Oat and Honey Loaf

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32,000 years ago people started incorporating oats into their daily diets. Although oats originated from Eastern Europe and Western Asia, the people of modern-day Italy first saw them as a potential staple. 11,000 years ago, Neolithic Man cultivated them even further in the area that is now Jordan.

Bees collect nectar to make honey, but as honey is mainly sugar, it only provides carbohydrates, so bees also collect pollen to provide protein. Worker bees have evolved pollen baskets on their legs, which they use to collect and transport to the hive.

But in its raw form, pollen is hard to digest and doesn’t last very long, so bees came up with a genius solution involving enzyme-induced fermentation. This process converts the raw pollen into ‘bee bread’ or Perga, which is easier to digest and can also be stored for long periods without it going off. This is important as bees don’t hibernate, so they need a large store of food in order to survive the winter when no other food is available.

So it turns out a bee’s diet combines bread and honey. And given bees have been around for about 120 million years, they probably came up with the idea of fermenting bread a long time before we did.

So, let's combine honey and oats in this timeless bake and enjoy what each ingredient has to offer...

INGREDIENTS

150 gms strong white bread flour

150 gms wholemeal flour

55 gms beaten egg

75 gms rolled oats

5 gms crushed sea salt

7 gms fast action yeast

60 gms clear honey

230 gms tepid water. 

METHOD

Combine all ingredients and mix thoroughly. 

Knead until you have a soft and silky dough

Place in a lightly oiled bowl, cover and leave to double. 

Tip out onto a lightly floured surface, knead gently for a few seconds and then shape to match your baking tin or shape into a boule. 

Place in a prepared tin or onto a baking sheet, cover and leave in a warm place to double. 

Wash the top of the loaf with either beaten egg or milk and sprinkle with seeds or oats

Bake at 190⁰C for 30 minutes. 

and the crumb?