First put on your baker’s hat.

Next, remember to sieve all the Windmill flour you use, because it may contain tiny bits of grit from the millstones.

Every recipe uses 450 grams of flour and 270 grams ( 270 ml or 270 cc ) of liquid.

Measure the ingredients: 50% white flour, 50% wholemeal (Windmill) flour, water and yeast. Add one teaspoon of salt and use either live yeast or dried granules, not fast-acting yeast. The yeast will take some time to dissolve, about 15 minutes if the water is comfortably warm. Everything is now mixed to agreeable dough, which is kneaded for some minutes, then covered and left for an hour to rise. At this stage, break down the dough, add a teaspoonful of oil or butter (optional) knead again and shape the loaf, either free-standing on the baking sheet or in a baking tin. After a further hour, the risen dough can be baked for forty minutes at gas mark 7 ( 420º F, 215º C ).

The ingredients are similar to the above but I suggest 25% wholemeal (Windmill) flour and 25% rye flour, both from the windmill. The reason is that rye flour may be heavy in character, also that it doesn’t contain as much gluten as wheat flour, so that the dough does not rise so much. Generally, this bread may be made in the same way as the wholemeal bread above.

These two types of loaf are to be baked fairly low down in the oven, on the second shelf. After baking, bread should be placed on a rack to cool, covered by a cloth.

The ingredients are as in recipe 1, with the liquid now half milk, half water and two egg whites whisked and added to the mixture. The first kneading and rising are as before but following the second kneading, the dough should be divided into two pieces and put into two small wooden bowls, which have been floured. After about forty minutes, turn the bowls upside down onto a baking sheet and place the sheet on the middle shelf. The oven should be hot, gas mark 8 ( 440º F, 225º C ), and the dough should be baked first for 15 minutes without the bowls, then covered with the bowls and baked for a further 15 minutes. (Over time, the wooden bowls will become dark brown but they will not catch fire with this amount of exposure to heat.)

This recipe comes from Elizabeth David’s book on "Bread and Breadmaking".