Cream Cheese, garlic, herb & rocket bread

At the weekend I decided it was about time that the garage was cleared out. There had been talk of us going camping but all the camping gear was stuck at the back of the garage behind piles and piles of shoes, cardboard boxes and other 'stuff'.

Before I started I made some bread dough and popped a chicken on to cook, to make sure that, if I got too carried away to think about dinner, we would at least have bread and chicken.

After a few hours of back breaking moving, ditching and tidying (and not to mention the 3 trips to the tip) the garage was tidy(ish), and in between I managed to make dinner, consisting of home made bread, roast chicken, salad and home made soup (from the freezer).

The bread was deliciously light, with a crispy exterior, and full of flavour. I think the knack to a light loaf is to make sure that the dough is not too dry, but not too wet - although a bit wetter is better than a bit dry as you can add extra flour as you knead it, and to make sure that you leave it to prove for long enough on the first prove.

Cream Cheese, garlic, herb & rocket bread

500g strong white bread flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
7g dried yeast
75ml olive oil
225ml - 250ml water
200g cream cheese
2 garlic cloves, crushed
2 tbsp chopped fresh tarragon
30g rocket

• Add the flour to a bowl, then add the salt, sugar & yeast
• Mix in the olive oil and water - only adding enough that it starts to come together, adding more, a little at a time until it soft & pliable and not sticky
• Turn out onto a floured surface and knead for 10 minutes until smooth, soft and stretchy
• Place into a lightly greased bowl and cover with clingfilm
• Leave for approx 2 hours to double in size
• Turn out onto a floured surface and knead and roll into a large rectangle
• Mix the cream cheese with the garlic and tarragon and spread evenly over the dough
• Scatter over the rocket
• Roll up tightly and lay into a large round tin, lightly greased with butter or oil, and join the ends together
• Cover with clingfilm and leave to rise for around an hour
• Preheat the oven and place a tray of hot water at the bottom (about 1 litre) - this makes the bread crispy on top
• Bake the bread for 20 minutes
• Remove from the tin  and allow to cool before slicing

Hanna also decided that she wanted to make some bread, so we decided to make one batch of dough together, and each have half to knead, prove and make into a loaf. Hanna opted for a plaited loaf and I opted for a round loaf. I think we might have left them a little too long on the second prove and they went out of shape, however they tasted great and Hanna's was definitely a more interesting shape than mine!

I am joining in with the Great Bloggers Bake Off. You can see the other entries here, as well as joining in with your own Great British Bake Off inspired bakes.