Category Archives: Baking

Oat and Honey Bread

We had four for bread, and after I spent last night preparing dough for an overnight rise, I was pleased to see it well risen. That was when the members of the class told me that last time they’d made it they had started it from scratch. The best laid plans…as they say.

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After that things went to plan, apart from me misreading the recipe and trying to bake an hour too early.

We had TESCO biscuits (from the ordinary range this time, though more of them) and a lot of tea. Two of the group have just returned from India and described a place of cheap food, fantastic sights and long distances. Well, they actually described a lot more, but those were the things I found interesting.

Sounds like everyone has had a great time.

Meanwhile, I hear you shout, what about the bread?

Well, it emerged from the oven in various well-browned forms, though I wasn’t convinced it was properly cooked. It’s the browning effect of the honey that does that. I would describe it as a hearty bread, exhibiting, as my bread often does, the big bubbles that denote a lack of knocking back and the dense lower layer that indicates a lack of kneading. It’s still good to eat though. Bearing in mind that I cut it too early so that I could get the photograph, it is really quite good. It’s a little heavy if you want to be picky, but it is full of oats, honey, milk and oil so it’s not going to be fluffy like a cloud is it?

Taste is good, with the salt balancing the honey whilst still allowing a little sweetness to come through.

It was very good with my lunchtime Stilton.

In terms of rising one of the loaves started from scratch rose the best with an overnight one coming second and the others (one of each method) looked pretty similar. The fifth lot was taken home as dough due to alack of time. It seems to be the kneading rather than the preparation method that determined the rise. The mix temperature of the overnight loaves never rose beyond 15 degrees, whilst the ones baked from scratch did get up to 23 -24 due to the use of lukewarm water, just short of the recommended 25 degrees. I could have made this higher when I mixed them last night but I thought I’d use cold water to mix as they had a long rise in front of them.

I suspect the overnight loaves have probably developed more flavour, but don’t have away to check this – should have thought to cook one from scratch this morning.

The recipe is now in the Recipe section (that’s under the Resources tab).

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Bread, baking and bad behaviour

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Third post of the day, though I use the term loosely. I started it while I was allowing 5 kilos of dough to relax. I then went on to finish the kneading, went home, fell asleep in front of the TV, had a meal produced my Number 1 son (who is still in a chilli phase), drank milk, did a few jobs and sat down to complete the blog. Of course, it now needs re-writing.

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Thursday is bread day, as you may have guessed from the fact I was preparing dough. We only have four people coming because Gail is still away. She has trained under Andrew Whitley and at Ballymaloe: I taught myself from a book. Even the promise of a cute puppy hasn’t tempted many in.

It’s bread with oats and honey tomorrow. I’m not exactly sure what to call it as it is mainly white flour, with wholemeal, oats and honey. It’s not an easy bread to knead (I did it by hand because I’m too lazy to clean the machine), you can’t get a good windowpane test and it’s deceptive in cooking, as the honey makes it look brown before it’s really cooked enough. Apart from that, it’s a useful loaf to make as it keeps well and lends itself to overnight preparation.

It’s originally a Jeffrey Hamelman recipe but I’ve lent my book to somebody so I can’t consult it for full details.

The group worked hard this afternoon, preparing raised beds, making lion masks for Chinese New Year and playing with the new puppy, though they continue to be more argumentative than they used to be. We’re still not sure why this should be, as they are making progress in other ways.

I had been worrying that this may be due to us passing our stress on to them (we are, as usual, juggling finance and dealing with various random obstacles) and have been trying to stay positive and cheerful at all times when they are about – even though cheerful and positive aren’t my normal settings.

Listening to them, it seems that several of the are experiencing problems in other groups too, so I’m thinking it may be the time of year or just a coincidence. I’m hoping it may pass as Spring approaches. If it doesn’t, we will have to put some thought into it, and again, thinking isn’t my normal setting either.

Artisan baking – the inside story

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It was a depleted Baking Group today, a mere shadow of its normal self, as many of the group are in India. There has been a distinct lack of contact from any of them, which leads me to believe that they are probably enjoying themselves far too much. We certainly did.

Everything went fine until the bit where we left the dough to “double in size”. It didn’t. In fact it was hard pressed to show any sort of interest in rising at all. That was probably a fault of the room temperature. It had been below freezing last night and wasn’t much better this morning. That in turn, was a fault in me, because I hadn’t anticipated the temperature.

As a result, the flour was cold and the air was cold. Even I was cold and I’m insulated like a walrus. With hindsight I should have warmed the flour. I should also have turned up an hour earlier and warmed the room. I don’t suppose our Indian contingent are having these problems.

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The proving did not go well, with only one out of four rising properly (there’s always one, isn’t there?) Even after standing the bowls in the door of the oven, the extra heat only warmed the top if the dough, the underside remained determinedly cold. The three of us with underdeveloped dough decided, after two pots of tea and a patient wait, that it was time to proceed regardless of the rising. Things actually turned out quite well despite this.

We managed one plait, one fougasse, a flat bread and a boule, using rosemary from the garden. I use those names to add credibility to what we produced, and provide a clue as to what they were meant to be. They all managed a second rise in the oven, producing slightly larger than life varieties of what had been intended. That’s the beauty of hand made bread, it never turns out badly, it’s just “artisan baking”. If it had been a bit rougher round the edges it would have been “rustic”.

Fougasse and boule

OK, to be honest, the plait was a bit rustic, as it pulled in rising and produced stretch marks where the pattern crossed. I’m going to have to do better before the next class.

I’m not sure about the other bread because I’ve only cut into mine but I’d say that it looks more dense towards the bottom so there’s a lack of kneading as well as a lack of proving going on. Having said that, the dough felt good and produced good windows when stretched. It also tastes good, which is really what home baking is about.

Plait, complete with stretch marks

Final verdict – has its faults, bit rough round the edges but great taste. Bit like me really.

Mince Pie masterclass

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It was Bread Group today, and with fifteen people plus instructors it was a bit of a crush in the kitchen. Who’d have thought it a couple of years ago? In those days we had to persuade friends and drag farm staff in to make numbers up.

The day that stands out most in my memory was the day the farmer persuaded one of his friends to send two daughters along. They seemed a little over-dressed when they arrived, but when I saw they were wearing acrylic nails (or what looked like acrylic nails) my heart sank.

I spent the whole session counting their nails as their hands emerged from mixing and kneading. They ended the day with ten each, and I relaxed.

Today, however, was a different sort of session – experienced bakers and keen beginners, with not a false nail in sight.

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Not only was it a session for the serious, but we were using a top-secret mince pie pastry from a shadowy German-trained specialist. These are, to use a Nottingham analogy, the Brough Superior of mince pies and they will be available at our Winterfest event on 5th December – I may have mentioned it once or twice before.

In general the day went as you would expect from shutting a large group of bakers into a poorly-ventilated room with four ovens and the fumes that rose from various home-made mincemeats. If you get one of the pies made from one of “those” recipes you might want to consider not driving for a while. The level of joviality was high and there was much actual jollity in the room (though I managed to fight it off when I felt it creeping up on me). All in all, it was the first day of Christmas spirit I’ve experienced this year and a very enjoyable day. They even gave me a mince pie even though I was just there to take photos.

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There was a slight edge to the atmosphere, based on the fact that if you put down your bun tin for too long someone might purloin it (I speak from bitter experience of a session long ago – the scars are still with me), but this didn’t stop the production of large number of high quality mince pies, which are now shrink-wrapped and frozen in expectation of the big day.

I think it’s appropriate here, though I’m not one to get all touchy-feely about things, to say thanks to the Bread Group for their support, as some of them will be coming to help us out on the 5th. They always come to help with Open Farm Sunday too, and are very much the driving force when we need volunteers for event.

Apart from that there’s nothing….oh, you’d like the recipe?

Many people would, but sadly only the select few members of the Bread group are privy to that information.

Maybe next year…

Bread and good company

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Where does all the time go?

It only seems like yesterday that I was writing about Saturday’s events on Monday and now it’s Thursday.

That means that not only has the week gone, but it’s left me without much time to finish my week’s work. That seems to be constant at the moment – like elementary subtraction I always seem to be borrowing one. In this case it isn’t from the next column but from the next day.

Monday was a blur, partly caused by a flare-up of arthritis and partly by lack of sleep from the day before. It wasn’t a very productive day either, which always seems to be the way when you have too many jobs to fit the available time. Tuesday, I went to a funeral while Julia hosted a day in the country for 20 kids in foster care (and pinged one on the electric fence to bring her year’s total up to 3). On Wednesday I caught up with Monday jobs, juiced some apples and made soup.

Today I attended the bread group, ate the soup with them (it’s pumpkin soup – hence the jar of seeds in the picture), bottled juice, made more soup and emailed Men in Sheds to remind them about the soup.

I have so many jobs to do, and am getting so few of them done, it seems like my ears are moving further apart to accommodate the stuff crammed in my head. I’m assuming this is untrue, as my glasses still fit, but I’m definitely feeling like I need to find a free day to catch up.

Here are some pictures.

Looks like people were enjoying themselves…

Personally I wouldn’t have done it this way

Or this

Sitting down for soup and companionship – the “com” and “pan” translate as “With bread”. Seems right to me.

Hand made, artisan, rustic…

Tuesday night on Tuesday night

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If this was a hard-hitting and controversial blog I’d probably write about how we’d hosted a group tonight where few of the kids had any manners (as in a complete lack of “please” and “thank you”). but as it isn’t, I’d probably have to go on to say that it probably wasn’t their fault, but that of their parents.

Yes, I’m nice. This isn’t natural, I’ve have been using relaxation techniques and such stuff and I can now look at them with a fond smile and think “I really hope this karma stuff works because you’re coming back as a pustule, young man.”

Don’t get me wrong, the majority were nice affable people you’d be happy to meet at any time and one or two were so pleasant and friendly it was a true pleasure to meet them. But, as with rotten apples, it only takes one to spoil things. They are the ones you remember. I will say no more, but as part of my mellowing process I am growing more Wodehousian, and there were one or two tonight who were absolute blisters.

On the plus side, we’re getting better with the wood-fired oven and one of the pigs has had eight piglets. We’ve normally managed more, but eight is still good.

The morning after

Gingerbread, stones and scarecrows

Pizzas and Open Farm Sunday

If a picture’s worth 1,000 words…

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Quick blog – just shove some pictures in. Simple.

It was brioche today in the Bread Group and the results were excellent, which makes it hard to make jokes about.

One tiny fault – if you put too much glaze on top it can run down to stick to the pan and stain the bottom. Doesn’t seem like much of a fault to me – who bothers to look at the bottom when you’re eating fresh bread and jam.

The samples that we had at the break were wonderful, helped by a brilliant batch of home made Hedgerow Jelly. Modesty prevents me from telling you who made the jelly, but I’m sure you can guess. It was so good we sold out.

I’m not sure about the calorific value of the samples, but while I was watching Gail mix the dough last night I was struck by the thought that I’d never seen so much butter outside a supermarket. The Titanic was sunk by something smaller than that! (It’s not a link to what you may be expecting – click it and see).

It was a great session and good to see so many people there.

Because of timings they can’t do the whole thing in one day so next time they meet (16th April because Easter intervenes) they will be making dough and then taking it home to bake.

Such is the life of a bread teacher.

We also had New College out doing their animal course, and as usual in Spring there was a lot of hugging of animals being disguised as work. Still, you’re only young once and it takes a really hard-hearted curmudgeon to look at a cute newborn lamb and think of food.

Have to go now, my mouth is watering.

Must check how the mint is growing…

quercuscommunity

Life after the Care Farm

Category Archives: Baking

Oat and Honey Bread

Bread, baking and bad behaviour

Artisan baking – the inside story

Mince Pie masterclass

Bread and good company

Tuesday night on Tuesday night

The morning after

Gingerbread, stones and scarecrows

Pizzas and Open Farm Sunday

If a picture’s worth 1,000 words…