Once you've compared homemade bread to store bought bread, you'll make baking bread one of your regular projects. Can you evoke the smell of walking past a bakery when fresh bread is baking? Imagine having that enticing scent of baking bread all through your home.

Once you've mastered the basics of baking bread and have followed some helpful tips and hints below, you will soon be adding seeds, olives and cheese, fruit and nuts to create more wonderful bread for you and your family.

BASIC BREAD RECIPE
~Yeast
7g or 1oz sachet of yeast
cup warm water
1 teaspoon caster sugar

~Bread
4 cups white bread flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon caster sugar
2 tablespoons of dries whole milk powder
cup of vegetable oil
1 cup warm water

~Glaze
1 egg
1 tablespoon milk

Bread tin-22cm x 9cm x 9 cm (slightly greased)

1) Put the yeast, water and teaspoon of caster sugar into a bowl. Stir until dissolved. Leave it to stand for about 10-15 minutes or until bubbles are on top.
It should soon begin to look frothy and will increase in volume.

2) Sift your flour, caster sugar, milk powder and salt into a large bowl.

3) Making a well in the center of the flour, pour in the yeast mixture, vegetable oil and cup of warm water. Mixing with a large metal spoon, mix until it forms a soft dough. Add a little more flour if it's too wet, and a little water if too dry.

4) Lightly flour a surface in your kitchen. Begin kneading the dough by shaping the mixture into a ball. Flatten down the dough, then hold one end with your palm and gently stretch the other end out and away from you (vertically).
Fold back together and repeat the process for about 10 minutes or until the dough is smooth and elastic. When this is done, form a ball again.

5) Lightly grease a bowl, place the dough mixture into it and cover with plastic cling film. Leave the bowl in a warm place, allowing the dough to rise. This takes approximately an hour; it may take longer in a cool environment. This is called proving'. You will know your dough is ready when it has doubled in size and when pressed with your finger, it won't perform a spring action.

6) When your bread has risen after the proving stage, take it out of the bowl and give it a punch. This will remove air from the dough. Then proceed to knead it again for 1 more minute. Shape your bread to fit into the bread tin (slightly greased), place dough inside then cover gain with cling wrap. Again, your bread

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