Tiger Bread

Introduction & method

Tiger bread - or giraffe bread or Dutch crunch bread - is so-called because the cracked coating on its crust resembles patterned fur (but actually if your crust really does look like tiger stripes then you've probably made it wrong). Apart from the crust, this is just a standard white bloomer loaf - and a very fine one too!

Make the dough

Mix the sugar, salt, yeast and oil into the flour. Add most of the water and stir to incorporate it. Then tip it out onto your worktop and knead the dough until it is smooth and elastic - 5-10 minutes. If the dough is too dry, add a bit more water. Form the dough into a ball, lightly coat it with oil, pop it in a bowl, cover with plastic film and leave to rise in a warm place until doubled in volume.

Make the Crusty Paste

Mix all the ingredients together, cover and leave in a warm place.

Knock Back / Prove

When teh dough has doubled in size, tip it out of the bowl and squeeze the air out of it. Form it into a smooth ball, cover and put back in the warm place to rise for about 20 minutes.

Preheat your oven to 210°C (410°F) fan, 230°C (446°F) conventional.

When the dough has risen for 20 minutes, carefully tip it out onto a floured baking sheet. Stir the paste mixture, and paint a thick layer of it onto the dough. The thicker the paint, the larger the pattern will be. Let the dough rise for another 20 minutes.

Bake the Bread

Pop the dough in the oven and bake at the high temperature for 5 minutes. Then turn the temperature down to 140°C (284°F) fan, 160°C (320°F) conventional and bake for another 30-35 minutes. Check that the bread is fully baked by tapping the underside - it should sound hollow.

Let the bread cool on a wire rack, then eat it with huge abounts of butter.