This bread ain't gonna butter itself! It is a bit bland though so it is best to add it to sauces or eat it on its own. It will keep in the fridge for up to a month if stored in an air tight container. Perfect to go with cold meats and cheeses and is the perfect accompaniment to your afternoon coffee or evening tea. Ingredients: 500g/1lb 2oz/3 cups dried white bread flour 50g/13/4oz/1/2 cup strong bread flour 7g/1/4oz/1/4 cup sea salt 30g/1oz/2 tbsp caster sugar 12g/1 tbsp fast action dried yeast 450g/15oz plain yogurt Method: Put the 2 flours, salt and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer with the dough hook attachment. Add the yeast. Add the yogurt and mix together. Turn the machine on low speed and keep mixing until it comes together to form a ball. Scrape the dough off the sides of the bowl and onto a lightly floured surface. Knead the dough for about 10 minutes or until you have a nice smooth, elastic dough. Place in an oiled bowl and cover with cling film/plastic wrap and a clean tea towel. Leave it for one hour to rise. The dough is now ready to be used for one of our amazing bread recipes. For a plain loaf follow the instructions below. For a bread such as the one here, follow the recipe for our Stilton & Caraway Loaf. Both will have a nice crusty base and are ready to be baked. Step 2 – Preheat the oven to a temperature of 200°C/400°F/Gas Mark 6. Put the dough into the lightly oiled tins and press out into the corners with your hands. Make sure that the dough is pressed down into the corners and that the sides are in a nice straight line. Drizzle a few drops of water into the bottom of the tins to stop the sides from sticking to the tin and to encourage the bread to rise up nicely when baking. Step 3 – Place the tins in the centre of the oven for 10 minutes. Carefully take them out and cover with a tea towel and put back in to bake for another 5-10 minutes depending on how large you make your bread, or until golden brown. (The higher temperature helps this as the bread will be crispy on the outside but soft and pillowy on the inside). It’s so tempting to keep all your bread in your freezer for just the right time. But if you always have stale bread (which I do, unfortunately) here’s an easy tip to use it for bread pudding. This is the quickest way to make my favourite bread and butter pudding, but it is a versatile dessert that can be made with different types of bread – if you like. I have a habit of buying any old loaf to make bread pudding with, however I like to choose two different loaves so that there is a nice contrast in texture in my finished pudding. The best breads to use here are wholemeal or whole wheat, as they are full of nutrients and really help the taste. I love using left over bread, it makes a good meal go further, and the beauty of making your own bread pudding is that you can ensure you use the best-quality bread and really get the taste of the dish that you are after. Don’t be afraid to use left over challah or other plain white breads. I find that bread pudding is often overlooked, but as long as you like bread and are comfortable eating it, you will love it – I promise! How to use left over bread As I always have loaves to use up and have no idea what to do with them after a little while, I always cut them into big slices. They can be toasted, used in my lovely hot breakfasts and the bread and butter pudding of course. These are my methods when I have left over loaves: Toast the bread on both sides and place it in an oven proof dish for about five minutes at 180 degrees C. Serve with a poached egg on top or some creamy scrambled eggs. Make some hot bacon and egg breakfasts with left over bread. The flavoursome juices that the bread soaked up during cooking will help to bind the egg yolk. Just warm up the bread in a frying pan until its golden brown on both sides, top with a fried egg and add some sliced rashers of bacon. Then pop in the oven for a few minutes until it’s all nice and hot. You can serve it with a tomato salsa or chutney if you like. You can also add whatever eggs you like – smoked salmon and cream and hollandaise or even prawns – the world is your oyster. Use for bread pudding. Simply add dried fruit, crumbled bacon and maybe some soft brown sugar if you like a sweeter pudding. For a classic recipe, this is my method: Place your bread in a large ovenproof dish, adding a little butter to coat the slices. Sprinkle with brown sugar and a splash of water and cover with tin foil. Bake at 180 degrees C/350 degrees F for about 15 minutes, then remove the foil and cook for another 15 minutes. This gives the bread time to soak up the liquid and soften, which is what the liquid is for. If you like a crisp crust on your pudding, then bake it for another 20 minutes uncovered. You can also add a cup of fruit to this as you're cooking for a variation on the usual bread pudding. What can you do with all those ends that your kids aren’t eating or want to throw away? You can make bread pudding with them and make a great family meal. You can add some different ingredients, like mushrooms, if you want to vary it. And you can do so much with all those leftovers. Get creative and keep trying! I have a tendency to buy everything in bulk and have sometimes found myself with bread spoiling in the freezer for several days. The only recipe I had used up was this bread pudding that I had made on a whim. I got some bread out of the freezer to make some toast with my daughter. When my daughter was getting ready for school one day, she asked me if we could make some bread pudding, which we had seen on TV. Now, bread pudding is one of my all time favourite desserts and so I agreed. After I finished making her toast for breakfast, I took some bread out of the freezer to use. There were a lot of crusts left from bread I had been baking a week or so before, but I liked the idea of making it all the same. I followed the recipe to the letter. I had bread with a bit of onion, but no bacon, so I had to use mushrooms as a substitute. I cut them up small and cooked them in butter until soft and nice and brown. When they were done, I added some cream and butter to soften the onions further, to turn the cream into a gravy and the onions to soften, and then I added bread cubes for the pudding and put everything together. It was really delicious and made my daughter so very happy. She even asked me if I had gone to the shops and bought it. I told her I didn’t have to. It had all come out of my own freezer! I was delighted to find this soup because it combines two of my favourite things in one bowl – potatoes and butter – and my kids love crispy potato skins too. This can be made in one large soup or in small portions in individual mugs. It’s also easy to prepare in advance, and you can add various vegetables or even pasta to your recipe. I used it to make lunch for a Sunday school class I go to – it was a huge success! It is an absolute favourite at the diner too. Tip: If you want to make this on a larger scale, for 8 people, you will need 8 medium potatoes and 400g each of butter and flour. Ingredients: 900g/2lb potatoes 2 onions 450g/1lb butter (at room temperature) 250ml/8 fl oz/1 cup milk 1tsp salt 1tsp freshly ground black pepper Method: 1) Place the peeled potatoes in a pan of boiling water and cook until tender (about 15 minutes). Drain well. 2) Meanwhile, peel and roughly chop the onions. Heat the butter in a large frying pan and cook the onions for about 10 minutes until golden brown. Do not allow the butter to burn! 3) Place the warm potatoes in a bowl, and mash with the onions, hot butter and milk. Season with salt and pepper. 4) If you want to make this in advance, cover the bowl with plastic wrap and leave until required. If you want to make it ahead of time, serve it on plates immediately (in which case, omit the mashed potato and onion mix from the recipe) and bake it in the oven for 20 minutes or until golden brown. Tip: If you are cooking