365 and A-Z!

Day 3, Sourdough breads cooling...

This works for more than one thing of course! I love to multitask.  So, it's simultaneously a Bread from my A - Z, a B2/M2 and my picture for the day, I just love it when a plan comes together.

  Country Bread from Flour by Joanne Chang

First up, get this book, seriously, not one failure from it yet, everything has turned out great and been really easy to put together.  And, best of all it's in metric measurements! I love, love, love this!

So, for the bread sponge...

175g plain, unbleached flour

180g blood temperature water (neither hot nor cold to touch)

1.7g fresh yeast

 Mix 140g of the flour, the yeast and all the water together into a sloppy dough, cover and leave out at room temperature for 4 - 8 hours.

Add the remaining 35g flour and stir again, the dough with stiffen up a little.

Cover and place in the fridge overnight.

 Now you have your sponge starter, over time this starter gets better and better, I leave mine in the fridge until I want to bake then the night before feed it 175g flour and 180g water, stir and fridge it overnight so it's nice and active for the next day.  Take what I need for baking and return the pot to the fridge till next time.  I vary the flours I feed it with too, a bit of rye, spelt or gram flour makes for an extra delicious loaf.

Country bread recipe (this rather assumes you have a stand mixer... if not roll up your sleeves and prepare to get messy)

360g water at room temperature

280g plain flour

300g bread flour

340g bread sponge

pinch of fresh yeast

2 tsp salt (actually, I use a tablespoon)

1 tsp sugar (honey and malt syrup work too)

In your stand mixer stir together the bread flour, plain flour, yeast, water, sugar and salt, knead for a couple of minutes, until it forms a rough dough.

Leave this dough to rest for ten minutes... it helps with the texture.

Add the bread sponge and knead for about 7 minutes, it should clear the sides of the bowl and feel a little like an earlobe when you pinch a piece of dough between your fingers.  if it's too loose add a little more flour, gradually, you don't want to bake a brick!

Scrape your dough into a large, oiled bowl and leave to rise at room temperature for three hours.

When that time is up remove it from the bowl, divide the dough into two and shape into tight, round loaves.  At this point it's nice to flavour the loaves if you like, knead in some nuts and fruit or cubes of cheese... around 100g of each.

Scatter course cornmeal or semolina onto a tray and place the breads onto it, flour the loaves and leave them to rise for about two and a half hours.

Preheat your oven to 250 and place a sturdy metal tray in the bottom, boil the kettle!

When the oven is really hot (give it plenty of time to get up to temperature) pour the boiling water carefully into the metal tray.  Slash the tops of the loaves anyway you like, it gives a lovely crust and looks pretty.  Place the tray in the oven and bake for half an hour.

 Remove your gorgeous breads, gloat, buy a lot of butter.

Challah back girl

Yeah, I know, just couldn't resist.  I loved making challah, I started out with it (from a totally generic, non artisan inspired, not real sourdough, stoneground  bread making book I bought in a pound shop) as one of the first breads I really made a lot.  Worked every time, looked pretty, tasted great.

 Then I lost my challah mojo, who knows why? maybe it's like the Kirkcubright centipede Check the video out! I over thought the braiding? made the dough too wet, dunno.  Maybe a combination of these factors.  Anyway, does it matter? no! I've joyfully embraced many other breads and techniques, but in my heart I've missed my challah.  Chocolate chip challah, raisin challah, pumpkin challah... *sigh*

 Last night, whilst watching Shrek 2 with one eye and reading The Complete International Jewish Cook Book (1980 edition) by Evelyn Rose I decided to try again, I mean if she cant help me who can?  Her dough was simple and quick to prepare, then required a long, cold rise.  Perfect, I'd been up since four so a bread that didn't mind me going back to bed was ideal.

 I braided the dough using the fabulous video on you tube, see it here.  Absolutely the easiest and clearest instructions to follow.

 The recipe, pictures will be along tomorrow, I mean, it's dark here! really dark.  I love November.

Fresh Yeast Challah

15g fresh yeast (Asda/Sainsburys/Tesco give it away for nearly free, Sainsburys, or free, Tesco, Asda.  Just ask someone on the bakery counter)

200g warm water

2 tsp salt

3 tsp caster sugar  (I used honey)

2 tbsp oil

480g bread flour

1 large egg (plus 1 to glaze)

 poppy seeds or whatever you like to sprinkle on top

Mix the water, yeast, sugar and a third of the flour together on a bowl.  Stir till a smooth, pastey batter forms, then leave it covered for 20 minutes.  It should have frothed up and be bubbly.

 Now add the egg, oil, salt and the rest of the flour.  Knead together until a smooth, springy dough comes together, it should be slightly sticky but not excessively wet.

 Oil a bowl lightly and refrigerate the dough for 12 to 24 hours.

 Remove the dough from the fridge and leave at room temperature for a while, to take off the chill.  Divide the dough into evenly sized pieces and shape as you desire, I did a six strand braid, but you could equally well do two smaller loaves or rolls, whatever!

 Allow to prove for half an hour in the warm kitchen.  Glaze with the beaten egg and top with seeds if you like, then bake at 220 for 15 minutes then reduce the heat to 180 and continue to bake for 35-45 minutes depending on size.

 The book gives many variations on shape and flavour, all using the same basic dough.  Pletzels, bialys, even bagels.

Happy Halloween!

Yay! my favourite holiday.  I was actually invited to (rather than hosting, lol) a Halloween party last night.  Any excuse being a good excuse in my eyes I decided to push the boat out and make Martha Stewarts candy corn sugar cookies.  Push the boat out? yeah, living in the UK and all I usually flip right past recipes involving candy corn (which costs around a whacking $4.50 here)  or a half pound of butterscotch/cinnamon/peanut butter chips/Hershey kisses... all far too pricey for a midweek cookie session. 

Anyhow, these are the cutest damn cookies ever! quite tiny, just a little larger than the candy corn itself, but cute and delicious.  I weighed both the chocolate and vanilla doughs and the (raw) cookies were 7g each.  I was really worried, but they baked up just fine, though I thought I let the vanilla ones go a minute or two too long, next time I'll get them out faster.

 Recipes goes like this...

Makes about 36.


4 tablespoons unsalted butter, very soft
1/2 cup sugar
1 large egg yolk
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled)
About 36 candy corns

Preheat oven to 350/180 degrees. Place butter and sugar in a medium bowl; beat with a wooden spoon until combined. Beat in egg yolk, vanilla, baking powder, and salt. Add flour, and mix until a dough forms.


Scoop out level teaspoons of dough (or weigh each ball then roll), and roll into balls (chill dough briefly if it becomes too soft to handle). Place balls on baking sheets, 2 inches apart.

Bake, rotating sheets halfway through, until edges are firm and cookies are dry to the touch (do not let cookies color), 10 to 12 minutes.

Remove from oven; gently press a candy corn into center of each cookie (surface of cookies may crack slightly). Cool on sheets 1 minute; transfer to a rack to cool completely.
 
For the chocolate cookies use half a cup of flour and add a quarter cup of cocoa powder.
 

And Cake Win!

Or, how my mojo returned!

 Today is October birthday #2 and in the interests of getting right back on my horse I decided to gamble it all on a new recipe.  Killing off a birthday cake and an item from the b2/m2 list.  I bought the Greyston Bakery book a while ago from tk maxx (home of an ungodly amount of cookbooks) but had yet to bake from it.

 The carrot cake baked beautifully, even and flat on top and perfect for a birthday cake!  This carrot cake uses melted butter instead of corn oil, and I like that! butter is good.  I hate cream cheese frosting, for frosting, to eat from a bucket it's just fine.  I knew as soon as I smeared some onto the cake that the consistency was off.  But it looks ok... the carrot decorations are just a follow on from my pumpkins, in our house any excuse for marzipan is a good excuse.

The cookies, well, the cookies were totally unnecessary.  But who doesn't love a cookie? these were a lovely confidence booster! I like a nice, wholesome looking hessian kind of cookie.  These fit the bill. 

Greyston Bakery Oatmeal Chocolate Chunk Cookies

1.5 cups plain, unbleached flour

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

1 tsp salt

2 sticks unsalted butter at room temperature

1.5 cups packed soft (dark, I used) brown sugar

1.5tsp vanilla extract

2 cups old fashioned rolled oats (I used a local mix of spelt, rye, barley and oat flakes)

3/4 cup shredded coconut

7oz dark chocolate chips

 if you're playing along use the waitrose conversions, they worked just fine.

Preheat the oven to 180, get two baking sheets and line with parchment paper (the non stick one, I was taking no risks here).

Whisk together the flour, salt and baking soda.

In a mixer cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, then add the egg and vanilla, keep beating till it becomes a light, creamy mix.  Scrape down the sides and beat briefly.

On low speed mix in the flour until just barely combined.  Mix in the oats, coconut and chocolate using a spatula.

 Either drop the dough by the spoonfull and hope for the best or weigh the dough, divide by 24 and make perfectly round cookies (you just know what I did, right?) that bake evenly.  With this dough each (unbaked) cookies weighs nearly 50g! big cookies.

 Space them evenly on the sheets and bake for 12 to 15 minutes, till golden brown.  Cool on the sheets briefly then move to wire racks to finish.

 Enjoy, with a big glass of milk.

Sage, brown butter & pumpkin cupcakes

So, the first (recipe!) post...

The b2/m2 project has been unofficially running a little while, but I'm all about rules, so I'm starting fresh, each recipe documented /geek moment.

For American books, cups kind of bother me, I'm quite unhelpfully ocd about being exact with measuring. For the sake of my sanity I use the conversion charts from Waitrose which are very good and also printable! excellent...

Now, on with the baking. This recipe is from Martha Stewart's Cupcakes, a book I really hesitated to buy as I've had mixed successes with her magazine recipes. However, the pictures were gorgeous and the layout nice, so yeah, it joined the herd.

I made these cakes for no good reason, except that the sunny weather we've been enjoying had rather clouded and it was a chilly'ish afternoon. They are gorgeous, I love anything with brown butter, it's like nuts, vanilla and love rolled into one. I was really unsure about the sage, but next time I'd use more than I did, it's a really great flavour.

Pumpkin brown butter cupcakes

From Martha Stewart's Cupcakes, Makes 15

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature.
1 2/3 cup all-purpose flour, plus more for tins
1/4 cup fresh sage leaves, cut into chiffonade (optional) not optional! use plenty!!
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1 cup canned pumpkin puree (not pie filling)
1 cup packed light-brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
Brown Butter Icing (Recipe follows)

1. Preheat oven to 325 F. Brush standard muffin tins with butter; dust with flour, tapping out excess. For all recipes that involve turning out a cake I use cake release, Lakeland plastics stock it... it ensures cake happiness

In a saucepan, melt the butter over medium-low heat. Add the sage, if desired, and continue to cook, swirling occasionally, until butter turns golden brown. Skim foam from top, and remove from heat. Pour into a bowl to stop the cooking, leaving any burned sediment behind; let cool.

Actually, browning the butter is not at all tricky, so don't be put off. I neither skim or strain my brown butter, as long as you watch it and take it off the heat before the solids burn then they add great flavour to baked goods.

2. Whisk together flour, baking powder, salt cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves. In another bowl, whisk together the pumpkin puree, both sugars, eggs, and brown-butter mixture. Add flour mixture and whisk until just combined.

3. Divide batter evenly among lined cups, filling each three-quarters full. Again the ocd comes to the fore, I weigh my mix and the sit my cupcake tin on the scales, each cupcake is equal in size and bake more evenly.

Bake, rotating tins halfway through, until cake tester inserted in center comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Transfer tins to wire racks to cool completely before removing cupcakes. Cupcakes can be stored overnight at room temperature, or frozen up to 2 months, in airtight containers.

4. To finish, dip top of each cupcake in icing, then turn over quickly and let set. Cupcakes are best eaten the day they are glazed, keep at room temperature until ready to serve.

Brown Butter Icing Makes 1 cup

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
2 cups sifted confectioners' sugar
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2 tablespoons milk, plus more if needed

1. Melt butter in a small saucepan over medium heat, swirling pan occasionally, until nut-brown in color, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat, and pour butter into bowl, leaving behind any burned sediment. Again, I didnt strain it, looking at the picture in the book I'm thinking they didn't either! the little brown flecks are butter solids.

2. Add confectioners' sugar, vanilla, and 2 tablespoons milk to brown butter, stir until smooth. If necessary, add more milk (up to 2 tablespoons) a little at a time, just until icing is spreadable. Use immediately.

To ice these cupcakes I poured the icing into a pudding bowl and just gently dipped each cake into the glaze. Leave to set on a rack.