Wright's Garlic and Rosemary Focaccia

I love freshly baked bread, but for some reason I never make it myself. So to slowly re-introduce myself back into the bread making business (and because I was feeling lazy), I decided to test out a pre-made bread mix.

I picked up this Wright's bread mix from Aldi for under £1 (I can't remember exactly the price), where there is a variety of mixes available, from multi-grain to ciabatta. I love garlic bread, so decided to try out the garlic and rosemary focaccia for a bit of a twist! Here's how you do it...

Ingredients

500g Wright's bread mix
310ml lukewarm water
90ml (6 tbsp) olive oil

Method

1. Place the mix in a bowl, add water and 30ml (2 tbsp) olive oil and mix together for 5 minutes to form a dough, then place on a floured surface and leave for 5 minutes

2. Knead and stretch the dough for 2 minutes, then divide into 3 and mould into balls

3. Place into 3 pre-oiled (with 15ml (1 tbsp) olive oil) warmed sponge tins, or a single 30-25cm oiled roasting tin, and leave for 10 minutes

4. Press the dough to fill out the tin(s), then cover and leave to rise for 15 minutes in a warm place

5. Drizzle 15ml (1 tbsp) of olive oil on each dough (or 45ml (3 tbsp) for single large tin), and dimple surface with your fingertips, then leave to rise in a warm place for 15 minutes

6. Preheat the oven  to 230'C (210'C for fan assisted ovens), sprinkle rosemary or mixed herbs on top if desired (I sprinkled some salt on mine) and bake for 15 minutes for 3 tins or 20 minutes for 1 large tin until golden brown and sounds hollow when you tap the base


The instructions on the back of the pack are very simple and easy to understand, but somehow I still managed to mess it up! I admit though, this was my own fault of getting ahead of myself and not fully reading the instructions, instead putting the whole 6 tbsp of olive oil in the mix at the beginning rather than just 2... Turns out it wasn't a huge disaster though, that batch of bread just turned out a bit squidgier than it should have been. 

Attempt number 2! Although not much different to my "failed" attempt, I baked this batch for slightly longer so the outside was a bit crispier. I also decided to add a little bit of salt on top before baking it; while I'm not quite sure if this was needed, it did give a little bit more of a kick.

The tin I used for one of the batches had a patterned base which gave the bread a pretty snazzy bottom!

Overall, if you're looking for a quick and easy solution to make a batch of yummy and flavoursome focaccia, I would definitely recommend Wright's bread mix. Hopefully I will be able to make my own from scratch one day and be able to compare! But for now, just look at how fluffy and delicious that bread looks...mmmm....

Belissimo!

Love, Beth xxx