Catch Up

Okay, so I know I said I would be baking everyday last week, well I tried, What I didn't take into consideration was the M25. It has not been too bad of late, so I thought I stood a good chance of achieving my goal, that was until Thursday night when I got trapped at work for several hours, Friday was no better. My journey to work was extended due to the M25 being closed in the morning, so I had a delightful two and a half hour journey to work and then in the evening just as I'm about to leave another accident at the Dartford tunnel. I spent another two and a half hours getting home. This made me a bit tired and I have to confess I just couldn't face doing any baking. So a failure for my target this week. I set about making a sourdough loaf from the starter I made last weekend, not the best loaf I've ever made, in fact I have to say it was pretty awful. It did rise but took it's time but the resulting loaf wasn't very nice. I did make a walnut/seed loaf as well, this wasn't as bad but still not great.
A plus side to the weekend is that I managed to get some great baking bargains from the shops in Watford (tins, scrapers, oven gloves etc), also I managed to source some Linen for lining baskets and trays. So not the best start to the weekend but not so bad either.

Tuesday's Creation

Okay, on Tuesday it was a bit of a rush as I was off to play badminton for an hour at my local sports centre. I had some olive's left over from some visitors on Sunday and I hate to waste them, so I made a basic white loaf chopped up the olive's and added extra virgin olive oil. It made for a sticky dough but rose well. I made two loaves again and they came out looking very similar to the sundried tomato bread baked on Monday, sadly no pictures as my camera had run out of juice. The final result tasted good, not as strong a taste of olives as I thought there would be but nice none the less.

Monday Night's Effort

Okay, so the first baking attempt of the week kicks off with sundried tomato, essentially I used strong white flour and cut up some sundried toamto's, also I used the oil from the jar that they had been preserved in.


A squirt of sundried tomato paste for an extra kick also helped give the bread a nice red look. I divided the dough up making two decent sized loaves, both came out well and the taste was quite strong. I have also been putting less salt into the mix, it doesn't seem to have affected the overall outcome of the bread that I've made so far.

Sourdough Starter

In my quest to bake good bread it seems that Sourdough is the holy grail of baking. To that end I have set a starter going, this will take about a week to mature. I mixed the flour and water on Saturday, fed it on Monday and have to say it's looking good even if it does smell a bit strong.

All looking nice and bubbly!

Every Day, Our Daily Bread.....

Over the last few months I have been baking loaves of bread most weekends and the occasional loaf in the week. It's time for me to step up production and practice creating different types of bread, so I'm going to attempt to make a loaf a day, I'm not going to manage to eat it all, so there will be some fat birds hanging round my garden gate, not the usual state of things I hasten to add, and I will be giving a lot of it away. So tonight as soon as I get in I will be swinging into production, I've not made up my mind as to what it will be but I'm sure a quick flick through the hundred or so baking books will yield something to tempt me. I will try to update daily as to what gets produced, even if it's a bad loaf.

Practice Makes Perfect

Okay, you have all seen pictures of my attempts over the last few months and I think I have pretty well nailed the basic white loaf recipe as you can see from my efforts over the weekend.

The loaf above was baked Friday night, I decided to enlist the help of my sister-in-law, Lesley in designing a logo for Baked By Brian. I spent an enjoyable afternoon in their company, they got to sample my bread and I got feedback and a logo to use. I will be uploading an image at some date. Sunday was spent producing even more loaves.

All came out okay, the trio were all baked in one go, more as an experiment to see how multiple loaves would turn out. They were a bit paler than I prefer but still acceptable.I need to branch out and start using different types of flour, I will also have a go at making some rolls as well.

Guess What?......More Baking

Over the weekend I decided to step up production of the bread recipe I have been practicing on with one or two variations. Last weekend saw me making bread, blueberry muffins and a walnut And date cake. Sadly they didn't quite come up to expectations but they did get eaten, which is a bonus. I suppose they weren't that bad but I think they should have been better.

Poppy seed bloomer

Poppy seed bloomer and the next batch of yeast all foamed up and ready to use.

 I have taken to making bread using a sponge-dough method, essentially mixing the activated yeast, water and flour together and allowing the mixture to develop over the next 24 hours. The results have been pretty good so far.

Bread made on Tuesday night

Along with some Fougasse,

Best Bread Ever!

While trawling through endless pages on the Internet looking at bread making and methods of baking, trying not to become a bread bore to all my friends (think I've failed on that one), I came across references to making a sponge-dough and thought I would give it a try. Essentially you put flour, yeast and water together in a bowl and allow it to ferment for 24 hours or even longer if you wish. You then add the rest of the ingredients as if you where making a loaf from scratch. The idea is that it enhances the flavour of the bread and I have to say it works.

Bread proved, waiting to be baked

The final results after an initial 15 minutes at 220 degrees followed by 30 minutes at 190 degrees and to give it a nice dark crust 10 minutes at 230 degrees. A pan of water placed in the oven to create steam when the proven dough goes in helps create that nice crust.

It tastes as good as it looks, my best bread ever.