Paul Hollywood’s Leaf Bread

Method

Step 1
Tip the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt into a bowl. Rub in the butter until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.

Step 2
Warm the milk in a small pan over a low heat until it reaches 45°C/113°F on the cooking thermometer, then pour it over the flour mixture. Turn the mixture with your fingers, mixing until you’ve picked up all of the flour from the sides of the bowl and have incorporated all the scraps to create a ball of dough.

Step 3
Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured work surface and knead until smooth. Divide the dough into 10 balls, each weighing 35g, and cover with a slightly damp tea towel, to prevent them from drying out.

Step 4
Roll out each piece of dough until it is very thin on a lightly floured surface. Use the plate or cake tin to cut each into a 20cm circle. These breads are traditionally very thin – if you can read the headings of a newspaper (some say the article text!) through the rolled dough, it’s thin enough.

Step 5
To decorate the discs, use a paring knife and, working outwards from the centre of each disc, cut ‘spokes’ of nested Vs, 5mm apart.

Step 6
Use the knife to lift the tip of every other V, then fold each tip back to cross over the V behind it, pressing the dough to stick down the tip. Cut a small hole near the edge of each disc for threading a ribbon.

Step 7
As you complete each disc, place it on a sheet of greaseproof paper and cover with another sheet to stop the discs drying out.

Step 8
Heat a 5cm depth of oil in a large, deep pan to 200°C/400°F. Prick the leaf breads with a fork to prevent them blistering, then fry them one at a time, for about 30 seconds, flipping once, until crisp. Remove from the pan and drain on absorbent kitchen paper.

Step 9
Allow the leaf breads to cool, then carefully thread ribbon through the prepared hole.