Measurements

 Made some bagels the other day (stay tuned recipe to follow) but before I started I did a little bit of research and it got me thinking.

A recipe I looked at called for 19gms of sugar and 6 gms of yeast. I thought to myself that if I put in a couple of gms more or less would the recipe be totally f@#@#ed. The answer is no, provided you don't go overboard it doesn't affect it.

Also one recipe said to add yeast and sugar to a small portion of the water and let stand for 5 mins and do not stir. Why? I thought as after 5 mins it said to stir the mix and add to the dry ingredients along with the rest of the water. Does not stirring the yeast mixture at the start really have an effect on the finished product. Would you bite into your bagel and exclaim "Oh no!!! the yeast mixture was not left to stand for 5 mins" Short answer NO.

Conclusion; Some of these instructions are a bit of a wank!!

Sweet Short Pastry (reduced sugar)

 This recipe for sweet short pastry uses CSR Smart Sugar which is readily available in supermakets and enables you to halve the amount of sugar you would normally use. It is a blend of cane sugar and a small amount of stevia.

I reduced the sugar in this recipe from 170gms to 80gms just over 50%. The sweetness of the pastry is not compromised at all and the baked pastry was light and biscuity with a lovely tender bite,

Recipe

 80 gms Smart Sugar                                                                                                                                      265 gms salted butter                                                                                                                                          

 Lightly cream  

 1 egg

 Add to the butter sugar cream and mix until cleared

 400 gms flour                                                                                                                                                5 gms Baking Powder

 Sift together and mix in with 1 Tablespoon of chilled water to form a dough                                             Knead lightly to a smooth ball and rest in a cool place for 30 minutes before using.

  BG                                         

Cheats Sourdough Starter

 Good Afternoon Readers,

As we are now in the midst of covid-19 and subsequent lockdowns I have decided to ressurect this blog.

It will in no way be a pretty glamorous blog full of pretty stylised pictures but more a practical blog with a few photos as we go.

This is how to make a cheats sourdough starter.

To start make what we call a biga (method to follow)

When the biga is ready make a loaf of bread using it.

Leave a little of the biga behind and add some flour and water to it (330 gms/260gms)

and leave for 24 hours.

From here you can feed it again or make another loaf of bread

As you keep doing this the starter will gain strength and approach the quality of a good sourdough starter.

For your first few loaves of bread use your favourite yeasted bread recipe ,with the biga added to it, my suggestion would be to a bread recipe using 500gms of flour add 400 gms of the biga and simply follow your recipe.

BIGA RECIPE

0.75 gms of yeast (1/4 tsp)

60 gms warm water

330 gms flour

200 gms water

Sponge the yeast with the 60gms of warm water and 1/4 cup flour

Add to the remaining flour and water and mix well

Cover bowl and leave overnight (the longer you leave it the better the flavour)

Stay tuned and happy baking.

BG

White Sourdough Bread

My sourdough starters are alive and well and are maturing with every use and replenishment.
They sit happily in the refrigerator and each time I make a loaf I replenish them at a 100% hydration rate, i.e. equal parts water and flour, so if I take out 300 gms of starter, I replenish with 150 gms water : 150 gms flour, leave it for a few hours to reactivate and put it away in the refrigerator.

Since I made the starters, I have been baking various loaves, with varying degrees of success. All of the loaves have been good, but some better than others. The wholemeal loaves have been the most successful, and I recently baked a 7 grain & honey wholemeal loaf which was dubbed as excellent by those who tasted it.

White sourdough is the one giving the most grief, so after a little more research I tried the following:--

1) Thoroughly mix flour, oil, sugar and sourdough starter and water together.
2) Autolyse for 20 minutes
3) Add salt and knead for 10 to 15 minutes to form a smooth, well structured dough
4) Cover and leave to rise 4 --6 hours until the dough feels spongy and is well developed.
5) Every hour or so fold the dough over on itself by taking the edges and folding them over working around the bowl.
6) When the ferment is finished and the dough has risen and feels nice and spongy, shape into a loaf or 
loaves. Don't be too vigorous here as you do not to knock the dough down, but rather you want to maintain the structure.
7) Place the loaf into a bread tin or alternatively upside down in a lined banneton and retard by placing in the fridge overnight.
8) Next morning remove from fridge and allow to warm up and  finish it's proof. This will take approx1--3 hours depending on ambient temperatures.
9) When it appears that the final proof is well underway, preheat your oven and bake.
10) For a 1 kg dough, I baked for 45 mins at 230C.

I set up a makeshift bakers oven in my hooded barbecue using clay pavers and a tray of water for steam injection. I actually baked two loaves at differing times, the first loaf (pictured) came out beautifully, however, the underside of the second loaf was overcooked, so next time, I will cook both at the same time.

WHOOPIE PIES

Earlier this year, I made a batch of whoopies, having read a snippet about them. I made a chocolate whoopie and filled them with some ganache I had left over after making macarons.
They were OK, but didn't set the world on fire and I was left wondering what all the fuss was about, so
I didn't go any further with them.
That was until I recently made a batch for a cake stall at my daughter's school carnival. I made a fairly basic recipe of chocolate whoopies and this time I made a more traditional marshmallow filling. I had one spare cookie left, so I put a dollop of filling on it and down it went!!. It was then that I began to realise what the fuss is all about. These little soft cookies/cake type morsels are quite moorish.

And now to a recipe. This one is adapted from one used at a shop called "Baked" in New York.
It is relatively easy, with no creaming of butter and sugar involved, more stirring and folding, and what could be easier.

CHOCOLATE MARSHMALLOW WHOOPIES.

475 gms plain flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 teaspoons Bi carb soda
1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder

Sift these ingredients into a bowl and gently stir to combine.

90 gms dark cocoa powder
2 teaspoons instant coffee
220 mls hot water

Pour hot water onto cocoa/coffee powders and whisk thoroughly to dissolve fully.

350 Gms brown sugar
170 mls canola or vegetable oil
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
110 mls milk soured with the juice of half a lemon

Stir all together until well combined and no lumps of sugar and then add to cocoa mixture and
whisk until smooth.
Fold sifted dry ingredients into the mix until fully combined.

This will give a batter which is pipeable, but will hold it's shape.

Line baking trays with non stick baking paper and pipe rounds about the size of a 50c coin
and a similar height leaving approx 4 cm space between them as the mix will flatten a bit in the oven.
Bake at 180 C for approx 13 minutes. If baking two trays at a time, rotate them half way through and add another 30 secs to baking time. Let cool completely on the trays before removing and filling them.

MARSHMALLOW FILLING.

3 egg whites
270 gms caster sugar
2 tablespoons glucose
pinch salt
1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste.

Place all ingredients in a heatproof bowl and whisk over a pot of simmering water until it is white, glossy and leaves a distinct ribbon trail when you lift the whisk. (5--10 mins)
Transfer to to an electric mixer and whisk for a further 5 minutes until cool.
Transfer to a piping bag and pipe onto whoopies.

SOURDOUGH (part 2)

Having stumbled upon a starter, more by fluke than purpose, I decided to make one from scratch following strict guidelines. I used organic flour and spring water only. You can use whatever quantities you please, but in this ratio:--

Day 1. 1:1 Mix to a paste, loosely cover and set aside.
Day 2. 1:1 Repeat.
Day 3. 2:2 Repeat
Day 4. 4:4 Repeat
Day 5.  Rest
At the end of day 5 the starter was starting to work, bubbles were appearing, it smelt right, but was nowhere near ready for use. There are numerous factors which can affect the rate of growth. Anyway----

Day 6. Fed it again at the ratio 4:4.

Day 7. Better, but still not very active, so I decided to try and flick it over to a wholemeal starter.

           I took off a quantity at the ratio 4: 4 and then refreshed it at the ratio 4:4, but this time I grated a potato, squeezed the liquid out and topped it up to the required amount with spring water and used wholemeal flour.

Day 8. What a difference a day makes!! Bubbly and definitely active. Fed it with water and wholemeal

           flour at the ratio 4:4

Day 9. Repeat @ 4:4

Day 10. We have lift off. A wholemeal starter ready to use.

My booty!!  All 100% Sourdough Bread. Not a grain of added

yeast to be found.

SOURDOUGH (The Bitch Lives!!)

A few days ago, at work, I made a potato rosti mix. When I make rosti, I grate raw potato into a colander resting over a stainless steel bowl to drain off any excess liquid and proceed from that point.
Anyway, after I had finished I had quite a bit of starchy potato liquid in the bowl, so I added some plain flour to make a paste and set it aside. By the end of the day it was a bubbling seething mass, so I fed it some more flour and left it overnight

Day 2.  The mass as still alive, so that evening I fed her again. At home I started to research sourdough starters and found out that stainless steel is their enemy and to get them started you should probably use spring or filtered water, as distinct from town water, and organic flour. Alarm bells!!!!! Mine was in a stainless steel bowl, mixed with some town water and fed with ordinary, everyday plain flour.

Day 3.  Off to the supermarket and back with natural spring water and certified organic flour, armed with my wife's plastic mixing bowl, I arrived at work. The bitch was still alive, so immediately transferred her to the plastic bowl and that evening fed her with spring water and organic flour.

Day 4. She lives!!! Smelling slightly yeasty with a hint of banana and bubbling away nicely, fed her again
spoke to her lovingly and left her overnight.

Day 5.  Today she rests. No feeding required.

Day 6.  She is, what appears to be , an active, fermenting liquid sourdough starter. So I now have a semi leaven, plus pure sourdough bread doughs on the go. Will post the results.

FLOURLESS LEMON CAKE

There are loads of recipes for flourless cakes available in books or via the Internet.
Had some juicy, slightly old lemons, laying around so made a flourless lemon cake
and the result was surprisingly good. Stays moist for days and if you pour a syrup onto it
while it is still warm, it adds another dimension.
Here is the cake recipe:--

2.25 Cups Almond Meal                 

6 Eggs

12 Tablespoons White Sugar

Zest of  5  medium size Lemons

Juice of 1 Lemon

1 Teaspoon Cinnamon

Pinch of Salt

Grate the Lemon Zest

Separate Eggs

Beat together egg yolks, 3 Tablespoons of sugar, cinnamon and lemon zest

until light and creamy and double in volume.

While this is happening, Mix together almond meal and 3 tablespoons of sugar.

Fold together creamed egg yolk mixture and almond meal until well combined.

Beat egg whites with a pinch of salt until soft peaks start to form and then sprinkle

in the remaining 6 tablespoons of sugar and continue to beat until medium glossy

peaks form.

Add about a quarter of the whites to the almond/egg yolk mix and combine well

to loosen the mix a little and then gently fold in the remaining egg white mix.

Pour into a 20 Cm spring form tin which has been greased and the base lined with

baking paper

Bake at 190C for 50 minutes or until a skewer come out clean.

If you wish, you can make a lemon syrup with the juice of the

remaining lemons and after about 10 minutes, prick the top of the cake and

pour over the syrup. This should be done while the cake is still in the tin.

Allow to sit for a further 10 to 15 minutes and then release the cake from the tin.

Alternatively, dust with icing sugar prior to serving.

This cake is a great gluten free, dairy free option for those with allergies.

MACARONS, MACARONS & MORE MACARONS

I have been busy over the last few months perfecting the macaron.
In fact it became a bit of an obsession. It all started before Xmas when I attempted to make some as a garnish for one of my Xmas desserts, foolishly thinking that I had mastered the evil little cookie.
Well, the more I tried, the more I failed, so I ditched them until after Xmas and went back to the drawing board.
Now I beleive I have mastered the little brutes, having made a variety of colours and flavours, all turning out beautifully., to the point where I am thinking of making and selling them.
Flavours I have perfected are:

Licorice
Strawberry
Cherry
Banana
Peppermint
Chilli Chocolate
Peanut butter Ganache
Salted caramel ganache

The three flavours I am currently working on are popcorn, bubblegum or gumball and pear walnut and blue cheese.

In the meantime here are some photos to look at

 From the top, Strawberry, Peanut butter ganache, peppermint and banana, and licorice.

Tiddy Oggy

The reruns of Britain's Best Dish 2007 are now finished and the Champion
starter was a dish known as Somerset Tiddy Oggy.
I remember watching a few episodes of this show a couple of years back
and this dish didn't really grab me at the time, but having watched the series
more closely this time around, I decided to give it a go.
Well, the Tiddy Oggy is just fabulous and there are just not enough superlatives
to describe the pastry, it is just so light and flavoursome. The addition of sage
was of my choosing and in my opinion it lifts the flavour.
A word of warning, this is not a recipe for those on low fat diets or those watching
their cholesterol etc.
I will stress here that this is not my recipe and you can find full details at

www.goodtoknow.co.uk/recipes/.../Tiddy-oggy
INGREDIENTS

SHORT CRUST PASTRY
• 100g lard
• 100g butter
• 450g plain flour
• salt
• 120 mls iced water

FILLING
• butter for frying
• 1 small onion
• 1 medium cooking apple
• 50g celery
• 225g minced pork
• 1 tbsp fresh parsley – chopped
• 1 tbsp fresh sage – chopped

• salt and pepper
• 1 egg for glazing
• 2 tbsp grated cheddar cheese
• 4 tbsp breadcrumbs to cover

1.Put the lard, butter, flour and salt in a food processor and whizz until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Gradually add the iced water, a very little at a time, until the mixture just comes together into a ball. Remove from the dough from the food processor, lightly knead acouple of times, wrap in cling film and leave to rest in the refrigerator for 30 mins. (I left my dough overnight)


2.Peel, core and finely chop the apple. Melt the butter in a small saucepan over a medium heat and fry the onion, celery and apple until the onion is soft and translucent. Transfer to a bowl. Put the mince in the same pan and fry it in its own fat, stirring frequently, until lightly browned. Add to the onion with the parsley and sage, season well with salt and black pepper and stir well. Allow to cool, then chill in the refrigerator until needed.

3.Preheat the oven to 180°C. Remove the pastry from the refrigerator and allow it to come almost back to room temperature (this helps to avoid cracking). Roll out the pastry on a floured work surface and cut into 15cm (6in) rounds.

4.Place a spoonful of the mince mixture in the centre of each pastry round, brush the edges with water, then pull up the sides and press together, leaving a hole at the top. Fill the holes with the cheese and top with breadcrumbs. Brush each of the pastries with a little beaten egg to glaze.

5.Place the tiddy oggys on a baking tray and bake in the oven for 30 mins until the pastry is cooked and golden. Serve warm or cold with a good relish or chutney.

Paratha (Indian Flat Bread)

Recipe

3 Cups Plain Flour
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 Generous tablespoon Butter
I Cup Water

6 Tablespoons Butter
Extra melted butter for cooking

Sift together flour and salt and rub in
1 generous tablespoon of butter.
Add water and mix to a firm dough.
Knead for 10 to 15 minutes until a smooth shiny elastic
dough is achieved.
Cover with cling film and allow to rest for at least 1 hour.



Divide the dough into 12--14 portions and roll
into smooth balls.
Melt the remaining butter.

Lightly flour your bench and roll each ball into a thin disc.
Brush a disc with melted butter and then make a cut
from the centre to the outside edge.
Starting at the cut edge, roll into a cone shape.
Place the cone on it's base and gently work the apex down

towards the base and flatten slightly.

Repeat process until all balls of dough are finished.

Lightly flour your work surface

again and reroll the doughs

taking care not to press too firmly

as to push out the air at the edges.

Roll to a roughly circular shape

and not as thin as the first time.

Brush the top with melted butter

and flip into a hot pan and fry until

it starts to puff up a little, brush the top with butter, flip and fry until the

underside turns golden brown.Turn onto your serving plate, or to add extra flakiness, cup your hands around the outside and quickly and firmly clap them together as you would for a roti style bread.




 

.

.

Buttermilk Scones

Had some buttermilk left over from last night's apple pie,
so made some buttermilk scones. when it comes to baking,
buttermilk and self raising flour seem to be the perfect match.

Recipe

2 cups SR Flour

1 Tablespoon caster sugar         
Pinch salt
65 Gms chilled butter
3/4 Cup Buttermilk
Buttermilk for Glazing

Sift together dry ingredients
Chop the chilled butter into the dry ingredients
and then with the tips of your fingers, rub in until the mix resembles
fine breadcrumbs.(When rubbing in the butter, lift the mix up and let it
rain back into the bowl as you go. This helps to continually aerate the mix.)
Make a well in the centre and add the buttermilk, and then combine using a flat
bladed knife until the mix forms a slightly sticky dough.

Turn onto a lightly floured bench and gently knead three times to form a
just smooth dough. It is important not to overwork the dough
Pat or gently roll to approx 2 cm thick and cut your scones.
Place on a greased and lightly floured tray and glaze with buttermilk.
The scones should be just touching each other as this helps push them up.
Bake at 200 C (fan forced) or 220 C (conventional) for approx 15 minutes
until golden brown. They should sound hollow when tapped.

Sublime Apple Pie

Actually this really is all about the pastry.
I was watching Britain's Best Dish the other night and the episode where retired Chemist
John Blenkinsop made his apple pie. The judges raved about it so much, in particular the pastry
so I decided to give it a shot.

So, In reverence to Mr Blenkinsop, and with a couple of modifications, some by design and a couple by accident, here is my version.                            

PASTRY
350 Gms Self Raising Flour
85 Gms Lard
85 Gms Butter
200 Mls Buttermilk
Pinch of Salt

Sift flour and salt into a bowl
Add lard and butter and cut into the flour with a knife
until it starts to combine and the add the buttermilk and continue to mix
until it comes together as a dough.
Turn the dough onto a floured bench and lightly form into a rectangular block.
(This is the first time your hands should come in contact with the dough)
Take approx 2/3 rds of the dough and roll into a rectangular shape approx 1 cm thick.
Fold in three as for puff pastry.
Turn 90 degrees and repeat the process.
Allow to rest for approx 1/2 hour and repeat the process.
Allow to rest and then roll out and line a pie tin, trim and set aside the trimmings.
Fill with your desired pie filling.

For the lid, roll out the remainig 1/3 rd of the pastry and fold in three.
Turn 90 degrees and repeat.
Allow to rest and then roll out to a rectangle.
Dot butter on the pastry and roll out or place cut trimmings over half
of the rectangle and then fold over the remaining half.
Turn and roll out and then fold in three. Rest for approx 1/2 hour.
Roll ot the pastry, brush the edges of the piecase with little buttermilk
and place the lid on top.
Cut a small hole in the middle, brush with buttermilk and sprinkle
with sugar.
Bake at 200 C for approx 25 minutes or until golden brown.


This pastry is every bit as good as the Judges said on the show.
It is simply magnificent.
I am not going to suggest a filling, but will leave that up to you.
I made a simple apple pie filling, but you could leave the sugar off
the top and make a savoury filling--up to you, but the possibilities are endless.

BRIOCHE

Haven't made brioche for years, and today being a bit of a flat indoor type of a day, thought I'd

marshall the troops (i.e. the Kids) and we would have a go and see what transpired.




INGREDIENTS

700 Gms Bakers Flour

60 Gms Granulated Sugar
10 Gms Salt

35 Gms Dried Yeast

45 Gms Milk Powder

100 Mls Water (37 C)

300 Gms Eggs

300 Gms Butter

Sieve dry ingredients together.

Lightly beat eggs, add warm water, and then stir in yeast.

Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients and pour

in the egg and yeast mixture.

Gradually incorporate the flour to form a dough and then knead until

smooth and clear.

Set aside and allow to double in size,

Knock the dough back and then start to incorporate the

softened butter, mixing until clear. (Lightly dusting the dough

with flour occaisonally will assist in incorporating the butter)

Allow to relax for approx 20 minutes and then portion and form

into desired rolls, scrolls, or loaves etc.

Allow to prove until doubled in size.

Bake at 230C (conventional oven) or 210C (fan forced)

until golden brown.

(In my oven which I think is on the hot side the little rolls took 18

minutes and the loaf took approx 30 minutes.)

 

 In the scheme of things this is not a cheap recipe,

(for home cooked), but the flavour and texture
 is excellent, rich and buttery.
Toasted or plain, spread with a little butter and
some good quality conserve or jam it is simply
delicious.
You can take my word for that or better still,
why not give it a go and see for yourself.
Bon Apetit!! and good cooking.
   

 









 

 



ROTI STYLE BREAD

Roti is something I have never attempted in my years of cooking. I have always taken the easy, or lazy, way out and simply bought it when needed. Anyway, I saw it on a cooking show recently and decided to have a go having been motivated by the price of this stuff in the shops lately.

So here is my first attempt. I tried two different ways to stretch the dough--one by flipping/whipping the dough and the other by flattening and massaging the dough into a large rectangle, the latter giving the better results.

RECIPE

500 gms plain flour ( the softer the better )

40 gms butter

2 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon sugar

1 egg

1 cup water

Vegetable oil

Sieve flour, salt and sugar together.
Rub the butter into the flour mixture.

Lightly beat the egg and pour into a well in the flour mixture and gently work

in with your fingertips.

Make a well in the centre and add the water and then work to a dough, and then

knead for about 5 minutes until smooth. If your dough seems to wet or sticky you can

knead in extra flour until you achieve a smooth consistency.

Divide the dough into approx 12--14 pieces and form into balls. Place in a bowl, cover with oil

and set aside for approx 4--6 hours.

Take a piece of dough and gently pat out to a rectangular shape
and continue to massage the dough to a larger and larger rectangle,
(You will be surprised how far you can stretch this dough),
until almost paper thin and see through.

Then start to loosely roll the dough into a long cylinder.

Pick the dough up from one end and coil into a snail shape.

 Repeat process until all balls of dough are coiled.

Heat a little oil in a pan, gently flatten the coils to approx 3 times the size

taking care not to knock out all of the air, and place in pan.

When golden brown on one side, turn and brush the cooked side
with some melted butter or margarine and continue to fry until golden
 brown on the other side.
Remove from the pan, place on your bench and cup your
hands around the cooked roti.
Now quickly slap your hands together and quickly release.
Rotate the Roti and repeat and viola , there you have it, golden
flaky Roti Bread at a fraction of the price.