Rolls and Teacakes and other specials

Oats are my major customer, I bake for them 3 times a week and they often ask me for something a bit different.

So I make Spelt Rolls for the cafe,

and all Vegan Teacakes as well,

not to mention my new product, the rather extravagantly named "Beer and Spelt Sourdough Battered Onion Ring."

Thatsw as well as the old favourites, Spelt Crumpets,

Sourdough Scones,

and Sourdough Digestive Biscuits.

I do have a regular order for a White Spelt Sourdough as well, this is a very nice loaf, without the Wholemeal part of the grain.

Too busy to blog

Its been a few busy days here at Well Bread! The big news is that I am now sole supplier to Oats of Brixham, so there has been an increase in the size of their orders. In consequence I have had less time to try out new products, although I did manage to make some Chorizo and Sundried Tomato rolls for a sample on Sunday morning.

There is a stall at Totnes Good Food Market selling locally made Chorizo and they make one particular one flavoured with Fennel. Its really tasty so I thought I would incorporate it in a roll and see how it tasted.

I left four rolls at the stall, returning less than an hour later I found two remaining, then there was the appreciative tweet,

I also gave a good friend a White Sourdough loaf to try, hopefully she will like it. It was one of these,

Apart from that, it's just been the regular orders, the Spelt Sourdough mainly and the Pizza bases for Pro-Performance.

I have tried my hand at Sourdough Focaccia, including one made with mashed Sweet Potato.

That tasted good with Roasted Vegetables, it was absorbent enough to mop the plate,

I delivered this morning and got the order for Wednesday, it includes Spelt Crumpets, Sourdough Digestives and a new product, Spelt Sourdough and Beer Battered Onion Rings.

Me and my big mouth, I made some for myself and posted a picture of them on Facebook. Now I have orders. That means another early start! At least I get the rest of the beer to drink.

Two new Flavours.

I picked up a bag of Wholemeal flour by mistake in my haste to do the shopping, I only normally use Organic which I buy in bulk but I needed two bags of ordinary Strong White for a job. 

So I decided to make a couple of experimental loaves, if the flavour combinations work I can do them again with Organic sourdough.

The additions were Apricot, Prune and Almond,

and Roasted Potato and Beetroot.

I made a standard Olive Oil dough at 70% and added the extras in the final knead. 50g each of chopped Apricots, chopped Prunes and Flaked Almonds here,

and 250g of chopped and roasted potato and beetroot here.

There may be too much Potato and Beetroot mix but we'll see how it proves.
After kneading they went into the oven to prove for an hour.

They both rose really well,

I shaped them into tins,

and they rose again while the oven heated up to 230°C

Thirty minutes later they were ready,

so a quick slash with my blade and in they went. I baked with steam from a pan of boiling water in the oven, after 25 minutes I took it out as the crust had formed. 

Another 20 minutes and they were done. The internal temperature was above 95°C meaning that the gluten had set.

Now I just have to be patient and let them cool a bit before slicing.

The fillings seem to be well spread, this is the potato, 

and this is the Apricot, you can see the edge of an almond or two.

They taste pretty good as well, perfect for sandwiches or toast.

A slight delay

Apologies to everyone, I have been a bit distracted over the last couple of weeks. There have been visits to family and a book launch to contend with so I'm afraid that posting has taken a bit of a back seat.

I also had my talk at Oats, a great evening in which I managed to make a loaf and 8 rolls in 90 minutes. (I cheated a bit with a pre-ferment for the loaf though)

Everyone who came along had a taste and there was nothing left so it must have been OK.
Here's a few action shots,

I've still been baking the usual stuff, just not writing about it or even trying new ideas. I hope to get back to normal (whatever that is) very soon. Meanwhile thanks for your patience, please don't forget me and I'll see you shortly.

Here are some pictures to show you what I've been up to.

Vegan Teacakes

Yeasted Spelt

Spelt SOurdough with Agave, it caramelises on the crust for a great flavour.

White SOurdough with an 'ear'

Spelt Burger Rolls

White Sourdough Roll with Pine Nuts