Breakfast of champions: David Mitchell’s spelt bread

The author of Cloud Atlas and The Bone Clocks starts his day with toasted homemade spelt bread.

Mix 5g (about 1 tsp) dried active yeast with 300ml tepid water and 1 tsp honey. Leave for 10 minutes to develop a frothy head, then whisk in 2 tsp olive oil. Stir into 500g spelt flour and 10g fine salt, and mix to a soft dough. Knead for 10-15 minutes, then place in a clean bowl, cover and leave somewhere warm for an hour or two until doubled in size. Knock back using your knuckles; cover and leave to double in size again.

Shape and place in a lightly greased 500g loaf tin, leave to double again (30-45 minutes), then dust with flour. Bake for 10 minutes in an oven preheated to its highest setting, then lower heat to 200C/390F/gas mark 6 and cook for 25-30 minutes, until the crust has darkened and the bottom sounds hollow when tapped. Leave to cool for 30 minutes, then transfer to a rack.