We were given a huge bag of homegrown potatoes recently, which are beautifully creamy, so I thought I’d try potato sourdough. After a bit of tweaking I’m very happy with it. I would rate it as an advanced bread to try, as it relies on a feel for the dough consistency.
Read MoreAs a bit of a reaction to the heavy wholemeal sourdough I’ve been making lately, last Sunday I was dreaming about zopf, the eggy-buttery bread that you buy in Switzerland on Saturday to have on Sunday (when the bakeries are closed). There are many versions of this type of bread, including the Jewish challah, which is baked the day before Sabbath. The butter is what makes it keep so well overnight, and the egg makes is rich and golden. I’d never made one before, so I learnt a few things.…
Read MoreI discovered last week that the local IGA supermarket has 12.5 kg bags of wholemeal flour, so I got a bag to see what sort of bread it makes, and have been impressed. Normally I use white bakers flour, and add other flours in a 3:1 ratio, as the other flours aren’t ‘strong’ high protein bread flour and dilute the cohesiveness of the dough. I also thought that 100% wholemeal would be too heavy – I’m sure I read that somewhere. But this flour is rated for bread making and the…
Read MoreI’ve been baking more often since we moved here, partly because we have lots of friends and family visiting, and partly because I have a cracker of a new oven that bakes beautifully. I usually make sourdough from my trusty starter culture that I’ve had for many years now, but I change the style with the extra flour, usually rye (sometimes with caraway), also wholemeal or fruit and nut or multi-seed, but this week I thought I’d try some of the millet flakes I’ve had in the larder for a few months.…
Read MoreA favourite quote of mine is from a kindly Singaporean professor, who said to a student who had just given a particularly fraught presentation “My dear girl, what is the point of arriving if you haven’t enjoyed the journey?” (Imagine an Indian accent). If you’re going to take on a commitment like bread making, you want the process to appeal to your situation. It seems like there are almost as many bread making methods as there are bakers, and if you’re making bread regularly then you’ll probably have found a method…
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