Date and Walnut Spelt Bread
Well - this one seemed like a bit of a chore. I used the Dove's Farm recipe of the back of the packet again. I do seem to be getting good results from their own recipes, and they do not require a lot of ingredients and equipment etc I've noticed. Here's a link for the recipe: https://www.dovesfarm.co.uk/recipes/fig-and-walnut-spelt-bread/
I only had fast acting yeast so I put in less but the dough initially took a long time to rise - well, it seemed like that to me. I'm very new to this and an hour and ten minutes seemed like forever! I replaced the fig with dates and the result is still very tasty. I've already eaten half of it (I made a small loaf and halved the ingredients and adjusted baking time etc).
As you can see, the side tore a little bit getting it out the tin and off the oiled foil. Any tips? The bread was quite sticky (with the orange juice soaked dates).
The crumb was quite dense and it may be a bit under proved. I'll leave it longer the next time for the first rise.
Comments
If it does't look too good - call it rustic and if it looks really bad, just call it artisan:-) Well done and
Happy baking
:) I think that's a very good distinction/categorisation to make! I'm just happy that it's edible. I got put off baking by making a wholemeal loaf many moons ago that came out like a small bowling ball. Eek.
All you need to do is grease and flour your tin :-)
Tasty is always good though. But as you try new things, you'll realise that an hour and 10 mins is actually a rather quick rise. Slow it down and you'll pack more flavour into your bread :-) (And you'll be able to do other things while your bread is getting on with itself...)
Seeings you use Dove's flour, I hope I'm not wrong in assuming that you're UK-based?
All these tips are going right in my brain box! The oil/flour combination did go through my head, but all the recipes just said oil. Thank you! I am beginning to click that long and slow for a rise is good. I'll be making my own starter next - watch me rise and/or sink :) Yes - I'm in the UK. Glasgow, in fact. Trying to locate good, interesting flours in the shops and slowly gathering the right (cheap) equipment. Where are you?
Alex
To grease my loaf tins before flouring them. It doesn't go sticky like oil can at higher temps.
I'm near Ely in Cambridgeshire btw :-)
If you've got a Waitrose near you, then have a gander in there - their flours are (mostly) cheaper than Dove's and IMHO a lot nicer. Their own brand rye and spelt flours are nice, but I buy the Bacheldre Mill rye that they stock as it's in a bigger bag and I use rye a lot. Their Duchy Organic flour is nice too - the strong white and the malthouse work well. The malthouse is so much nicer than the Hovis, which I found to be pretty tasteless. The Leckford Estate range is also very nice.
Tesco has a couple of gems as well. They do 3kg Allinsons white bread flour for £2 - it's not quite as tasty as the Leckford Estate or Duchy Organic, but works well enough if mixing with other things, plus it's good value for money. Also, their own brand wholemeal bread flour is really lovely - it's my "go to" wholemeal.
For other flours (light rye, oat) try looking in Polish shops if you've any near you.
Shame you're so far away, I'd quite happily give you a dollop of starter otherwise :-)
I'm recording ALL of these tips. I never thought about popping into the Polish shop up the road for flour. I've only ever been in for honey vodka a few times (!). M&S have a nice sounding smoky rough ground wholemeal flour that I've had my eye on but it's £3. I think it's a 1.5kg bag so may be worth it. I'll be running about tomorrow looking for all of your suggestions! I wonder how much it would cost to send a taxi down to yours and back with your starter? Ha. Thank you again!
Rather than a taxi. The washes are flooded LOL
Good luck on the flour hunt. In the Polish shop, you'll need to look for flour (Maka) that says "do wypieku domowego chleba". The usual brand is Melvit. Zytnia is rye, pszenna is wheat. Light rye is labeled typ 720, whereas anything "razowa" is wholemeal. If it's labeled "Krupczatka", then that's the equivalent of the Canadian extra strong white bread flour. HTH. :-)
P.S. You're very welcome :-)