Simple milk loaf.... with fresh yeast...

Dusted off Dan Lepard's "The Handmade Loaf" to try a recipe called "Simple Milk Loaf"... and it was simple! Very!

The exciting thing about this recipe, for me, is that it allowed me to use some fresh yeast (ordered off eBay - of course...!) for the first time - having bought a block of 100g and frozen the rest in 7g portions, wraped in clingfilm, leaving me just 7g to use this week.

My 7 year-old delighted in helping, and it was easy enough for her to get involved. The only thing I would say is that I don't feel the loaf got as high a rise as I was expecting it too... that may be that I didn't knead it well enough, or that I didn't use quite enough yeast... but I suspect it was due to the tin I used as Dan stipulates a smaller one than the 2lb tin I had to hand. I will definitely give this another go as it looks, and smells, AMAZING... slightly sweet (due to the Maple syrup, probably!) and rich, due to the milk... just the thing for a Sunday breakfast :-)

Simple milk loaf... yum!

SuperFast Thermapen 0-299.9°C, Red - BakeryBits - Artisan Bread Baking Equipment

SuperFast Thermapen 0-299.9°C, Red - BakeryBits - Artisan Bread Baking Equipment

So part of me feels that I should be an "intuitve" baker..... But the success of a loaf does seem to be a science (at least until I get a bit of practice in!). So this thermometer is definitely on the wish list!

Wholemeal sourdough!

So, refusing to be beaten by an Eastern European wild "man" (ie my sourdough starter by the name of Boris), I attempted my second sourdough loaf.

Using the River Cottage book - which seems MUCH more suited to the novice breadmaker (like me!!) - I followed the advice and made up a sponge mix (starter, water and flour) and left it out overnight. Funny... looks a LOT like the actual dough I made for the white leaven loaf (further suggesting to me that I went badly wrong somewhere with that one!!!!). If anything, once I'd added the rest of the flour required, it was a bit dry.. I added more water, but think now I could have added more. It didn't rise and become as "pillowy" as the instructions led me to believe it would. Anyway... this is the result....

sponge mix after spending the night left at room temp... looking good!!

Rising!!

So THAT's more like it :-)

Looks better but, on cutting it open, it is far too dense. I think this is due to the dough being too dry... needs to be much wetter to create the sort of "open crumb" texture of true sourdough. So I'm going to keep feeding "Boris" and have another go in a week or so.... the quest continues!!!

White leaven loaf.. continued....

So, I followed the instructions.... just didn't look right... but what do I know, I'm new to this and I have no idea how it works!!! Dough was VERY sticky, and seemed to just be spreading rather than rising. Anyway, I thought, just stick it in the oven!!!!!

Well, this was the outcome....

My first sourdough "pancake"!!!

Less of a bread and more of a pancake.... :-( Oh well.....

Boris, and my first natural leaven bread!

So Boris has reached Day 6 and I'm ready to bake with him. Removed the required 200g for Dan Lepard's white leaven loaf. Replenished him with the required 100g of water and 125g of strong white flour. Dan's recipes all seem very precise in terms of timings (which I can understand having read the River Cottage Book) and temperatures (which I'm having more of an issue getting my head around). I don't have a thermometer yet but when Dan specifies that water should be 20degrees C, or 16degrees C... well, what's the difference to me?!! I hope it's not crucial.. but if it wasn't why would he be making a point of it? Hmmm.....

So, I have started my first natural leaven loaf. The basic white one. First stage to be done in the fridge overnight, and I will tackle it tomorrow.

Boris - ready for baking!

White leaven dough to be left overnight.

 

Natural leaven

Boosted by the success of todays loaf (and just having managed to track down rye flour in the local supermarket!), I've decided to embark on the creation of my own natural leaven, or wild yeast. This is something that, as long as I don't "kill" it, should last me for the duration of my baking life.... no pressure then!!!

I'm using Dan Lepard's guidelines on this which, interestingly and unusually, contains raisins and natural yogurt, to add some bacteria and promote yeast growth. So, all mixed up, "Boris" (it seems only right and proper that my yeast should have a suitable Eastern European name) is now sitting in a moderately warm spot in the sun room. I'll feed him daily over the next week with a mix of strong white and rye flours. Pictures of his progress will follow....

Second loaf...

Having finished the last of the (frozen) loaves I made a week ago.. we're now craving more fresh bread! I decided to try a different combination of flours and opted for Shipton Mill "Three Malts and Sunflower" brown flour (785g) plus a small amount of wholemeal to make up the 1kg. I also added 2 handfuls of mixed seeds (pumpkin, sunflower and sesame). Again, using dried "fast action" yeast. One slight difference this time is that I used the two-stage mixing method, mixing flour and water together, and letting it sit for 1hr, before adding the salt and yeast. I liked this method. The dough did feel easier to "work" - as the book said it would!! Kitchen warmer than last week, I think (although the lack of a room thermometer means that this is not scientific!). Dough risen in bowl on top of the oven (oven not on), under cling film. I have purchased an oven thermometer, since last time, and found that my oven is HOT! Got it up to 270deg C for the first 10mins, but then struggled to reduce the temp - accounting for the "well-fired" crust on last weeks loaves. Despite turning the temp down to (what should have been) 140deg C, after the initial oven rise period of 10mins, the temperature in the actual oven didn't get below 200deg C. I used foil to cover the loaves (as I had done last week) for the final 30mins, but they still came out rather brown.

All things coinsidered, I am pleased with the results.. yet to try it, but it looks yum!

Malted and seeded loaf

My First Loaf!!

So I couldn't wait! Thoroughly read and "digested" (ahem...) the first chapter of The River Cottage Bread Book (by Daniel Stevens). Decided to go for it with "easy-bake" yeast (if it's good enough for Hugh F-W), and a mix of wholemeal and white flours. No oven thermometer, so just had to trust the oven. House was quite cold BUT left bowl of dough in the sun room and covered with bin bag (the black plastic does absorb heat). Heeded Daniel Stevens' advice and used a tray of boiling water in the oven to recreate a steam oven.. I think it did make the bread crusty, which I like.

First dough mix - yeast/salt added at step 1

Kneeding first dough

1st rise

Final prove

Out of the oven!!

Yum!

Was a really, really nice loaf!!!! Surprised myself with how nice it was actually, given that the only loaves I've managed to produce in the past (courtesy of the breadmaker, for at least part of the process) have been like bricks!

Success first time... now for something braver!

First stage... books.... and equipment!!

Dan Lepard's "The Handmade Loaf" and The River Cottage Bread book have been purchased....... Thought I might get going tonight with my first dough... but it turns out I need all manner of "equipement" if I'm to give this a serious go. In terms of ingredients of course I need flour (obviously!) and yeast (fresh if possible), but it also seems I need items like a proving basket, "baking stone", a "peel", a special razor thingie to cut the bread before baking (this is crucial!), a refillable spray bottle for water (also crucial!).... oh, the list seems endless!!! So, like all good hobbies, this one's going to cost some money......