Sunfower Seed Plait from Bake with Jack

Here is a recipe from our good friend Jack Sturgess, who runs Bake with Jack. Visit www.bakewithjack.co.uk for more information

Ingredients:

200g wholemeal flour
175g strong white bread flour
7g salt
7g sachet of dry yeast, or 12g fresh yeast
250g room temperature water
20g soft butter
100g toasted sunflower seeds

Serves 4-6

1. Weigh your two flours and salt into a large bowl. Weigh the water into a jug. If you are using fresh yeast you’ll need to dissolve it into the water before moving on to step 2. If you are using dry yeast, pop it into the flour bowl
2. Pour the liquid into the bowl and mix everything together until it comes together into a dough, turn it out onto the table
3. Knead the dough on a clean table for 8 minutes, without adding flour. After this time spread the dough out across the table and sprinkle over 75g of your toasted seeds. Continue kneading for a couple of minutes until the seeds are evenly dispersed throughout.
4. Shape the dough into a ball, using a light dusting of flour, and place it back into the bowl. Dust again, cover with a clean cloth, and leave to rest at room temperature for 60 minutes
5. When your dough has puffed up nicely, dust the table with a little flour and turn the dough out onto it. Flatten the dough slightly and cut it into three pieces. Roll each piece up into a sausage, about 40cm long. To make the plait, bring the three tips together. Fold the left sausage over the middle, then fold the right sausage over the new middle one. Continue all the way to the end of the loaf and pinch the ends together
6 Brush your plaited loaf all over with water, and sprinkle over the remaining 25g of seeds so they stick. Transfer the loaf to a parchment lined tray. Allow 30-45 minutes for your shaped dough to prove up under a cloth. In the meantime, preheat the oven to 190°C fan/gas mark 7.
7. Slide the tray with the loaf on into the oven. Bake for 30-35 minutes, then remove from the oven and allow to cool on a wire rack.