Bubble Bread

We're off to visit our friends in Camden for the weekend. You can tell we're real city slickers when going an hour out of Sydney counts as a holiday. They moved there last year and have a little farm so it'll be another world for me. There was talk of cutting goats toenails but I'm sure they were only joking (she says hopefully).

They have four dogs so we’re taking our dog, Teddy, on his first holiday. I hope he behaves himself. He's only 4 months old and thinks that all dogs want to play with him. He also has an amazing ability to sniff out a muddy puddle so we'll have to be careful if it rains over the weekend.

As a gift for our hosts I whipped together some spiced bubble bread from the bread book. I love this book. I borrowed a bread maker from a friend to see if I should buy one myself but to be honest I don’t mind making bread by hand. I think I’ll give back the bread maker and stick with the old fashioned method. I love the smell of bread cooking especially when it’s spiced with cinnamon.

I’ll report back how this one tasted. It took all my willpower not to break off one of those little bubbles and have a taste.


Spiced bubble bread

500g strong white flour
2 tblsp butter
4 tblsp milk powder
1 tsp salt
75g caster sugar
1 ¼ tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp grated nutmeg


1. Put the flour in a large bowl, add the butter and rub in with fingertips until the mixture resembles fine bread crumbs. Stir in the milk powder, salt, 1 tsp sugar and the yeast. Gradually mix in enough warm water to make the dough soft dough.
2. Knead well on a lightly floured surface for 5 mins until the dough is smooth and elastic. Put back into the bowl, cover loosely with oiled cling film and leave in a warm place for 1 hour or until doubled in size.
3. Tip the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead well. Cut into 30 pieces and shape each piece into a small ball
4. Mix the remaining sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg together in a shallow bowl. Roll the dough balls, one at a time, in the sugar mixture then arrange 14 in a greased 20cm springform tin. Arrange a second layer, with the balls balanced over the spaces between the lower ones, rather like bricks in a wall.
5. Cover loosely with oiled cling film and leave in a warm place for 30 mins or until the dough just reaches the top of the tin.
6. Remove the cling film and bake in a preheated oven 200C for 35 mins. Check after 15 mins and cover with foil if over browning.
7. Holding the tin with oven gloves, loosen the bread with a palette knife and transfer to a wire rack to cool. Sprinkle with the remaining spiced sugar and leave to cool.