in 1gm increments are perfect.
Making bread at home requires four very simple ingredients – flour, water, salt and yeast.
There are two main types of yeast for bread making, instant and fresh. Instant yeast is more ‘user friendly’ as you don’t need to hydrate it, just add it directly to the flour. If your recipe calls for fresh yeast you can still use instant – decrease the amount by 25% and that should be about right as instant yeast is more concentrated.
When weighing ingredients, keep the yeast and salt separate. Salt kills the yeast which in turn means the bread won’t rise. Mixing a dough can be done either by hand or with a machine. Remember, mixing and kneading and two different parts of the bread making process.
Probably the most important part of bread making is the kneading process. Kneading warms and stretches the gluten strands, eventually creating a smooth, springy elastic dough. If the dough is not kneaded enough it will not be strong enough to hold the pockets of gas created by the yeast when proving. The result will be a dense, partially risen loaf. You’ll want to give your dough a good 10-15 minutes of kneading.
One of the most important aspects of bread making. The yeast begins to ferments the dough, creating gases that will cause the bread to rise. Yeast like warm temperatures for activity, but the slower the ferment the more flavourful the bread. Experiment with which works best for you and the yeast you use.
Most breads are best baked at high temperatures, 200 degrees C and above. Pre-heating the oven is essential, as very few bread recipes start with a cold oven.
Once baked, place bread on a wire rack to prevent the loaf from sweating as it cools. Do not store bread in the fridge, as it will go stale three time quicker than if stored in a bread bin.
