breadbakers challenge | Best Sandwich Bread

Leicester Tri-Colore Sandwich - butter, mayonnaise, pumpkin seeds, rocket, roasted courgettes, tomatoes, tomato and onion chutney, home-made best sandwich bread.

The Sandwich Bread

A sturdy mountain of a loaf, fit for sandwiches for a family!

I noticed, last time I made bread, that one of the loaves was a much better shape, more even. I'd punched that down into the tin, using my knuckles to push the bread into the corners of the tin and get an even layer of dough. It was a bit lumpy at first, but evened out while the dough was rising.

I also noticed that the tin wasn't completely full, even when the bread had risen, so I wondered whether I could increase the ingredients and get more bread for the same energy? I decided to try it.

For this sandwich loaf, I had intended to use 50% Bacheldre Watermill wholemeal strong bread flour, which gives a very tasty, quite firm crumb, stronger than the Dove's flour, which makes a very nice, soft bread; and 50% Bacheldre Watermill Rustic flour, which is white flour plus seeds and malted grains. I picked up the wrong packet, though, and some light rye went in the mix, too!

Never mind, it turned out well - a nice even shape, nicely risen. Another time, I would add a little more salt, add a little yoghurt and leave on a lower heat for another ten minutes. This loaf weighed about 1250g.

Recipe

• 750g mixed breadflour (I used 300g wholemeal, 220g light rye, 230g rustic with grains and seeds)
• 500ml tepid water
• 15g demerara sugar
• 15ml olive oil
• 10g dried active yeast
• 10g demerara sugar
• 10g salt (I would increase this to 15g)
  I also added:
• 25g pumpkin seeds
• 25g sunflower seeds

MIx all the dried ingriedients and make a well in the middle. Add the water and oil and combine throughly. Turn onto a floured surface and kneed gently until the dough is smooth and elastic. Shape into a round, place back inthe mixing bowl and cover, leave to rise until double in size - about an hour (I left mine linger, about 90 minutes). Kneed again for a few minutes, then place into a loaf tin, punching down the dough with your knuckles to get an even layer. Leave to rise until double in size (30-40 minytes), then place in a pre-heated oven at 230 degrees for fifteen minutes. Lower heat to 200 degress and bake for a futher fifteen-twenty-five minutes. Remove from the tin and place on a cooling rack.

Thin crust, nice, even crumb, smelled delicious! You can see some of the pumpkin and sunflower seeds. Cut reasonably thin slices (I left it overnight before cutting), and held together while I was eating the sandwich.

Making the Sandwich

I made a mistake here - I started building the sandwich from both sides! It was quite funny flipping over the lefthand slice and keeping everything intact.

I was aiming for different colours, tastes and textures with my sandwich. I went for green, crunchy pumpkin seeds, green rocket (I could have used spinach or lettuce, they all have their own taste), courgettes that had been roasted with olive oil and fresh thyme, and finally, red tomatoes and red, spicy tomato and onion chutney.

Pumpkin seeds need something to adhere to. You can press them into the butter before you start building your sandwich, but I added a layer of mayonnaise and bedded them in that. It was a tasty sandwich, although I think a little more salt in the bread would have been good. Another time, I would slow-roast the tomatoes as well, it makes them very sweet with a concentrated flavour, and less juice. The star was definitely the home-made chutney, though, sweet, sour, spicy, that lifted the sandwich to another level.

It was quite sloppy to eat, you need to lean over the plate, and I wouldn't be taking it on a picnic! Good thing about the bread was the even shape of the slices and large surface area to hold lots of filling; it was sturdy enough for sandwiches and didn't crumble or collapse, even with a very sloppy interior. I think it would be better without the rye and with more white flour, though. Next time 😁