MESSY BAKER

I need to get on with researching my February project for my Bread-o-lution, but that would require a bit of digging for the right kind of a recipe. Meanwhile I was running out of bread and stumbled upon a box of sesame seeds in my kitchen – literally, it fell out of a cupboard on top of me :) I am a bit fan of sesame seeds – who can resist a golden bun with tiny amber sesame drops on top? I always imagine sesame breads to be soft and fluffy, with slightly sweet taste. I was imagining it so much, I started drooling – before long I decided to create a recipe that combines all of my memories of a perfect sesame loaf.  Sesame  Sourdough Loaf  200g 100% white sourdough starter   400g white bread flour  100g wholemeal flour  290g mineral water  20g honey  20g sesame seeds  1 heaped tsp salt  20g unsalted butter, room temperature  Sesame seeds for sprinkling (optional)   My wonderful shiny Kitchen Aid has had...

January here we come – this is the first month of my Bread-o-lution project as committed in December last year. I decided to start with something nice and simple – and what could be simpler that a good English loaf. Mind you, it’s a fancy shape one, but at the end of the day its just a plain white loaf. Being a sourdough freak I wanted to see if I can make a sourdough version of Cottage Loaf, and was surprised to find virtually so sourdough versions of this recipe. I did find some very useful advice on a number of sites – “ Fig Jam and Lime Cordial ” (cool name by the way) has a lot of good tips on hydration and shaping. “ Signor Biscotti ” is full of wonderful pictures and a commercial yeast recipe. “ Carmella Cooks ” and “ The Nourishing Gourmet ” are the only recipes I could find that use sourdough instead of commercial yeast. I researched for the last three days and discarded any recipes that used any type of sweetener - sugar or honey, and any recipes that gave directions ...

While I am putting finishing touched to my first BREAD-o-lution project, here is something to feast your eyes on - a quick one-day sourdough I’ve made yesterday.  We’ve been eating quite a lot of porridge lately – according to my 3 year old, “porridge is the best!”. We’ve been trialing a lot of different oats, and jumbo porridge oats weren’t such a hit in a porridge form, so I’ve decided to turn them into a bread. And to be honest, my kitchen was getting overran with different bags of porridge – there is only that much of oat you need in your life :)  This is a very easy loaf – I’ve mixed it up around 11am and baked it around 11pm, so 12 hours in total, but the actual involvement is very minimal.  One-Day Honey Oat Loaf 150g 100% wholemeal starter  150ml water  150ml milk  30g runny honey  450g white bread flour  80g jumbo porridge oats (but I am pretty sure you can use any other oats you have)  1 heaped tsp salt  50g but...