Swedish Knäckebröd

Another new recipe: http://www.myitaliansmorgasbord.com/2012/07/27/mixed-seeds-knackebrod-swedish-crackers-for-the-daring-bakers/ from a great website/blog.

It is a yeast dough but rolled very thinly and baked immediately.  I tried plain ones with caraway and nigella seeds in the dough and the more coloured ones had an egg glaze into which I rolled some more seeds.  I think these look better and have a great flavour.  Suspect cumin seeds would be another good one.  Easy and quick to make and very good with cheese.  Would make a great Christmas gift.

Flat bread course; 8 November

Had a flurry of booking for this course so only one place left.  If you want to know how to make Panini imbottiti (Italian stuffed buns), stuffed and flavoured focaccias, calzone and Turkish Pide, book now.

      

Panini imbottiti di formaggio

I just love these words!  Panini is the plural of panino which means small bread roll in Italian, rather than the flat, toasted sandwiches we have become used to. Imbottiti means stuffed or, literally, padded/cushioned.  These are from Gino D’Acampo’s book ‘Italian Home Baking’ which includes recipes for a lot of Italian artisan bread and are part of our ‘meals in one’ class.  Stuffed with a mixture of Taleggio, Cheddar, egg and paprika they are very, very tasty.

When I make them again I will probably drop the Taleggio which is rather pricey and go for any strong cheese like a Camembert, past its best or a blue cheese.  They are surprisingly light and make very good party food or hors d’ouevres.

      

A good giggle with the WI!

Seven Ladies from Puckeridge WI joined us for an evening demonstration of bread baking last night producing some great home made cottage loaves, plaits and swirls.  Concentration levels were high when doing the four plait but lots of laughter too.  A really fun group.

    

Some lovely feedback:

“Have had a fab time and learned lot of tips”

“A fantastic evening, really informative, great fun and a good giggle too!”

“A great evening in a very friendly environment; Neil convinced me that even I could make bread”

“Had a a really enjoyable time; very easy to follow; very relaxed”

Bread course for children

We have had a lot of interest in these now both from parents and grandparents looking to treat their children or grandchildren or arrange a different type of Birthday party.  This is an outline of the course which we would run over 2-2.5 hours either 10.30/11am to 1pm or 3-5.30pm.  Actual activities can be varied according to age and abilities.  This is a new venture for us so please email or call to discuss your requirements.

Shaping

The children will work with several different doughs to make traditional loaves and rolls as well as some fun shapes such as hedgehogs and turtles.  A pesto swirl/rose loaf is another popular and attractive option.  While their bread is proving we will run through some theory and mixing.

Theory

How bread is made: the ingredients, different flours and where they come from, why bread requires ‘strong’ flour, the action of the yeast etc.

Mixing

The children get the opportunity to mix a batch of dough by hand, following a recipe and learn the difference between strong flour containing gluten and weak or gluten free flour.

Refreshments

The children will have access to water, fruit cordial or similar together with home made seed bar, tiffin or fruit during the course.  Please let us know if your child has any food allergies when you book.  At lunch or tea they will eat some of the bread they have made, together with cheese, cold meat, jam, honey etc plus salad and fruit depending on time of day.

Take home

Each child will take home the bread they have made together with recipe cards and a dough scraper.

Price: £25 per child or £30 to include a birthday cake and desserts.

Conditions

Minimum age: six years

Four children minimum, six maximum.

Please bring aprons plus notebooks and cameras if you wish.

Children must be accompanied by an adult

Payment in advance please includes 50% transferable deposit should you have to cancel within four weeks of the event.

Fopizza

Focaccia dough with tomato, onion and garlic added; left to rise then chorizo, sausage, olives, cherry tomatoes and mozarella pressed into the dough.  Light covering of finely grated cheddar cheese and baked for 25 mins @200C.  Looked good and tasted great after a mornings paddling.  Might leave out the tomato paste addition next time and go for a plain white dough, possibly slightly thinner but a great meal in one.  Will add to the course!

Also made Brioche including one with smoked bacon and sausage; another one for the men.

One for the boys

We used to make a delicious bacon slice which was an enriched dough with Bechamel sauce (plenty of pepper and nutmeg) and a line of smoked bacon through the middle, folded over and sprinkled with Emmental cheese.  Went down very well with stallholders at farmers markets: breakfast in one!

Trying out Danish pastries at the weekend thought I would try a variation so this one was a Danish pastry dough, smoked bacon and cheddar cheese (and lots of pepper).  Tasted great but next time I am going to add a good quality sausage and wrap the bacon round it.  I miss the Bechamel but it did tend to ooze out as you ate it.  Maybe just add some nutmeg.  If I get this one right will add to ‘breakfast breads’ and ‘meals in one’ courses.

  

 

Pretzels

Tried these at the weekend; part of our planned ‘Bread to impress’ course.  The shaping is not too difficult but getting the skin forming and the chewiness is a challenge.  Bicarbonate of soda is added to the water in which they are boiled and they swell a good deal in the pan and then an egg wash is applied before they go in the oven.  As well as the traditional salt, I tried cumin seeds and brown sugar.

 

Taste and texture were good but not perfect and I think I need to make them thinner next time.  Had not realised how much they swell!

Twists and Bialy

Two of the breads featured in our ‘Bread to impress’ course:

The twists are very similar to cheese pastry twists but made with dough so slightly less rich.  There were flavoured with garlic, rosemary and cheese and taste as good as they look.  I find the older the cheese the better or some strong blue gives a really strong flavour.

The Bialy are Polish and similar to a bagel but are not boiled first and the central hole is filled with caramelised onion in this case.  I should have made the onion mixture a little more jam like so it didn’t spill out of the hole as they rose but a really good flavour.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bialy

Oldest pupil is star baker

Saturday saw our oldest pupil to date when 84 year old Joan attended a course with her daughter Helen and another student, Denise.  Having always wanted to bake bread and particularly focaccia, Helen bought a place on the course as a birthday present for Joan.  Although a keen cook and baker, Joan had never quite mastered bread.  After starting with a basic granary loaf and knot rolls, Joan went on to bake a great looking sun-dried tomato focaccia and then an impressive pesto swirl.

Helen and Denise produced some excellent loaves too and both enjoyed the coffee, tea and lunch as well as the tuition.  Helen chose to make a stuffed olive focaccia and pesto swirl while Denise was keen to make a loaf she had been buying from our market stall: spiced apple and marzipan.

All in all a fun day with three excellent pupils!