Herbed savoury monkey bread

Method

1. Put the flour in a large bowl and mix with the salt, then make a well in the centre. Put the yeast and sugar in a small bowl and mix with 5 tbsp of the milk to dissolve the sugar. Pour the yeast mixture into the flour well. Cover with a clean tea towel and leave to rest for 10 minutes until bubbles appear.
2. Add the remaining milk, egg yolks and 70g butter to the bowl. Bring together to form a smooth dough, tip onto a lightly floured surface and knead for about 10 minutes until smooth. Return to the bowl, then cover with the tea towel and leave to double in size (about 1 hour).
3. Mix the herb butter ingredients with some salt and pepper.
4. Knead the dough on a lightly floured surface for 2 minutes more, then roll out into a 1cm thick square (about 30cm x 30cm). Spread with the herb butter, then cut the dough into rough 6cm squares. Put about a quarter of the dough pieces into the tin widthways, upright like slices of bread – you’ll need to hold them up with one hand to prevent them from falling over. Next, put a group of the dough pieces in the tin lengthways (at right angles to the first group) to fill the width of the tin so they’re holding up the first slices. Repeat to fill the tin. Cover and leave to prove for 30 minutes.
5. Heat the oven to 160°C fan/gas 4. Bake the bread in the tin on a wire rack in the lower third of the oven for 40-45 minutes. If the top starts getting dark, cover it with some foil. Let the bread cool in the tin for 10 minutes, then remove from the tin and serve, ideally while still warm, with one of the two spreads (below and right) – or both if you want to.