Who needs words when you've got bread?

Yes, I said I loved baking, and one of my favourite things to bake is bread. This is my recipe and method for baking the perfect loaf of Spelt & Rye, which I indulge in a couple of times a week. And when I say Spelt & Rye, I mean Spelt & Rye - no wholemeal, no plain, no stoneground, just... spelt flour and rye flour.

Ingredients for a large loaf or two small loaves:

400g Spelt Flour

200g Rye Flour

2 tsp active dry yeast

1 tbsp honey

1 tsp salt

1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

400ml warm water

First add the 2 teaspoons of yeast to the 400ml of warm water, and then add the 1 tablespoon of honey.

Leave to dissolve for about 10 minutes.*

Add the 200g of rye flour, 400g of spelt flour and 1 teaspoon of salt to a large bowl. Mix, then when the yeast and honey water mix is ready (it should look like an anaemic glass of ale with a frothy head), add to the flours. Mix with your hands until all the liquid has been absorbed - nice and gooey this bit! Then pour over the tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil and squelch the lot together until you have a nice moist lump of rough dough. Cover with a tea towel and set aside somewhere warm to rise for about two hours.

After two hours the dough should have risen to about twice the size. Now get stuck in and knead that dough in the bowl it has risen in (no need to put out on a floured board). I knead it for a count of 100, but either way you should end up with a nice smooth ball of dough afterwards. Now, shape (or split in half to make two smaller loaves) and place the dough in a baking sheet-lined tin of your choice (this

is where the shape of your loaf is designed) and cover with the tea towel once again and put aside in that warm place for another 45 minutes.

After this time the loaf (or loaves) will have risen again. Sprinkle with flour, then bake in the oven at 200ºc for 39 minutes.

Remove from the oven, inhale those glorious freshly baked bread aromas, tap the bottom (the bread should sound hollow if it is cooked, if not bake for a few minutes longer), admire, then place on a rack to cool covered with that trusty tea towel.

Eat and enjoy.

*If you are using quick dry yeast, you can skip the dissolve bit. Add the dried yeast (use 1 1/2 tsp) directly to the flours with the salt, and just add the honey to the lukewarm water.