MESSY BAKER

This bread was a bit of an experiment, it’s the first time I baked this recipe, but it turned out such a success that I will definitely be baking it again! It is bursting with flavour – super seeds mix for the extra goodness and a touch of sweetness from the dried fruit.   Makes 2 medium sized loaves (tin loaves) Dough : 250g rye starter (100%) 320g (+30g) lukewarm water 330g white bread flour 100g rye flour 50g roastedbarley malt 10g salt Seeds porridge : 100g sunflower seeds 50g linseeds 50g pumpkin seeds 50g dried fruit (raising, currants or cranberries) 100g warm water   Prepare the porridge : toast sunflower seeds and linseeds in a preheated oven (180C) for 6-8 minutes. Combine with the rest of the seeds and fruit and add water. Leave for an hour until the water is absorbed.   Dough : Mix all flours, including roasted barley malt, with starter and 320g of water. Mix well to make sure that all the water has been incorporated and all the flour is mixed in. Leave ...

 What I love about rye breads is the huge variety you get from different parts of the world – there are dark spicy loves from Easter Europe that remind me of my childhood, there are wholesome German breads tightly packed with grans, there are crusty French loaves full of flavour and there is the famous Pastrami on Rye sandwiches that you can find in New York. I’ve developed this recipe for a bread class I ran a few years back, taking a bit from all different cultures to create a dark bread, full of flavour and yes with a light crumb that can be eaten as it is or toasted for a crispier finish. New York Rye Bread 150 ml water 150 ml orange juice 1 tsp (10g) molasses 100g rye starter (100% hydration) 150g dark rye flour 220g white bread flour 30g roasted barley malt flour 1 tsp (10g) salt 1 ½ tsp fennel seeds ½ tsp ground cumin ½ tsp ground coriander -     -  This is the mix of spices I love, but feel free to adjust the quantities Whole cori...

“Pandoro” is a beautiful golden colour, star-shaped bread dusted with powdered sugar. That gorgeous colour is what lent the bread its name -   “ pan d’oro ” meaning “golden bread”.   While Christmas is all about the cake and the pudding, the run up to Christmas, and New Years for me its all about Pandoro. Looks like I am not the only one that feels that way, as around 117 million breads sell every year in the run up to Christmas !!   You can buy Pandoro in many shops around the world, but nothing beats the one you make yourself … So, lets get on with the recipe - this recipe makes two Pandoro (or is it Pandori?) A couple of notes before you begin : FLOUR : if you can, use an artisan Italian flour – a fine white 00 flour with a very low white content. I use Shipton Mill Italian Flour as it really does make a difference to the texture of the bread. MOULDS : I use 1kg Pandoro bread moulds, you can buy them from many online retails, I got mine from BakeryBits ....

My husband recently got into cheese making, he did a course at one of local cheese farms and got really inspired by all the different cheeses you can make at home - anything from fresh ricotta and halumi to strong aged cheddar and soft brie. As far as I am concerned, its a great hobby for him - I love cheese, and now I get to sample all of his different cheese experiments.  But I've also discovered that whey - a cheese by-product - is great for baking! its a slightly sweet, slightly creamy liquid that makes a perfect base for breads, giving them slightly softer crumb and more golden crust.  If you won't have whey, just use water in this recipe, or there are plenty of easy recipes for home made cheese if you want to try your hand at making it at home and remember to collect whey to use it in breads later. Milk and Oat Sourdough Pre-ferment: 150g stiff white starter (50% hydration) 100ml milk 230ml whey or water  50g rye flour 250g white bread flo...

Happy St Patrick’s Day troops! This year I started preparing for it early : green top bought – check, a massive collection of whiskeys at home – check, make a beer bread – check!  In reality, I was just looking for new flavours to add to my bread, and found a bottle of pale ale left over from a Viking party last summer – that a story for another day.  I like my beers, but I am more of a larger girl, I’d drink Guinness too, but only in Ireland – it just doesn’t taste the same anywhere else. Ale is not a drink I would ever choose, so using it in bread made perfect sense!  Pale Ale Sourdough  220 ml pale ale  100 ml water  160g white sourdough starter (100% hydration)  1 Tbsp barley malt extract  400g white bread flour  100g wholemeal four  1.5 tsp salt  I used pale ale, but you can use any beer you may have in the house, as long as its not dark beer.  Pour beer and water in a mixer bowl, measure out starter. I am...

I really need to get better at this – its past mid-May and I am only just posting April project. But – the good thing is that I just finished May bread, so next post shouldn’t be too far behind.  My planning was completely off this month – I decided to bake Colomba Pasquale – a traditional Easter cake – for Easter celebrations this year. But, what I forgot to do is to check my calendar - I celebrate both Catholic and Russian Orthodox Easters – both of them fell at the beginning of the month this year, plus I had booked a trip to Russia with my little ones at the beginning of the month, so there was no way on earth I was going to finish my baking on time.  Anyway, I got there at the end, and to make up for the lateness, I’ve made five (yes, five) loaves just to test out different recipes and shapes. I tried using very traditional as well as more available ingredients, tall and round panettone cases and shallow and wide “dove” cases, and I finally came up with something I a...