Part 2

So here's the ingredients list for Sally's order.

2.75 kg Organic White Flour,
0.75kg Organic Wholemeal Flour,
800g Organic Mincemeat,
200g Organic Butter, 
100g Organic Sugar,
Yeast and Salt.

And out of that, 20 White Rolls, 20 Wholemeal Rolls and 40 Teacakes.

White Rolls ready

 

Teacakes ready

White Rolls done

 

Wholemeal Rolls Done



Teacakes Done



Up Close

Now I need a rest, and so does the oven, there's just time to deliver them and it's off to visit the Xmas market and get into the festive spirit.

The Big Push

Friday 22nd November will go down in my memory as the first day day of the Mincemeat Tea-cake saga. Largely because over the next 24 hours, I'm making a total of 65 of the little blighters, 40 with Organic White Flour for Oats on Saturday; and 25 with Apple and Cinnamon flour for Millie today. Of course if they are popular, I will be doing it all again, (and again.....maybe)

Also I'm making 15 Turkey, Stuffing and Cranberry Spiral Rolls, and 15 Festive Biscuits for Millie today. And I might try my hand at "Bays" Beer Bread, which is what it says, bread made with "Bays" Beer, a local brew and very nice.

And not forgetting the 40 Organic Rolls for Brixham Does Care,(a very worthwhile Charity in Brixham) that Sally is selling with Soup at a Fair trade Cafe during the Brixham Xmas market. I will do those on Saturday with the tea-cakes.

I think I've got those details right, now on to the prep. Here are the main ingredients for Millie:-

1.5 kg Apple and Cinnamon Flour, 450g Mincemeat, Butter and Sugar. Egg to glaze
1kg White Flour, Cooked Turkey, Cooked Stuffing and Dried Cranberries,
300g Plain Flour for the biscuits, with 150g Mincemeat. butter sugar eggs etc
And of course the usual Yeast, Salt Water etc.
      
So Prompt on Friday morning, I warmed up the mixer, got my pinny on and began;

It's all abut the rising time, especially for the tea-cakes, as the addition of moist Mincemeat alters the dough. I give it a rise first before adding the Mincemeat when I knock it back. At least that way the dough has had a chance to develop.

I don't usually do 1.5 kilos of dough at once, so the mixer was wheezing a bit at the end,

but I spoke nicely to it and the result was fine, I just gave it a bit of a fold by hand and put it in to prove.

Then I made a kilo of white dough and put that in as well.
Now its just a case of waiting to see if it rises, I know it will, but there's always that nagging doubt.

Meanwhile I have to sort out the fillings,

Turkey and Stuffing

 

Mincemeat

and get making,

The Risen Dough

Mixing in

Result

I made a few extra for samples and they tasted just fine.

Next up the Turkey Rolls, You've seen these babies before so not too many photos, just a few 'before' ones,

Needless to say, they were well received.

And the Cookies,

Next the Beer Bread, a first for me, but similar to Soda Bread,
the batter goes in a loaf tin,

and 45 minutes later,

I made it with Coarse Sea Salt, so it had the odd crystal for a crunch, and the taste of solid Beer!

Sophie was pleased with her order, I will pop in tomorrow to see how they went.
Now I'm having a rest before tomorrow mornings effort.

The Christmas Rush starts here!

Tis the season to make festive fare, and boy do I have to do that, the first orders are in and its a total of 65 Mincemeat Teacakes, 15 Turkey, Stuffing and Cranberry Rolls and some festive cookies, spread over two customers. All for Friday and Saturday.

That will keep me busy, and hopefully provide a showcase for my work, and a few hunger induced purchases.

The Rolls I did for the Brixfest fundraiser were a success, my ears should have been burning on Saturday night, or so I have been told. And a good sum was raised, which is the main thing.

But before all that, I have the regular Oats order to do, plus 20 Rolls, so that will involve a 5.15 start tomorrow. Its a good job I'm not going out for Dinner with friends tonight..............,
Oh hang on a minute.

Once again that was good timing, mind you I've done it before, a concert 120 miles away with 4 hours sleep recently springs to mind. When will I learn. Mind you it is a three course meal for £8.97 (plus drinks) so hard to turn down.

I'll keep you posted, I wonder if I can knead dough in my sleep?

Loads of Rolls

Today is the day for Roll making, I have agreed to do 60 of the things, plus some Ciabatta for Millie and Me, as part of the Brixfest fundraiser.

I'm doing 20 each of Plain, Olive and Sun dried Tomato. So yesterday I started the ferments,

All ready

 

Plain

 

Sun Dried Tomato

These were left to rise overnight and this morning I completed the doughs.
By the way, my fluffy loaf misbehaved, despite the good bubbling,

 and reasonable rise,

it didn't get very high on baking.

 

 but it had a good Artisan shape,and hopefully the taste was OK.

Back to the Rolls, Friday morning, I checked the ferments,



Plain



Sun dried Tomato

As you can see, they had risen nicely, so I finished off the doughs and left them for a couple of hours. Making bread has taught me that there is no need to rush anything, it all tastes better the longer you can leave it.

After that, they were ready to shape,

Risen Dough

 

Rolls

 

Ciabatta

Then of course you leave them again,

Spot the difference

Spot the difference

for a second rise, while the oven heats up.

Baking is easy, its just a case of keeping an eye on the timer, and turning regularly, to get an even colour.

They all look pretty good to me.

I delivered them to Millie and Sophie agreed, Hopefully the fundraiser will go well.

And Make it Fluffy!

That was the instruction, Oats asked for an extra White Spelt loaf with their order tomorrow, and want one that's more aerated?

Well OK, I will have to see what I can do, I think I will make an overnight dough, give the yeast more time to develop.

In the meantime, I used up my excess starter on a no knead sourdough, this one had 750g flour (300g from starter and 400g Strong White) 550g water (300g from starter) 10g salt, and a rough mix followed by an overnight rise. I stretched it a couple of times then left it for 30 minutes while the oven heated up.

It had 30 minutes covered, then 20 with the top off. Internal temp was 96 degrees C (gluten sets at 95 degrees)

 

 

Its a busy week for me bread wise, I have 60 Rolls and 4 Large Ciabatta to do for the Brixfest fundraiser, the usual Oats order plus the extra loaf, and 20 panini rolls for Weds. Next week its the Fairtrade stall at the local market, with Organic Rolls and Teacakes, then we will be into the Christmas specials. That's the Mincemeat Teacakes and the Turkey, Cranberry and Stuffing Spiral Rolls. And maybe some festive cookies as well. There might even be time left for work.

A Tale of Two Fillings

With apologies to Mr Dickens,

 

 Today I'm baking for delivery to Gravesend. When my shifts co-incide with those of my old customers, I take their orders when I travel.

 

This time, I have orders for Chorizo and Cheese Spirals, and my seasonal Turkey, Stuffing and Cranberry Spirals.

 

Here are the fillings, ready to go.

 

 

 

and once they have been made and cut, they are ready for a second rise.

 

After baking, they look good enough to eat?

 

 

The smell in the car for five hours will drive me wild.