And some more

After my success with the Caraway Ciabatta Rolls, I was asked by the customer to come up with some new ideas, to ring the changes.

I had tried the Walnut Sourdough before in a loaf, as well as the carrot and coriander loaf; so it was an easy decision to make them into rolls, although I still did the carrot as a loaf.

The basic recipe is here,

 http://www.myitaliansmorgasbord.com/2013/07/20/bread-for-breakfast-foolproof-sourdough-rolls/

and I just add the extras, such as 15 g Caraway or 50 g chopped Walnuts at the autolyse.
It's slightly more complex with the Carrot and Coriander because the carrots have a high liquid content, initially I added 100 g of grated carrot and reduced the water by 100 g. Then 3 teaspoons of dried Coriander leaves. 

The dough was quite stiff but still took an extra 15 minutes to bake as the liquid was cooked out of the middle. It's here that a thermometer comes in handy, after 45 minutes the base was firm and sounded hollow, done by convention, but the internal temperature was only 70 degrees. (Gluten sets at 95)

Here are the doughs before baking,

Walnut.

you can see the carrot quite clearly.

I cut the Walnut dough into portions and baked for 20 minutes without shaping.

As you can see, they are fine.

Eventually the Carrot was done,

and after an impatient half an hour I could wait no longer.

I'm pleased with that one.

More new Products

After the success of the Doughnuts, I tried a Sourdough Ciabatta from a new recipe for a customer at Oats, some plain and some with Caraway Seeds.

I have heard that the customer was pleased and wants some with Walnuts next time.

I made Easter shortbread for Millie and Me, using my Easter cutters,

and left them a sample of my Chocolate and Orange Brioche to try.

Contains Orange Zest and Extract plus Chocolate Chips. Being a sweet dough (egg and Caster Sugar) its soft and doughy texture is more like cake but who cares?

Sourdough Doughnuts

I have made doughnuts before, but only the basic, non-filled kind. However I was in a pound shop getting essential supplies (ground coffee in 250g bags) and found an icing syringe for filling them with jam.

I just couldn't resist having a go.


And here is the recipe, I found it online ages ago, I follow this lady's blog and have tried a lot of her recipes, she is a genius.

http://www.myitaliansmorgasbord.com/2014/05/31/dairy-free-sourdough-doughnuts/

I followed the recipe up to the cutting part, as I didn't cut centres out and filled with jam instead of decorating.

Jean next door had her daughter and grandchildren in the garden so I passed a few over and they disappeared pretty quickly. I want to see how long they stay fresh now so I know if I can sell them.

New Today

In answer to a query from a customer, I made some Easter Shortbread this morning, samples will be taken down later, if they like them, they may well be appearing on a cafe menu soon.

I also made a Sourdough Chocolate and Vanilla loaf, from a Vanessa Kimbell recipe, which was slightly more bitter than I expected. It would be nice with cheese though, or a good preserve.

Love Life! Brixham

Just a quick post to let you know my page for this event has gone live. Check it out here:-

http://lovelifebrixham.blogspot.co.uk/2015/03/well-bread.html

Look forward to seeing some of you there.

Mixed Sourdough

As it was Sunday, I thought I would try a couple of new recipes that I had found for Sourdough breads. If they work out, I'll share the details later.

This is all in aid of the upcoming "Love Life!" event in Brixham on May 15th, where I will be displaying my wares? and offering samples and information about all things Sourdough.

I made up the sponges last night for Ciabatta, Focaccia and a Walnut Loaf.

By morning I mixed doughs and left to rise for a couple of hours, then I shaped them and left for an hour while the oven warmed up. The Walnut bread was an hour behind the other two so it could be baked as the Ciabatta and Focaccia came out.

Pre baking they looked like this, not a lot of rise but I was expecting good spring.

Baking has taught me patience,I do get excited with a new recipe though and want to get it in the oven as soon as possible.

An hour later they were ready to go,

And after a 25 minute bake,

Now I have to be patient again to let them cool before cutting to inspect the internal structure.

Well they are not too bad and the taste is good enough, maybe I'll just let them prove a little longer next time.

Meanwhile the Walnut bread is in, with steam.

And the result.

I'll get back to you with the recipes later.

New Flavours

After the success of the Caraway and Fennel breads, I'm on a roll. (so to speak!)

So I've been thinking about new flavours to try, along with my Chief Tester and the unsung hero of Well Bread!, I refer of course to Yvonne. She has given me so many ideas and suggestions over the last couple of years, and her ideas are 99% brilliant.

We spent a while in thought and after looking around the offerings at the small market in Newton Abbot today, and noticed that Beetroot bread was on sale, I made Beetroot bread about a year ago and nobody really liked it, looks like once again I was ahead of the trend. (or maybe someone did like it after all and had a go?) 

Anyway, I digress; The flavour that caught my imagination was Carrot and Coriander, I spotted it online in several places within a few hours so I decided that it was a hint to do my own version.

There is a caution with this one though, as carrots are about 70-80% water you have to adjust the quantities to take account of this. In the same way that you do with the Beetroot bread, if you leave the water the same the dough is really wet and hard to shape. My plan is to allow half the carrot as water and see how we go. With the coriander in there as well, the idea is to make a kind of solid soup and a roll. Maybe a meal in one.

I started off with 200 g of grated Carrot,

10 g of chopped fresh Coriander,

475g Wholemeal Flour, 270 ml water, 10 g each of Yeast and Salt and 100g of Sourdough starter. Oh yes, 15 g of Dark Brown sugar.

Then just make it like ordinary bread.

After Kneading

After bulk rise

Shaped

Proved, (bit wonky, don't know why?)

Baked

Crumb

Close up of carrot.