Flowerpot Bread
Doesn't sound great, does it? I mean, what is a flowerpot bread?
No, it's not a bread full of seeds and herbs like I thought it was at first, this one actually is what it says on the tin. Bread in a flowerpot.
This was brought to my attention a while ago but I decided to wait until now to make it, after all, spring is the time of new life!
Whilst on the subject of new life, I'm getting some piglets! Yes, they will become sausages in the end but for now expect my Instagram page to become riddled with pictures of mini pigs.
This recipe should be made in small 10-12 cm terracotta pots (not plastic unless you want an awful mess) as long as they're no bigger than 12cm diameter as otherwise the inside of the loaf will be raw and doughey. This is why the bread is cooked at slightly lower temperature as the heat will be able to penetrate the pot and you will have a fully cooked loaf.
I know it sounds stupid to cook bread in flower pots but it's so cool to literally see your bread grow and the pots literally cost me 80p each and afterwards they are the perfect to start your own herb garden in your windowsill so you can use fresh herbs with a much better flavour than those from a shop.
Flowerpot Bread
Instead of providing a recipe for the bread I thought it would be better if you just chose your preferred bread.
Line two 10-12cm diameter terracotta flower pots by drawing around the bottom of the pot and cutting out a circle of baking paper. Then cut a strip the height of each pot, before placing this one snip the bottom of a long edge of the paper a few times as this will help you to get it into the pot more easily.
Follow your bread recipe up to the shaping stage (after the second prove), divide the dough in two and place a ball of dough in each flowerpot. Leave to prove covered by a teatowel for an hour.
Preheat your oven to 200C/180fan.
Place your flowerpots on a baking tray and bake for 20-25 minutes. Remove the bread from the pots when cooled a little, remove the lining paper, replace the bread and serve in the pots for the best effect.