Last Bake of 2015

For my last bake of the year, I made some Sundried Tomato and Pesto rolls, a yeasted recipe with coarse semolina to add a bit of texture.

We had them for lunch with smoked salmon, 

After Shaping

After second prove

Baked

Texture

I also made a White Sourdough loaf, I actually started it last night, using 100g starter and 700g flour. It ended up at 75% hydration and was folded three times before overnight fermentation in the fridge.

I took it out at 6am and let it warm up.  At 8 I shaped it into a banneton.

At 10 I put the oven to warm with my Dutch Oven inside to heat up. At 11 I cooked the rolls at 200°C for 20 minutes then wound the oven temperature up to 300°C. (Max)

By 11:30 the dough was bubbling well,

I put it in for 30 minutes covered.

As you can see it rose well and was ready to be finished. Leaving the lid off I reduced the temperature to 230°C and gave it another 30 minutes.

Not too bad. Happy New Year to you all.

A Sad Day.

It’s a sad moment for me today, as I have to announce the closing of Well Bread! Bakery.

Unfortunately, events have led me to this place, a change in circumstances and the realisation that I can no longer reconcile baking with the other things that are happening in my life. I can’t commit to working from 5am to 9am every day and all day on Tuesday and Thursday anymore. (or any two days come to that) So it would not be possible to offer a regular and dependable supply of bread. 

Hence the decision has been made. My last commercial bake is on December 17/18^th although I will of course continue to bake for myself and my family. This blog will only now show the new breads I’m making for myself.

Thanks to everyone who has supported me over the last three years, I appreciate it.