home Post Archive
I bought the Apple Watch for three reasons: I had a FitBit. I was motivated by step-tracking and other quantified self measurements. The FitBit I had (the Force) was subject to a recall. Then it disintegrated. So I returned it and got my money back. And wanted to replace it. My schedule is complex. I…
Making brioche is quite a fight. The first part of this video shows what I mean. It’s like trying to knead vaseline. So. Many. Eggs. So. Much. Butter. But it comes together, in the end. I let it proof out in the garage, at 7 or 8 degrees Celcius which was probably the only way the dough…
My two older children spend every other weekend with us, and it’s become a bit of a tradition to start the weekend with home-made pizza. Nessa bought me Franco Manca: Artisan Pizza for Christmas – their suggestion of sourdough bases was the trigger for me to start bread-making. These were this week’s left-overs. Sunday lunch.
Plain white sandwich loaves are pretty straightforward. Ingredients: flour, yeast, salt, water. Method: Mix. Leave. Slap-and-fold. Leave. Divide. Shape. Rest. Bake. Cool. Eat. Takes about 15 mins of effort. Total time start-to-finish is a little over three hours.
After finishing the Rye, Caraway and Raisin loaf, I felt ready to try another fruited bread. We’re only a couple of weeks away from Easter. Hot Cross Buns. I followed the ingredients list here, but used the manual sweet dough preparation technique from Dough. It can be difficult to keep all of the dried fruit…
Sage -> Pork Lemon and Thyme -> Chicken Rosemary -> Lamb Mustard and Horseradish -> Beef Coriander -> Thai Basil and Oregano -> Italian Garlic -> Everything Caraway? Rye and raisin bread. Trust me on this. I’ve always associated caraway with weird-tasting puddings and weird-tasting Northern European breads. So I was a bit sceptical when…
Light Rye Having got the hang of the basic technique, I’m now trying to extend my range. This was the first time I used rye. Great crust colour and flavour – and it made a change to bake a ciabatta. This was the same recipe, but baked as a boule. Baker’s Yeast…
Attempt 6 tw;dr (too wet; didn’t rise) Attempt 7 75g starter, 450g flour, 375ml water, 5g salt (84% hydrated) Changed to Canadian Strong Flour No-knead method Used banneton and cloche Some scoring didn’t cut through the surface Crumb development good where the loaf could rise Cooking time was fine Attempt 8 75g starter, 450g flour,…
Attempt 4 300g starter, 350g flour, 240g water (77.23% hydrated) Lively starter, autolysed, Bertinet slap-and-fold – but very very over-worked as it took me ages to get the technique. Messed up the final fold. Poor seam. So-so crumb. Nice oven spring. Attempt 5 300g starter, 350g flour, 240g water (77.23% hydrated) – as before Followed a…