Fennel Flower Pot Bread

At the gardening centre the other day I saw these cute little terracotta pots and immediately thought of baking bread in them. We have our supper club evening this weekend and the theme is ‘White’, my job this time is to make the entree. I have chosen to make seafood lime and fennel parcels wrapped in poached leaks served on a butter bean puree and I thought a nice fennel bread would go well to ‘mop’ up the juices and puree. So here is my fennel bread recipe and I will get the seafood parcels posted as soon as possible. See, I don’t just make desserts every day!

To make this bread you require the unglazed terracotta pots.

Ingredients

• 500g flour
• 1 sachet of dried yearst (7g, about 2 tsp)
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 300ml luke warm water
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons fennel seeds

Method

1. Pre heat oven to 200 degrees centigrade and heavily flour 8 flower pots (9cm diametre).
2. Place the flour in a bowl and make a well in the middle.
3. Put the sugar, salt & yeast into the luke warm water and allow the yeast to prove (it starts to look frothy).
4. Add the water to the flour and stir with a spoon to bring it together.
5. Knead the dough on a floured board until it becomes smooth and glossy (takes about 5 minutes).
6. Place back into the bowl and cover with a damp cloth and put in warm place.
7. Allow the dough to prove till it had doubled in size, it will depend on the warmth of your kitchen as to how quick it rises.
8. Return to a floured surface, add the fennel seeds and knead again for 5 minutes.
9. Divide dough into 8 and roll into balls, keeping the top surface smooth and any folds or joins in the dough at the bottom.
10. Place into floured pots and bake for 25 minutes.
11. Bread should sound hollow when tapped. Once cool prize the bread from the sides of the pots with a knife. Some of mine came out easily but others need a little persuasion.

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