MESSY BAKER

“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 ....

Happy New Year and all that - hope you had a lovely break and ready to face the world after the holiday hibernation. Its my last day of holidays and I've had a bit of a bread from bread baking, so I thought I'll start with something nice and easy to start with. My January GoodFood magazine arrived last week and I finally got around to reading it when a carrot cake recipe caught my eye and I decided to give it a go (with a few modifications). Honey Carrot and Ginger Loaf 1 Tbsp honey 1 Tbsp olive oil 3 large carrots (280g), peeled and grated 1/2 - 1 tsp ground ginger 60g spelt flour 165g white flour 1/4 tsp salt 1 tsp baking powder 3 eggs 60g natural yoghurt 50ml almond milk Peel and grate carrots in a bowl, add honey, oil and ginger and mix everything together. Line a baking tray with parchment paper and tip the carrots onto the tray, spread out evenly. Heat the oven to 160C (fan) and roast carrots for 15 mins, giving it a bit of a stir half way through. Coo...

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...

My mother in law makes the best mince pies, they are these tiny buttery shells filled with juicy, boozy fruit always topped with a small pasty star. The pastry is wonderful and short, but it’s the mincemeat that really makes it.  I don’t think I will ever be able to replicate her recipe, so the best I can do it to go to good old favorites – Delia and Mary Berry and create my own recipe, my own special recipe that I can pass onto my children.  Christmas Mince  Makes 3x0.3l jars  200g (1 large) bramley apple  225g raising  225g currants  225g sultanas  130g mixed candied peel, chopped  225g brown sugar  50g toasted almond flakes  3 heaped tsp mixed spice  ½ tsp nutmeg  1 lemon, juice only  1 orange, juice only  150g shredded suet  50g butter  2 bay leaves  250ml brandy  Core the apple (don’t worry about peeling) and chop into small, fingernail size pieces. Place the appl...

Did you know its only 38 days before Christmas? Its definitely beginning to feel colder and wintery and we might even get snow this Christmas! To be fair, I am hoping for snow every year, and so far I have only seen a white Christmas once in all my years of living in London.  I love Christmas, I really do, and I love all the traditions and foods that come with it, and no Christmas is complete in our house without a Christmas cake. Now, this is a rather new tradition in our house, I’ve only been making a Christmas cake for the last five years or so. I am not a big fan Christmas cakes (or any fruit cake to be honest) that you buy in the shops. They are too sweet, too sticky, too artificial for my taste, I can taste the sugar grains and preservatives on my teeth. Which is why I decided to try making Christmas cakes at the first place – to see if the real deal is going to be any better, or maybe I am just not a Christmas cake person.  Well, turns out I am a Christmas cake ...

A few weeks back I was approached by a member of local WI group asking to come to one of their meeting and give a lesson in bread making. Obviously I jumped at the chance and said Yes, but deep inside I was very nervous – come on, it’s the WI ladies, they are the queens of baking and jams and thing (I promise I won’t mention the Jerusalem :)  To add to the challenge, the class was set up in a pub, with no access to a lot of work bench space or ovens, expecting 20 to 30 members ! What the hell, I love a challenge. I decided to start with two reasonably easy recipes, that are very forgiving in terms on mixing and proving time – a soft focaccia and a milky white loaf.  Ingredients bought, 10kg of dough pre-made, I was ready to roll ! The evening turned out to be a lot of fun – great to see such a range of personalities and ages, wine glasses in hand, chattering, flour flying everywhere :) I was an amazing experience for me, and I think they have enjoyed it too.  Fo...

This is not strictly a bread recipe, but I was so pleased with the result, I decided to write it down for the future.  Last weekend we hosted a Russian-themed party, and what a better way to start a party than with a plate of blini and caviar!  Whenever we have a Russian party - which is once in a blue moon – I get caviar from Caspian Caviar guys – great quality and really speedy delivery. If you are strapped for time, you can get blini from them as well, but they will never be as good as the ones you make yourself.  Russian Blini  Makes 30-35  100 g plain flour  70 g spelt wholemeal flour (mine is from Shipton Mill )  250 ml warm milk  ¼ tsp sugar  ¼ tsp salt  1 tsp dry yeast  2 eggs, separated  Serve with:  Crème fraise  Caviar (black or red) or smoked salmon or cooked prawns  Chive (for decoration)  Now, traditional blini use buckwheat flour, but I didn’t have any in the house – who...