Sometimes it’s good to have a change of scenery — that we certainly did on our recent 1,700 mile road trip which included Death Valley, the South Rim Trail of the Grand Canyon, Monument Valley, Horse Shoe Bend and Zion National Park.  Totally awesome!

I was thinking that it would be great to be able to keep the magic of that trip alive by creating something memorable — hence my most Awesome Mountain Loaf.

This is an adaptation of my Awesome Buns recipe which you’ll find on my Lucky Dip Blog.

This recipe uses traditional methods for making bread.   If using a bread-making machine, use the following ingredients and make up according to the manufacturer's instructions.

You’ll need two jugs — or rinse and re-use the same one, two mixing bowls and one 2 lb bread pan or tin, rectangular or round.

INGREDIENTS

For the white mountains:
6 fl. oz (175 ml) full cream milk
6 fl. oz (175 ml) water
1/2 teaspoon castor sugar
1 tablespoon dried yeast (or fresh 21g)
2 oz (57g) unsalted butter at room temperature
1 lb 1 oz (500g) strong white bread flour, plus extra
1 1/2 teaspoons salt

For the brown mountains:
6 fl. oz (175 ml) full cream milk
6 fl. oz (175 ml) water
1/2 teaspoon castor sugar
1 tablespoon dried yeast (or fresh 21g)
2 oz (57g) unsalted butter at room temperature
1 lb 1 oz (500g) wholemeal flour, plus extra
1 1/2 teaspoons salt

Starting with the white flour, combine the milk, water and sugar in one jug and warm so that it is fairly hot — but not so hot that you can't stick your finger in it which will kill the yeast — and then whisk in the yeast.  Leave for approximately 10-15 minutes or until there is a good frothy head.
Meanwhile sieve the flour into a large bowl along with the salt and rub in the butter until the dough resembles breadcrumbs.
Make a well in the centre with a wooden spoon and add the yeast mixture.  Incorporate well and then as soon as the water has been absorbed, dust the hands with flour and knead the dough for 10-15 minutes until elastic and pliable on a smooth worktop — e.g. marble, using extra flour if necessary. Use the left hand to punch down and away and the right to pull and punch down in the opposite direction, half-twist and repeat until the dough is soft and pliable.
Make a cross in the dough, lightly flour it and leave it in the same bowl to rise.  Cover with a clean tea towel and leave for an hour, or until the dough has risen to twice its original size.

Now repeat the previous steps for the second lot using the brown wholemeal flour.

Lightly dust a large loaf pan (size approximately 2 lbs)
Knead each dough again for 2-3 minutes. Then divide each lot of dough into around 10 pieces – more interesting if they are not of equal portions.
Now be creative and make into mountain shapes! Mix the colours and place directly into the loaf pan.   
Cover with the tea-towel again and leave for approximately 20—30 minutes.
Pre-heat the oven to 200 deg. C (400 F).
Bake the mountain loaf in the middle of the oven for 30 minutes or until golden.  It should sound hollow when tapped on the bottom.  Empty the loaf directly onto the rack and leave to cool.  Eat fresh whilst still warm or freeze.  When sufficiently cooled, the loaf can be sliced and interlaced with rectangles of baking paper which will enable individual slices to be defrosted.

Top Tip:
With the second kneading of the dough, try to use as little extra flour as possible — then the mountains will stick to each other. It is easier if they are arranged directly in the bread-pan.