Poppy Seed Crown Loaf
This loaf is delicious served fresh and warm from the oven with lashings of butter. Perfect for serving with a big pan of homemade soup. The individual rolls within the crown are ideal for tearing and sharing.
Serves 4-6
Ingredients
350g strong white bread flour
15g of fast action yeast
1 level teaspoon salt
225ml warm water
A handful of semolina flour for dusting
1 tbsp poppy seeds
Method
Lightly grease a 20cm wide round cake tin with a little bit of the oil.
Measure all the ingredients into a bowl and mix together with a wooden spoon until combined into a fairly sticky dough. Alternatively you can use a mixer with a dough hook.
Sprinkle a clean dry worktop with semolina flour and then tip the dough out of the bowl on to it. Knead by hand for about 5 minutes and add more semolina flour if needed.
Transfer the kneaded dough to an oiled mixing bowl, cover with a damp cloth or tea towel and leave to rise in a warm place for 60 - 90 minutes.
Sprinkle your worktop with semolina flour again and take the dough out of the bowl. Knock the dough back for 5 minute and the divide the dough into 12 evenly sized balls.
Arrange the balls in the centre of the oiled tin. Cover the tin with a damp cloth and leave in a warm place for 30 minutes until the balls have doubled in size and fill the tin.
Preheat the oven to 200C. Glaze the loaf lightly with some littleseed cold pressed British rapeseed oil. Sprinkle the top of the loaf with semolina flour and then the poppy seeds.
Bake the loaf in the oven for 25 minutes until the top is crunchy and golden.
Leave to cool in the tin for a few minutes and then turn the loaf out to cool on a wire rack.
Prep Time
2hrs 30minutes
Cooking Time
25 minutes
Recipe Notes
Don’t have poppyseeds? Sunflower seeds, sesame seeds or even oats add delicious flavour and texture too.