Potato bread

Put the potatoes in a pan of boiling water and simmer for 15 minutes or until tender. Drain, reserving the cooking water. When the potatoes are cool enough to handle, peel off the skins. Mash the potatoes until smooth, then leave to cool.

Sift 600g (1 lb 5 oz) of the flour into a large bowl with the salt. Add the mashed potatoes and rub them into the flour with your fingertips until well blended. Add the yeast to the mixture and stir it in well.

Measure 300ml (10 fl oz) of the potato cooking water, which should be tepid. Add the treacle and stir until dissolved. Pour this mixture into the flour mixture and mix well to combine. It is easiest to do this with your hands. Work in as much of the remaining flour as needed to give a soft but not sticky dough.

Turn out onto a floured surface and knead for 5–10 minutes or until smooth and quite elastic. Put the dough in a large greased bowl and cover with a tea-towel. Leave to rise in a warm place for about 40 minutes or until increased by about one and a half times in size.

Turn out the dough onto the floured surface again and knock it back, then knead for about 3 minutes. Divide the dough in half and shape each piece into a loaf. Place the loaves in 2 well-greased 450g (1 lb) loaf tins. Cover again with the tea-towel and leave to rise in a warm place for about 20 minutes.

Towards the end of the rising time, preheat the oven to 180ºC (350ºF, gas mark 4). Uncover the loaves and bake for 40–45 minutes or until they are well risen and brown, and sound hollow when tipped out of their tins and tapped on the base. Turn them out onto a wire rack to cool. This bread can be kept for up to a week.