No-Knead Black Bread By Nigella Lawson

A dense and charming dark loaf of bread, carrying hints of cocoa, black treacle, Guinness and more. Here's how to achieve Nigella's perfected bread crust – plus a sprinkle of crunchy nigella seeds – giving way to a chewy centre that comes from the magic of an overnight rise.

This recipe is featured in Nigella Lawson's new BBC show which focuses on her favourite recipes for home-cooking. Nigella’s Eat, Cook, Repeat, premieres in Singapore on Monday, 16th August at 7.00pm, on StarHub channel 432 and BBC Player.

Yield: Makes 1 loaf
Prep Time: 30 mins
Cook Time: 60 mins
Difficulty Level: 3/5

Ingredients

• 1 x 500 ml bottle of Guinness or other dry dark stout, opened in advance if possible
• 1 large egg, at room temperature
• 2 x 15 ml tbsps (30 g) dark muscovado sugar
• 2 x 15 ml tbsps extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 x 15 ml tbsps black treacle
• 300 g dark rye flour
• 300 g strong white bread flour
• 4 x 15 ml tbsps (25 g) cocoa
• 1 tsp activated charcoal (optional)
• 4 tsps nigella seeds, plus
• ½ tsp for the top of the loaf later
• 4 tsps caraway seeds
• 4 tsps fennel seeds
• ¼ tsp (1 g) fast-action dried yeast
• 1¼ tsps fine sea salt
• Oil, for greasing the loaf tin

Steps

01. Pour the stout into a measuring jug to come up to 400 ml; this will take a bit of time, as you need to wait for the frothing to subside. If you think about it ahead of time, it might be wise to open the bottle a bit earlier. Don’t drink the remaining 100 ml yet, as you may need some of it shortly. When the beer’s calmed down enough to be measured clearly, add the white of the egg (reserving the egg yolk in a little covered bowl in the fridge for the egg wash the next day), followed by the sugar, the oil, and then the treacle. Stir or whisk gently to mix, as it may fizz up a bit.

02. Mix the flours, cocoa, activated charcoal (should you be using it), seeds, yeastand salt in a large bowl. As with the standard No-Knead Bread, I like a Danish dough whisk for this, but you can use your hands or any stirrer of choice.

03. Give your jug of dark liquid another stir, then pour a third into the bowl and mix. Repeat until all the liquid is used up. By this stage you may still need to use more liquid, so slowly stir in as much of the remaining 100 ml of stout as you need to form a still, sticky mixture. It won’t look very dark: until it’s baked, it has the rich colour of cookie dough, unless you’re adding activated charcoal, in which case it will be cowpat brown. Cover with food wrap (or a shower cap) and leave it in the kitchen for 16-20 hrs, until it has increased in volume, has a slightly spongy texture and is bubbly on top.

04. Grease a sturdy 2 lb (900 g) loaf tin, line the base with baking parchment, and scrape the bread dough into it, smoothing it very, very gently out to the edges and on top. Drape a clean tea towel over the tin and leave for 2 hrs. It will rise a little, but not much. Heat the oven to 220 C (200 C fan-forced) towards the end of this time.

05. Add a tsp of cold water to the reserved egg yolk and use a little whisk or just a fork to loosen it, then dab a pastry brush into the yellow goo, and lightly paint the surface of the bread. I can’t honestly say you use much of this yolk; if, like me, you find waste difficult, then just keep it to add to a couple of eggs for scrambling. Sprinkle the 1½ tsps of nigella seeds on top and put the tin into the oven, straightaway turning the heat down to 200 C (180 C fan-forced). Bake for 40 mins, then (wearing oven gloves, and perhaps giving a nudge around the edges first with a small palette knife) slip it out of its tin. It will feel almost cooked, but it is a dense, weighty loaf: don’t expect white-bread lightness; even when fully cooked, this loaf feels as heavy as a brick.

06. Give the loaf a knock underneath: it probably won’t sound hollow, but register the sound. Put it, out of its tin now, back into the oven directly on the shelf, for 10-15 mins, by which time it will feel firm, but still with a bit of give at the sides and, when you knock it underneath, it will sound, if not exactly hollow, then hollower than it did before. Allow to cool completely on a wire rack before even thinking of cutting into it. To keep the loaf fresh for as long as possible, store in a bread bin. The next best method is to wrap it in a tea towel.

Text: Nigella LawsonPhoto: Fremantle