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After my debut into the world of bread making with my first ever sourdough loaves and my bubbly new immature rye starter, I was keen to head back into the kitchen and try my hand at some bread again. I wanted to try something a little more robust, slightly darker and filling. My parents were going on a road trip up north the day after, so the answer was obvious, a hearty sandwich bread was in order.

Scanning quite a few web pages and looking in my bread book I stumbled upon a Golspie Loaf. A wonderful creation by the well known UK baker Dan Lepard in his excellent book "The Handmade Loaf". A tip of the hat to the classic bere bannock flour that was once milled in the highlands to make flatbread. It called for me to use my Rye levain and some oats, which I have wanted to use in bread making, so it was an easy and obvious choice. The recipe was simple (even better) and would make me try something new in a sandwich tin (still haven't solved my banneton issues yet, not going to waste good money on expensive bread baskets). Rye levain (75%), Wholemeal Flour (100%), Water (62%), Dried Yeast (1%), Sea Salt (2%), Oatmeal (19%). 400g Wholemeal flour provides enough for one loaf.

Using his low knead basis for bread making (intermittent 10-15sec kneads with 10min gaps), the dough was quickly and easily in place and ready to go in a 20cm oiled and oat coated sandwich tin. It looked a little flat to me, "shouldn't it be higher than this?" I thought to myself. A deep score through the entire bread to later divide into quarters the bread was good to go. Even after proofing and doubling in size I wondered if this could become a bread that coud hold fillings. 20min at 190C and a further 25 at 170C provided the answer.

 The Golspie rose wonderfully, covered in lovely smelling oats. Many of the oats were falling off (maybe I could have used some water to attach them to the dough a little better?), but there were many still there, especially coating the sides where the oil coating of the tin was. The desire to just cut into it and the obsession with seeing and getting the perfect "Crumb Shot", was a massive temptation. However, a bit of fresh air for an hours walk let it cool sufficiently, but then I couldn't wait anymore and it was time to cut and make some sandwiches.

Dividing the quarters the bread seemed to be a little doughy and I thought it must be underbaked. However, as you can see, the crumb was dense, but had an airyness to it and was moist. It also held together very well and provided a really stable base for sandwich fillings. Apparently it tasted really good too and went down a treat.

I had bought some very, very cheap and basic unglazed quarry tiles to act as a baking stone (instead of paying upwards of £40 for a stone I got 6 tiles for £4). They just had to be tested.

 I made some small granary rolls. These rolls were made using granary flour. A UK company Hovis makes the flour and it is essentially a wholemeal flour with toasted wheat flakes (17%). It gives a good taste and nice texture. The recipe was simple: Granary Flour (100%), Water (60%), Dried Yeast (2%), Salt (2%), Olive Oil (8%). Mix, light knead, proof, de-gas, final proof for 1h and into a hot oven (220C), for 20-25 min. Steam was created for the first 10min with a pan of cold water in the bottom of the oven. Unfortunately these turned out like little bricks. They were soft inside and tasted ok, but the crusty top was more brick like and I was not happy. I tried a new setting on the oven and I think it was the wrong choice.  

Hydration was a little off too, a little too low. Maybe I can increase hydration with wholemeal bread? The tiles worked great, they were very hot and conducted the heat perfectly. I have to test those properly with some sourdough again.

The Final Hurrah

To finish off I decided to whip up a basic almond and marzipan cake for my sister. Turned out to be pretty big but I am assured it tasted lovely and had a great yellow tinge inside from the golden marzipan I had used. So there we have it, another day in the kitchen and at least one decent loaf made and some valuable lessons learnt to take into the next bake.

Having spent a day or so thinking about it and looking through recipies I like the idea of country themed breads and baking. Having spent pretty much most of my life travelling and living throuout the World I thought it could be fun to do a theme bake every so often. So this time we had Scotland, I wonder where I will be heading next time.

Good luck with your bread baking and any tips or advice are very welcome and thanks for stopping by!

Andy

After seeing Phil’s great post this past week using fresh milled flour, sesame seeds, 100% whole grain, 100% hydration sourdough breads of various kinds, we had to give something like it a shot for our weekly Friday bake.  It had to be a sane recipe rather than what Phil would do hydration wise and something Lucy could handle after the beauty parlor.

Inspired by Phil, we came up with a near knock off SD using home milled, 100% whole grain, 90% hydration wheat, spelt and farro bread that had a large ground flax and sesame seed add in.    We hate sifting flour but decided to do it getting a 78% extraction.

The nasty 22% bit we soaked for 24 hours with the toadies and 30 g of un-sifted flour left over from the levain build at 100% hydration hoping that it would soften the gluten cutting parts to something that was less like a chain saw.

The SD levain was built with un-sifted flour over (2) 4 hour builds and (1) 1 hour build with our rye and whole wheat mixed seed before being refrigerated for 24 hours to enhance the sour.  When we took it out of the fridge we allowed the levain to finish doubling on the counter about 3 hours.  The levain ended up being 19% of total and near the 20% Phil used for his bake.

We did a 2 hour autolyse for the wonderful handling flour at 100% hydration, no salt or levain but including the home made red and white malts and VWG.  It really sucked up the water.  Once the autolyse and the levain were mixed with 30 seconds of slap and folds, e sprinkled the salt on top and let the dough rest for 20 minutes.

Then we did 10 minutes of slap and folds to develop the gluten. We were stunned that the dough never stuck to the marble counter.   It developed beautifully like it was a 72% hydration dough.  We let the dough rest for 15 minutes before gently stretching it out in a rectangle and incorporating the 22% bran mix on the first S&F.

On the 2nd set of S&F’s we incorporated the ground flax and sesame seeds.  This mix is quickly becoming our normal add in for bread like Toadies.  They aren’t as flavor enhancing as Toadies but they make a big difference.

Breakfast with our take of Aroma bread inspired by Karin and Maria.

After the 3rd set of S&F’s the add ins were well incorporated and evenly distributed.  We then did another 30 seconds of slap and folds to get the gluten back in shape and then allowed the dough to rest for 20 minutes.  We could have easily done a 100% hydration dough as this freshly milled  multi-grain flour loved the wet.

Surf amd turf - ceviche with smoked ribs, a nice sunset and Sylvia's inspired Key Lime Pie ,ade the 4th special.

We did a quick pre-shape into an oval and let the dough rest for 10 minutes before cutting off 90 g of dough from each end of the oval to make two snails with tails for the chacon design in the bottom of the basket.

It wasnlt all food for the 4th.  Lime Majito Jello Shots made as halves and then cut in quarters were a big hit too.

We bought a new basket for this bake which was just the right size and an oval shape.  We rice floured it but, since it is new, the dough will probably stick anyway.   We final shaped the remaining dough into an oval that we shaped and pulled tight before putting it on top for the snails with tails.

The basket was placed into a used trash can liner and put in the fridge for a 16 hour cold retard.  The next morning, after 4th of July festivities, we took the dough out the fridge for a 1 hour warm and 1 ½ hour final proof up before putting it into the 500 F mini oven with (2) of Sylvia’s steaming cups.

After 2 minutes off steam we turned the mini oven down to 450 F and continued to steam for another 13 minutes.  We removed the steaming cups and turned the mini down to 425 F, convection this time.  In another 15 minutes, rotating the bread every 5 minutes, it registered 205 F in the middle of the oval and was removed to a cooling rack.

It domed a little bit but browned well in the heat.  The snails with tails hardly cracked, not what we had expected.  So, it did look …..a little slow to Lucy who thinks slimy things should be kept far away from bread and cooked separately with a little hot sauce on the side.  Maybe 100% hydration is the right amount.  The crumb came out fairly open for this kind of bread even though it didn't spring much.  It was moist and glossy.....and just plain delicious.   This is a another one of those breads that instantly becomes a classic.   Thanks for the inspiration Phil.  Next time we will do it t 100% too.

Whole wheat top, spelt right and farro left - also small, medium and large grains as well as dark, medium and light color.

here you go.. higher % of oak smoked flour loaves.. definitely taste the sweet oak flavor :) nice

no sprouts added try to keep it as simple to flavor the wonderful oak smoked flavor !!

Ian.. a must to try!!

cheers..

evon

Hello all my fellow bread lovers,

This is my first post on TFL. I've been baking bread since a year now and thought of posting before but all the sourdough   

bread creations that you guys post has been a little intimidating. I am still working with yeast breads and plan to graduate to the sourdough level soon (I hope).

This recipe is from Peter Reinhart's Bread Baker's Apprentice. It's loaded with raisins and walnuts, is very flavorful but still  has a very light texture.

You are going to LOVE LOVE LOVE this one…

Very fruity

mmmmm Crusty!

Look at the crumb!

I just love Rustic breads…

The crust on this bread is DIVINE….

Chewy but crunchy…lovely, multi layered.

Wait till I do the pumpernickel and Black breads!

The sours are brewing now:)

Rye a soaking:)

Give it to me!

Are you Ready?

2 cups of Wholewheat flour

2 cups of Strong Bread Flour

I good tbsp of Nev’s malt powder (fabulous and made in NZ)

3 tsp of dried yeast

1 cup of raisins

1/2 cup of cranberries

1 cup of sultanas

pinch of salt

1 and 1/2 cup of fruit water.

1/2 cup of molasses sugar (Billington’s is good)

soaking the fruit…

What do you do?

Soak the fruit in a bowl and cover with 2 cups of warm water.

Leave for about 2 hours or do the night before and leave overnight.

Drain the fruit well and keep all the fruity water in a bowl.

Set fruit aside.

Slightly warm the fruity water and add in the yeast and stir well.

Allow to stand and become frothy- usually about ten minutes.

Put all your dry ingredients in a bowl (flours, salt,sugar, malt powder, aniseed) and mix through.

Make sure the sugar gets distributed well through the mix as it is quite moist and clumpy.

First prove…

Add fruity water to dry mix and form a soft dough..add a little more water if need be.

You want a nice moist dough because the whole-wheat in the bread can make it a little dry.

Knead for about 5-6 minutes until the bread is nice, smooth and elasticy.

Add in the fruit (lightly dusted with flour first) and knead through for a further 2-3 minutes.

Some time I do this after the first prove but in the few times I have done it at this stage lately, the fruit has not been damaged by kneading.

Place in a well oiled bowl, cover and leave to sit for 2 hours.

After first prove… slight rest before shaping…

Turn dough out on a lightly floured bench/board.

This dough is enough for 2 good sized loaves or a giant one as I made today.

I roll the dough into the shape I want, making sure it is nice and tight.

This one, I made like a oval.

Place dough on a baking tray with baking paper that has been lightly dusted with very fine polenta.

Cover and allow to rest for 1 hour.

resting before the oven…2nd prove.

ready?

About 35 minutes before the 2nd proving is done, pre heat the oven to 245 Celsius.

Place a roasting dish or cast iron fry pan at the bottom of the oven so you will be able to create stream.

Why is this important?

The steam allows the outside of the bread to stay moist so it can expand and spring as long as possible..creating volume.

Once a bread hardens(crust forms) then you will get no further spring or volume:)

When proving is done, then place bread in the oven.

Chuck 2-3 ice cubes in your roasting pan and close the oven.

After 6 minutes, turn the heat down to 210 celsius and bake for a further 40-50 minutes depending on your oven.

gorgeous!!

double crusty!

Remove from the oven and allow to cool on the tray for 5 minutes, then remove to a wire rack.

I would allow this to cool somewhat before diving in!!

You should have a lovely firm crust but still a little chewy…

You won’t even need butter or anything ….

I still think it will retain its moisture after a few days….

Lovely toasted and again without butter:)

But a smear of ricotta is heavenly!

This is such a gorgeous bread…

ENJOY, ENJOY, ENJOY.

FRUITY….

Crusty too…

lovely….

dig in…

the finale!!

Did you like this yeasty beasty?

Have you tried?

Gorgeous Tramvai bread?

Tremendous Trecchia with orange and choccie!!

Buccellato ?

Don’t forget to get in and enrol @ the Greedybread evening classes  starting in August, October and November.!

Or treat yourself for a Greedybread adventure?

treccia

Last Saturday was the "Treasure Island" summer fair at my son Benjanin's school, "Lewes New School", and as reported previously he volunteered me for a bread stall. The idea was that the children should make a major contribution to the fair, and I came to the conclusion, that I would let them bake bread from the Treasure Island times, and sell it at the fair.

By the way, the title photo is not "period bread", but my special take on Bo Friberg's Vanilla Butter Biscuits.

Back to the bread making.

After much research and some help from Ananda I settled for three kinds of breads, with slightly adapted formulas to fit the schedule.

You can find the formulas here, I added Ships Biscuits, of which I baked a daily sailor's ration to show at the fair.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1RotlIxZvaL634QLINCnPRWO5kqFKZrgkEzLYjKxIHU0/edit?usp=sharing

The three breads are:

1. Pease Bread, a soured version of Horse Bread, my version uses equal parts of ground yellow split peas, barley and oats, and a tiny bit of sourdough starter of the same mixture. Probably the easiest sourdough to make, peas ferment like crazy. And there is no kneading or sophisticated shaping involved. The taste is quite strong and the crumb a bit crumbly. Excellent with some smoked meats, or with stews.

2. Maslin Bread, this is a bread similar to a German "Feinbrot", usually a mix of wholegrain rye with another grain, depending on the region. In Sussex it probably was wheat, but I used spelt instead because many of the folks at the school try to avoid wheat, for various reasons. I based the proportions on a 50:50 rye:spelt detmolder, with the addition of Ale Barm - now there is a special ingredient.

3. Manchet Bread, this was the posh white loaf of the day, made with Ale Barm and heavily worked, to get a fine, white crumb. I used old dough, with 50% of the final build being old dough. This made a soft, dense but creamy crumb. Delicious. And those hop notes from the barm coming through. Great.

How we did it: 

This is Benjamin with all the materials for the bake, on the way to school on Thursday Morning:

The Star Trek box contains his lunch... the other boxes flours and starters, Spock, ... It's life as we know it ...

Then I gave a little taster of the three breads Benjamin's class (15 kids, 1 teacher and 2 assistants) would make, and a little talk about the specifics of each of them.

This was my Manchet sample:

 We then set off to Harvey's Brewery

http://www.harveys.org.uk/

where our most kind hosts gave us a great tour around the brewery, with many insights into the process.

We sampled some malt and yeast, and smelled hops, and saw steam engines, mills, many different tanks and vessels, piped wort, and - what we came for - yeast! Ale Barm.

Here swimming on top of a few thousand litres of great ale to be:

We got our barm and carried it back to school, where the kids had other duties.

I stayed on, and mixed the preferments: Ale Barm dough with wheat and spelt for Manchet (I provided for 5 loaves of spelt manchet), rye sour for maslin, and the full dough for pease bread.

Here is the pyramid of preferments:

I was a bit worried about the size of the second container from the top, 

and I guess I was lucky - not too much spillage the next morning:

First thing on Friday Morning each child and adult decided on a slashing pattern so we could recognise or loaves after the bake.

Then we mixed the Manchet bread. Opening the box with the preferment set free great scents of hops and yeast, and the honeycomb structure created many "Aah.."s.

Kneading the dough and beating it with rolling pins was great fun. The kids didn't need much help, but the noise level in the classroom  was enormous. 

While the manchet was proofing we shaped the Pease Bread, slashed it right away, and I carried it to the kitchen, where the hot oven was waiting.

Next was shaping the manchets, everybody did really well.

Then the Pease breads came out of the oven. The colour here is influenced by the pink of the box:

Next was mixing the maslin. A rye dough. Great stickiness. 

Again, everybody was absolutely great, what I had to do most was scraping dough off little hands ....

The bowls are testimony to the stickiness of a rye rich dough:

After we put the maslin bread to rest it was time to slash the manchet and get it into the oven:

After that, and just before lunch, it was time to shape the maslin breads, another sticky experience,

Most of the young bakers understood well that swift and gentle handling of the dough was required at this stage.

I got a bunch of cheap wicker baskets (at Nesbits on Shaftesbury Avenue near Leicester Square, for the Londoners)  for the proofing.

During lunch I got the manchets out of the oven:

This oven is a gas oven with two shelves and no stones. It heats up to 250C, but with a load of 20 loaves it goes down below 150C and takes ages to recover.

Unfortunately I hadn't quite figured out how to make the best use of it, some breads got rather dark as a result. 

But the smell in the school kitchen was absolutely amazing and won me some customers and helpers for the fair.

Once the kids had their lunch and runaround and the teachers had their cup of tea we went on to turn out the maslins and slash them.

There was already an air of routine in the classroom.

These are the maslins in the oven:

By that time I had figured out how to juggle the heat, and the bake was slightly more even:

All that was left to do now was to tidy up and pack my tools.

Saturday was Treasure Island fair day, and a certain member of our family was so excited that we all had an early start ...

Lots of pirates started to gather, from far and near ...

... to - among various other things - buy Treasure Island Bread at my stall:

The manchet (white bread!) sold out first, but we managed to sell all our 56 loaves!

A great experience, all in all.

 Thanks again to Edmund Jenner and colleagues from Harvey's Brewery in Lewes for all their support (and a cask of ale), 

and to the Head and the teachers at Lewes New School to support this whole project wih lots of enthusiasm.

Cheers,

Juergen

Been away for a bit unpacking still, but I could not stomach the store bought bread anymore so I had to bake.

20% Spelt Potato Rosemay Sourdough.......Lunch Bread

20% Spelt Dried Cherry Sourdough........Breakfast Bread

Cheers,

Wingnut

It's pie month in my kitchen.   That time of year when berrries and stone fruits are the tastiest ever and a great excuse to make a pie or two.

I had my oven all heated up on a warm summer day and, didn't want to let the oven heat go to waste after my two large Sourdough Country Semonlina loaves came out.  I forgot to add the sesame seeds : / to them.  Still they are delicious and made wonderful garlic toast today for dinner. 

There were some raspberries, blackberries and blueberries in the frig, just enough for a mixed berry pie.  So I tossed one together.  Mike loved it.  Blueberry is his favorite pie.  It was throughly enjoyed on his days off from work.  Yes, this pie and bread were baked nearly 2 days ago.

The pie crust texture is a little less layered when I use the food processor method, mixing all except the water, which is added after the mixture is removed from the food processor.

Three even TBsp. of Tapioca Flour gives me about the right consistancy for my  9 inch berry pie to 'set up' nicely, not to dry and not to runny.

I get the best results using dark or clear glass pie pans.  I like to brush the crust with milk and sprinkle with different sugar's.  This one had raw turbinado sugar..gives a nice crispness and added sweetness to my not to sweet pies.  I always use a rim cover, bake on a round pizza pan or cookie sheet...saves for runny messes.  Start out in a hot convection 425F oven for 15 minutes and then bake at 375F-350F convection oven, until I see the filling bubbling.  Remove the rim cover, brown the crust up and remove the berry pie.

I ran short on AP flour and added some cake flour and a teaspoon of vinegar to this pastry crust with Kerry Gold Butter and Crisco, sugar and salt in it.  

I have been wanting to make a good key lime pie for sometime now.  Yesterday I purchased some key limes and baked a KL pie today.  Mike declared it the best KL pie he has ever tasted.

It is a version of a Key Lime Pie recipe I found on 'All Recipes.com' and it's a good one...given 5 stars by well over a thousand testers.  There's no egg in this pie and, that's my favorite way to enjoy a KL pie.  It's very easy to make.  The hardest part is juicing those tiny little key limes.  The best way to do it is with a 'garlic press' an absolutely wonderful way to go about juicing these little buggers.  It was suggested by one who had also made the KL pie.

Just the right texture.  This is just how I like my KL pie to taste.  Mike just loved it...I think he has a new favorite.

Here's the recipe for the KL pie and also the crust I made of gram crackers...or honey grams.  If your in the mood for a good KL pie, give this one a try.  I don't think you'll be disappointed.

Pre-heat Oven to 350F  (175 C)       -   This KL pie and crust was baked in my Toaster Oven... kept the house cool today.

Honey Gram Cracker Crust - 

1 1/2  cups Honey Gram Crackers

1/2 cup sugar

6 TBsp. Melted Butter

In a processor 'or can be done by hand'.  Process the Honey Gram Crackers broken up a bit with the Sugar and Melted Butter.  Until all holds together and is evenly moistened.

Press with fingertips and I also the smooth bottom of a cup.  Press into a 9 inch pie plate.

Bake for about 8 minutes in your 350F pre-heated oven.

Remove and let cool while you prepare your filling.

Pre- heat Oven 350F - (175 degrees C )

Key Lime Pie Filling

3/4 Cups Key Lime Juice

2 Cans of Sweetened Condensed Milk - 14 oz. each

1/2 Cup Sour Cream

1 TBsp. grated Lime zest

1.  In a medium bowl, combine condensed milk, sour cream, key lime juice and the zest.

2.  Mix well and pour into the graham cracker crust.

3.  Bake in the preheated oven for about 5 to 8 minutes.  Mine took the full 8 minutes.  

Bake until you see tiny pinhole sized bubbles burst on the surface of the pie.  DO NOT BROWN YOUR PIE.

Chill throughly before serving with some whip cream and a garnish with some sliced lime or zest.

These are also nice on a hot day. 

Frozen, chocolate dipped banana's with crushed added walnuts.  

Put your sliced banana's on a parchment lined tray with the sticks inserted while you melted your chocolate.

I melted some good quality chocolate in my double broiled and spoon drizzled it over the banana's and rolled them in crushed walnuts.

Have a very Happy Fourth of July and don't eat to much pie : )

Sylvia

I don't have time to post so regularly at the moment.   I am baking lots of bread, and continuing to work hard to develop  my business.

I have finished my spell working at Dunbar, and am now pushing forward with my quest to have a small bakery of my own, preferably here in Powburn, where I live.   I will write more on this, no doubt, as it progresses.   For now, I have secured a 2 deck electric oven, and have access to various bits of kit and machinery to add to what I already own.   That's enough to get started, so discussions now centre on securing premises; that is underway.

In the meantime, we are continuing to supply the Farmers' Markets at both Alnwick and Hexham.   Last Friday, we sold out at Alnwick around 12:30pm, even though the weather was pretty poor.   Feedback about the bread continues to be very positive, and now there are a few outlets approaching in search of regular wholesale supply.

So, I am really happy with the progress, although am keen to get into a full-production situation as soon as possible.

We had a very welcome guest come to stay with us in Powburn recently.   En route to join his wife for a holiday in Prague after she had completed a period of study, TFL's Franko, a fellow professional baker who lives on Vancouver Island, came to the UK for a much-anticipated short trip.

We baked for, and attended the Hexham Farmers' Market together and enjoyed some relaxing time out in Northumberland with my wife, Alison, as well.

I picked Franko up from our local railway station in bright sunshine on Wednesday afternoon.   It is a longhaul from Vancouver Island, so the traveller needed some rest.   But we baked 2 full days after that.   On the Thursday we used my wood-fired oven here at home, and dived into some of the flour which my friend had brought over from North America.   Photograph below:

The Red Fife is quite delicious; organic wholewheat, a traditional strain which is the base of nearly all the strong modern wheat varieties used to produce today's Canadian strong wheat.   It has a great history which takes in both Hungary and Scotland en route to Canada too, back in the 19th Century.   The King Arthur All-Purpose flour confirmed what I had long-suspected.   It is a bread flour by UK standards; it makes a delightful loaf of bread, although my preference is to avoid all-white bread as many here know.   Mixing the King Arthur flour with some Red Fife and a small portion of rye sourdough created a very tasty loaf.   We made the dough into miches...quite big ones too at c.1.5kg.   I had recently bought some Swiss Dark Flour as a treat from the Shipton Mill website.   I didn't have a clue about the strength of the flour, but had an e-mail from Clive at Shipton explaining thatthe flour was milled in a way which captures the Pollard streams.   Kent (4th ed; 1994) makes reference to Pollard as an Australian term for wheatfeed, implying it is the layers of the grain inside of the bran layers, and outside of the endosperm.   Sounds like the aleurone layer to me, although I lay no claim to expert knowledge of milling.   Anyway, the flour produced a lovely dark loaf.   We made this using my wheat levain only, plus a little salt, of course.   Lastly, we made some 100% rye loaves, as Franko was on a mission to discover more about the Bacheldre Organic Whiolegrain Rye flour which I have been using for sometime now.   Some of it went back to Canada to reciprocate for the gifts brought for out UK baking.   We made some Borodinsky loaves and some Black Pumpernickel.   Both are 100% rye, and use complex 3-stage fermentation.

The next day we had a very early start to visit my colleague Nigel, and bake all the bread for the Hexham Market, and more besides; c.130 loaves.   Overnight temperatures were very warm, and my leaven was "over" by the time I got up at 03:30!   I got away with the Spelt dough, somehow [the visiting pro being largely responsible for salvation].   But I decided to refresh the leaven once again before using it to make the doughs for Gilchesters and the Five Grain.   The Gilchesters' is made with local high extraction flour, and I had 2 doughs in excess of 10kg on the production schedule.   So we made the dough at Nigel's house.   It all worked very well indeed.   Nigel had made his white dough overnight, and had a Golden Linseed and Light Rye made besides.   I took the Spelt dough and then made the Gilchesters and Five Grain doughs, plus 10kg paste for Moscow Rye.

Man on the Oven:

It all seems like a lot of work.   But, with 3 bakers, and a wood-fired oven which holds 40 x 600g loaves to bake on the sole of the oven at any one time; well it all went very smoothly and we had finished baking early-mid afternoon in record time.   Nigel's oven is such a serious beast, so once fired, it holds the heat in for many hours.

Franko and I drove to Hexham early Saturday morning and set up our market stall.   Nigel arrived with the bread which we set out for display.   The bread was great; a pleasure to sell.   Two of us behind the stall meant we could create a great ambience too, and this meant we sold out of bread around 13:00.   There is much competition for bread bakers on the Hexham market....4 of us, and there are a few outlets within the main shopping centre which offer artisan bread as well.   I love to sell out of bread; a friendly companion alongside made it even more enjoyable.

We rested up a little late Saturday afternoon, then Alison drove us to the beautiful Northumberland Coast, where we had a table booked in a lovely pub at Newton-by-the-Sea....a big favourite of ours.   We went down onto the beach first, and soaked up some evening sunshine.   Alison took these fine photos on her phone!   The impressive castle in the background is Dunstanburgh; we so love the Northumberland Coast!

After Franko left bound for Prague, I had to set to and bake for the Alnwick Farmers' Market coming up the following Friday.   I baked flat-out for 3 days, producing over 30 loaves each day on my little wood-fired oven.   It was enough, and I turned up on Friday just gone with several basket loads of bread and a range of pastries.   I was joined by my neighbour Anna too.   She is not only a champion of our bread, she is a great salesperson too!   So, I was home before 13:00h, with a load of empty baskets.

Today I have been baking again.   You can see the breads I have made in the photographs below.   Nigel is catering for a group of 20 walkers following the St. Cuthbert's Way, which runs through Powburn.   He baked some bread for the first leg of the walk, and is calling here to collect replenishment!   I baked more bread besides; some for my business partner, whose family I have lined up as taste-testers for when I get into production -proper.   Also, I have landed an account with a business called Muddy Boots, which will open as a cafe in the former Visitor Centre at Ingram in the National Park....it's only 5km from Powburn, into the Cheviot hills.   So there were more samples for Jan [owner] to collect and try.

Seeded Sourdough and Five Grain Levain:

Well, I'll try to keep you all posted with further progress as and when it happens.   The game remains natural leavens and organic flours; for the moment it's wood-fired brick ovens too.   And, in the long term, larger-scale baking on brick ovens remains the goal.   Plus teaching, Consultancy, Community baking...let's keep real bread alive and drive it forward here in the UK.

Very best wishes to everyone

Andy

Bread #27: Correcting for airhead tendencies produces a perfect rye. Maybe not perfect, but incredible. Helps to write directions for myself. I am now a proud parent of a thriving starter and a nice, nice bread. My dog Scout's favorite food is bread, but he prefers something else because he does not like seeds. Next up might be an ode to my starter, which is rising those doughs as well as any store-bought yeast - and so much healthier. Feel like I'm on my way to becoming a Michael Pollan groupie. http://ow.ly/mB6yj