THE INGREDIENTS & RECIPE

NIX Bombay Cloud Loaf

A small, soft loaf with Cotswold Crunch, Bombay mix and raisins. This is the final formulation for the first trial bake.

Into the pan, in my liquids-first order

All amounts are shown below. Add the Bombay mix and raisins at the ingredient beep.

Keep aside for the ingredient beep

My loading order is a personal adaptation. Panasonic’s printed order is yeast, flour, other ingredients, then water.^[4]

01 / A NEW NIX LOAF

A packet of Bombay mix has entered the bread conversation.

Some loaf ideas begin with a sensible shopping list. This one began with Cotswold Crunch and Bombay mix, then acquired raisins and a very clear instruction: make it as fluffy as possible.

I wanted the malty character of the flour with some of that warm, savoury snack-bowl flavour running through a proper loaf. Adding raisins made the idea more interesting: little sweet moments against the spice, and the possibility of a very good slice of toast at the end of it.

Then came the texture. I wanted something soft enough to butter generously, use for a sandwich or put beside a bowl of soup. Plenty of personality, but a gentle, springy bite. For this loaf, softness gets the deciding vote.

That is the Bombay Cloud Loaf: a small, lightly enriched bread with Cotswold Crunch, a measured scattering of Bombay mix and just enough raisins to keep each slice interesting. The PN100 has another slightly unusual job on its hands.

“Keep the character. Give the crumb room to breathe.”

02 / THE FLUFFINESS DECISION

The important change was turning the flour balance around.

The first formulation leaned heavily on Cotswold Crunch. Once I decided softness mattered most, I reversed the balance. This version uses 200g strong white bread flour and 50g Cotswold Crunch. The total stays at exactly 250g, my standing rule for my PN100 recipes.

Matthews Cotswold Crunch contains strong bread flour, malted wheat flakes and other grain ingredients, including bran and dark rye. I still want that malty character, with a smaller share of it in this dough.^[1]

Bread flour generally supports a higher rise than flour blends with more wholegrain material. My 80:20 balance is a deliberate move towards lightness; I expect a gentler Cotswold flavour than in the original idea.^[2]

I have also kept the additions to 25g Bombay mix and 20g raisins. That gives the dough a modest amount to carry. The first cooled slice will tell me whether those quantities provide the flavour I want.

A little enrichment, with a clear job to do

The dough includes 15g unsalted butter and 10g milk powder. Fat contributes softness, while milk can help create a finer crumb. These are useful tools for the texture I am aiming for.^[2][3]

Sugar stays at one teaspoon, with the raisins supplying their own sweetness. A quarter-teaspoon of ground cumin is optional: useful with a mild Bombay mix, easy to leave out with a strongly seasoned packet. There is no need to empty the spice cupboard into one small loaf.

04 / THE METHOD

From the measuring jug to the cooling rack.

1. Prepare the little pieces

   Gently break up the Bombay mix and finely chop any nuts. Remove particularly hard whole peas or chickpeas that resist crushing, then weigh 25g of the prepared mix. Chop the raisins into small pieces and weigh 20g. Aim for pieces under about 5mm; Panasonic advises fine chopping and cautions that hard additions can damage the pan coating.^[4]

2. Load the pan and start

   Fit the kneading blade and add the main ingredients in the table’s order. Put the yeast last, in a shallow dry hollow in the flour. Keep the Bombay mix and raisins beside the machine. Select Menu 3 — Basic Raisin, choose Light crust and press Start.

3. Let the machine have its rest

   The official programme includes an initial rest of approximately 40–65 minutes. Wait for actual kneading before judging the dough. The whole programme is listed as 4 hours to 4 hours 10 minutes; follow the machine’s display.^[4]

4. Check for a soft dough

   About 5–10 minutes into actual kneading, take a quick look. The dough should gather together while still looking soft and slightly tacky. If it looks stiff, rough or dry, add one teaspoon of water, let that mix in and reassess. Another 5–10ml in total may be useful, only if needed. Keep the flour at 250g.

5. Add the flavour at the beep

   Add the Bombay mix and raisins when the add-in indicator flashes. Close the lid and press Start again to continue. The manual places this prompt roughly 1 hour 5 minutes to 1 hour 35 minutes after starting; listen for the machine’s beep.^[4]

6. Cool it gently

   Remove the finished loaf from the pan with oven gloves and turn it onto a rack. For a softer crust, brush the top lightly with butter and loosely drape a clean tea towel over it. Let the loaf cool fully before slicing, check for the kneading blade and use a gentle sawing action with a bread knife.

Soft dough is worth more than an extra spoonful of yeast.

The starting water quantity is 175ml. That brief check during kneading is my chance to see how the flour and milk powder behave together. A measured teaspoon is easier to learn from than a freehand splash followed by a rescue operation.

Too little liquid can restrict expansion; too much can leave a loaf unable to hold its rise. Extra yeast can also produce an over-rise followed by collapse. That is why the yeast stays at one level teaspoon while any water adjustment stays small and conditional.^[2]

I want a dough that looks supple. A little tackiness is welcome. The aim is a soft, springy slice with a mild malty background, scattered sweetness and enough spice to give it character.

A word about the crunch

Bombay mix begins as a crisp snack. In a moist dough, I expect it to soften. Its job here is to bring seasoning and small textured pieces. For that fresh-packet crunch at the table, I can scatter a pinch over a buttered, toasted slice just before eating.

“Cloud” describes the ambition. The actual loaf will decide how close I get — bread has always reserved the right to its own opinion.

06 / THE NEXT STEP

The real loaf gets the final word.

The first bake is where this idea becomes useful evidence. I will note which Bombay mix I use, whether I add any extra water and how the dough looks during the check. After cooling, I want to see the shape of the top, the crumb and how easily it slices.

Is it soft enough? Does the Cotswold flavour still come through? Are the raisins pleasantly occasional? Is the spice where I want it? If a second bake needs a change, I will alter one thing at a time.

For now, it has its name, its proportions and its purpose: two flours, a little Bombay personality, a few raisins and a mini breadmaker with a fresh assignment.