Bloomer

Bloomer....I used to giggle inanely at the word when I was a little lad. 

My mother was a woman of 'ample proportions',  born just before World War 1 and brought up in a traditional Salford single-parent family. 

Being of a certain size, her underwear was suitably commodious and, on Monday wash-day, the back yard would be filled with the wafting of various large bloomers pegged out on a line suspended between the corner of the outside toilet and the middle room window.  Whilst wet, the line would sag so low, it was difficult to go between the house, the coal shed or the 'lavvy' without colliding with gussets and elastic. Dad fabricated an especially strong clothes prop out of the aluminium aerial from an Avro Lancaster. 

So large were the undergarments that the middle room, or what we would now genteelly refer to as 'the lounge', was in a perpetual state of gloom until the breeze had done its work and they were hauled down and brought in for ironing. 

I'm not sure Amelia Bloomer would have been impressed with the sight. Let's just say they were as far adrift from the 'tanga' as night is from day. 

Along the road, we had a grocers; an early form of the 'one stop shop' that seemed to sell everything : vegetables, sweets, household items and bread. I'd be sent along with money, wrapped up in paper on which was written a short note, such as: "10 Park Drive for Mrs R. at 110".  Sometimes, I'd simply have a note written in my mother's looping handwriting, learnt at the slate at Sussex Street Infants - "Large bloomer on tick for Mrs R. Pay Friday". 

Bloomers always looked the same. Large crusty loaves with diagonal slashes down the crust. Traditionally, they were made with white flour and, because of the slashes, they 'bloomed up' in the oven, so giving them their distinctive name. The tops would often be dusted with soft flour and they were usually soft to the taste. 

The same mix would often be used to make Tiger Bread - with its distinctive topping, but that's for another day. 

Essentially English, the bloomer has retained its popularity as a loaf that is as perfect for sandwiches as it is for toast. 

Let's make it. We need a soft, white dough for a soft, white loaf. 

INGREDIENTS

500 gms strong white bread flour

320 mls water

40 ml oil (olive or vegetable)

10 gms sea salt

7 gms instant yeast.

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METHOD

STAGE ONE

(Machine mixing)

Place all water, oil and salt in the pan. Add the flour and then the yeast. Choose a basic dough programme (2hrs 20 minutes) 

You're now ready for Stage 2

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(Hand mixing)

Place the dry ingredients in a bowl making sure that the yeast does not come into direct contact with the salt. 

Add the oil and then the water and bring together into a sticky dough. 

Turn out the dough onto a floured board and knead until you have a soft and silky dough. 

Here's a useful video on the art of kneading bread. https://youtu.be/ySOj0fFWo1U

Once you have a soft and silky dough, place it in a lightly-oiled bowl and place it somewhere warm for an hour until it has tripled in size. 

You're now ready for Stage 2. 

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STAGE 2

Tip the dough onto a floured surface

Knock it back by stretching the dough and folding it back on itself over and over again. This will remove the air from the dough, increase the tension and make it ready for the second prove. 

Stretch the dough out into a rectangle. Fold the long sides into the middle and then roll it to resemble a swiss roll. 

With the 'join' at the bottom, you should have a smooth top and a seam on the base. 

Place on a baking tray, lined with parchment paper. Cover with paper and leave at room temperature for 1 to 2 hours until the loaf has doubled in size. 

Lightly spray the loaf with water and dust with a little light flour. Make four or five parallel diagonal slashes across the top of the dough. 

Bake at 210 degrees C for 20 minutes and then drop the temperature to 200 degrees C for a final 10 minutes. 

Remove from the oven and cool on a wire rack. 

Ideally, place a bowl of boiling water on the bottom of the oven during the bake. This will provide steam which will help form the crust. 

Being the proud owner of two rather expensive new ovens, I'm not steaming my bread at the moment. However, I do tend to spray the loaf with a little water before putting into the oven. 

Happy baking....