The bakers' thread

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glasgowcyclist

Charming but somewhat feckless
Location
Scotland
We've got a few on here who enjoy baking and there are posts scattered all over so I thought it might be useful for us to gather together in one place, whether it's about bread, cakes, buns or pastries.

Please post your recipes, successes, disasters, questions, advice & tips.
 
OP
OP
glasgowcyclist

glasgowcyclist

Charming but somewhat feckless
Location
Scotland
I've been trying out a new sourdough recipe and it's producing some cracking bread:

nokneadsourdough.jpg


This is from a recipe I found at Shipton Mill's site for an overnight, no-knead sourdough.

I do mine in an enamelled pot with lid, so that I can keep as much moisture in as possible during the first 20 minutes of baking.
 

Tail End Charlie

Well, write it down boy ......
And at the other end of the scale, soda bread, which is incredibly easy and quick to make.
350 ml buttermilk (or just add two tbsps lemon juice to ordinary milk, full fat is best and leave for 15 mins)
500g plain flour (or whatever mixture of flours you want)
1 tsp salt, 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
Mix everything together, shape into a round, roll in oats, or linseed or any seed really, cut a cross into the top (this is to help it cook through)
36 mins in oven at 180C.

For added deliciousness, one or two tbsps black treacle at the mixing stage (my favourite) or fried onion and cheese.
The basic recipe gets you this
CIMG3576.JPG
 

burndust

Parts unknown...baby
I've been trying out a new sourdough recipe and it's producing some cracking bread:

View attachment 387755

This is from a recipe I found at Shipton Mill's site for an overnight, no-knead sourdough.

I do mine in an enamelled pot with lid, so that I can keep as much moisture in as possible during the first 20 minutes of baking.
that looks good GG, always fancied making sourdough but the whole making a starter for weeks in advance has always put me off, this looks very easy, i've used the sponge method in the past which has worked well
 
OP
OP
glasgowcyclist

glasgowcyclist

Charming but somewhat feckless
Location
Scotland
that looks good GG, always fancied making sourdough but the whole making a starter for weeks in advance has always put me off,

My starter (now 17 months old) was ready to go after 7 days, it's really not a faff as it does its own thing and all you need to do for those first 6 days is feed it. That takes two minutes tops each day.
After that, I store mine in the fridge, bringing it out on Thursday evening to warm up again, feed it on Friday so it's lively for use that evening.
 

annedonnelly

Girl from the North Country
And at the other end of the scale, soda bread, which is incredibly easy and quick to make.
350 ml buttermilk (or just add two tbsps lemon juice to ordinary milk, full fat is best and leave for 15 mins)
500g plain flour (or whatever mixture of flours you want)
1 tsp salt, 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
Mix everything together, shape into a round, roll in oats, or linseed or any seed really, cut a cross into the top (this is to help it cook through)
36 mins in oven at 180C.

For added deliciousness, one or two tbsps black treacle at the mixing stage (my favourite) or fried onion and cheese.
The basic recipe gets you this
View attachment 387760

I read somewhere - Paul Hollywood perhaps - that you could just use watered down milk instead of buttermilk, so that's what I do. I'll try the lemon juice trick next time.

I got some seeded flour very much reduced recently so I've been using it up making soda bread.
 

Tail End Charlie

Well, write it down boy ......
that looks good GG, always fancied making sourdough but the whole making a starter for weeks in advance has always put me off, this looks very easy, i've used the sponge method in the past which has worked well
Burndust, I know what you mean about the starter taking time, but once you've got it going, it can live in the fridge for years and you just top up when making a new batch. It ends up looking like this in the fridge, which can cause some consternation to anyone looking in your fridge. I've had this going for about five years now and last made a sourdough at least six months ago, but the starter will be fine the next time I make one.
CIMG3821.JPG
 

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OP
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glasgowcyclist

glasgowcyclist

Charming but somewhat feckless
Location
Scotland
When I use spelt or rye flour, no matter what, I find that the loaves tend to be heavy. Is this normal? Do you add white flour?


Are you following a recipe or winging it?

Spelt has only a moderate amount of gluten and rye has hardly any, so both will benefit from the addition of white flour to give it a better rise.
 

Tail End Charlie

Well, write it down boy ......
I read somewhere - Paul Hollywood perhaps - that you could just use watered down milk instead of buttermilk, so that's what I do. I'll try the lemon juice trick next time.

I got some seeded flour very much reduced recently so I've been using it up making soda bread.
The lemon juice is to react with the bicarb to provide the lift. I guess you could use milk and baking powder but I've never tried that. Yoghurt and a bit of lemon juice works well aswell. I use whatever flours I have to hand and regularly buy up flours close to their end date (Aldi specials?).
 

Tail End Charlie

Well, write it down boy ......
Are you following a recipe or winging it?

Spelt has only a moderate amount of gluten and rye has hardly any, so both will benefit from the addition of white flour to give it a better rise.
This is true, without adding strong white flour both flours will give a very dense loaf (which some people prefer of course). They both need more water than usual aswell.
 

summerdays

Cycling in the sun
Location
Bristol
I read somewhere - Paul Hollywood perhaps - that you could just use watered down milk instead of buttermilk, so that's what I do. I'll try the lemon juice trick next time.

I got some seeded flour very much reduced recently so I've been using it up making soda bread.
I've often used vinegar to sour the milk.
 
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