Kie's take on Kie's take on Three-Flour Wholemeal & Spelt Loaf

1. Melt the butter gently and allow it to cool until it is liquid but no longer hot — it should be comfortable to the touch. You are going to add it with the water, so it must stay fluid and must not be warm enough to kill the yeast.

2. Stir the honey and the cooled melted butter into the measured warm water until combined. This is your liquid base.

3. Load the bread pan in the correct order for the Tefal Pain & Délices — liquids first. Pour the water, butter, and honey mixture into the bread pan first.

4. Add the three flours on top of the liquid, covering it completely. This liquid-then-flour layering is important: it keeps the yeast away from the liquid during the delay period if you are using a timer, and ensures the machine paddles can engage the dough correctly from the start.

5. Add the salt to one corner of the flour and make a small well in the centre of the flour for the yeast. Add the yeast into the well. Keeping the salt and yeast apart at this loading stage is good practice, particularly if using the timer delay function — salt in direct contact with yeast for an extended period will weaken it.

6. Do not add the seeds yet. The Tefal Pain & Délices has a raisin/nut dispenser or an audible beep signal during the kneading cycle that tells you when to add mix-ins. Adding seeds at the start risks them being ground down by the paddle rather than folded in whole. Check your machine's manual — on most Tefal Pain & Délices models the beep for add-ins comes roughly 20–30 minutes into the programme. Have your four seeds weighed out and ready in a small bowl.

7. Select the Wholemeal programme on your Tefal Pain & Délices. This programme uses a longer, gentler knead and a more controlled rise compared to the Basic programme, which suits the combination of wholemeal and spelt flour well — spelt has more fragile gluten and benefits from not being overworked. Choose your preferred crust setting: Medium is a good default, but note that the butter and sesame seeds can cause the crust to colour quickly, so Light is a reasonable alternative if you prefer a softer finish. Select the 750g loaf size.

8. Press start. When the machine beeps to signal the add-in stage (consult your manual if unsure when this occurs), open the lid and add all four seeds — poppy, sunflower, sesame, and pumpkin — directly into the dough. Close the lid promptly. The machine will fold them in during the remaining kneading. They will be distributed unevenly compared to hand-mixing them into the flour at the start, but this method protects their texture.

9. Do not open the lid again during the rise or bake stages. The Tefal Pain & Délices maintains a carefully controlled environment during proving and baking — interrupting it loses heat and can cause the loaf to collapse or prove unevenly.

10. The Wholemeal programme typically runs for around 3 hours 40 minutes to 4 hours in total, including kneading, first rise, knock-back, second prove, and baking. The machine handles all of this automatically.

11. When the cycle is complete and the machine beeps to signal the end, carefully remove the bread pan using oven gloves — it will be extremely hot. Turn the loaf out onto a wire rack immediately. Leaving it in the pan causes the base and sides to steam and soften.

12. Leave the loaf to cool on the rack for at least 30–40 minutes before slicing. The interior is still finishing its bake through residual heat during this time, and cutting too soon will give a gummy crumb. The four-seed interior is worth the wait.

13. Note on hydration: seeds absorb a small amount of moisture during baking. If your first bake produces a loaf that feels very dense or looks underdeveloped, try increasing the water by 10–15ml on your next attempt. Conversely, wholemeal and spelt flours combined with the bread maker environment can sometimes produce a slightly wetter, stickier dough — if the loaf collapses at the top or looks overproofed, reduce water by 10ml. Bread makers reward a little experimentation over the first couple of bakes.