Cider - another of those pesky words that means something different in the UK to the States
I've been talking to DrFugawe who has recently been baking a Nancy Silverton apple bread and this month I am going to bake the Hamelman Normandy Apple Bread.
I have come to realise, and it's probably been discussed here before, that cider in America is not the same thing as cider in England.
The confusion lies particularly with the term 'sweet cider'. To an English person, that means an alcoholic fermented and usually carbonated drink made from pressed apples which happens to be sweet. We have dry, sweet, semi-sweet, sparkling ciders, all alcoholic, and then there's scrumpy too, if you live in my part of the world.
To an American, it means apple juice pure and simple. Now I know. It's like corn flour and cornflour, again two different things, or american pumpernickel and Westphalian pumpernickel, or American cheddar and English Cheddar. Same names, but a world of difference.
So if anyone else from this side of the Atlantic (England) is baking from 'Bread', be aware that JH doesn't intend for you to use your local organic cider, he just wants you to use some nice freshly pressed organic apple juice along with your home dried apple pieces.
Having said that is there any reason for not using some good English cider? I was thinking that if I treated the cider in a similar way to the way Dan Lepard makes barm bread, that would be a good jumping off point for an excellent sourdough. Has anyone here tried doing that?
Happy Baking
Zeb