2K #137

Yes, I know. I’ve posted about 2 Kilo loaves dozens of times. But this is the first one I’ve baked in ages. Can’t remember the last time I baked one in the Pico and I’ve had the oven for four years now. 2K’s used to be available to order every week and it was unusual […]

Elephant!

Le Grand Elephant at Les Machines de l’Ile, Nantes has to be the daftest and most wonderful creation ever. 12 meters high, 8 meters wide and able to carry up to 49 passengers, it weighs 45 tons. And it can squirt water at you from its trunk. I’m afraid I only got a snippet of […]

Old Favourite

Black Olive, Rosemary and Caramelised Onion Focaccia – a classic … 400 grams 80% hydration dough, in this case 72 hours in the fridge, couple of hours rising in the tin, about 16 minutes in the Pico 300C top and bottom. Topping: couple of onions, garlic sliced and fried in olive oil with a few […]

Bannetons

The time has come for me to get rid of most of my proving baskets. They’ve been sitting around since I retired a few years ago with only a couple of them in regular use. I’m particularly fond of them, especially the Vanerie de Villaines baskets which are serious pieces of work and come at […]

Mongrel Brioche

Sue provided the goodies for her reading group garden party at the start of last week – chocolate cake, gluten free, of course, when two or three are gathered together, plus individual nectarine pavlovas – lucky scoffers … A few days later there were various scraps still lurking in the fridge – egg yolks from […]

Panwozzo II

Actually it’s more like Panwozzo VI (see Panwozzo? to learn about it’s meaning and origins). It’s not difficult, I just have trouble getting it right. You make your pizza dough (c. 200g each) and give it a day or two in the fridge. Shape each pizza into an elongated shape like a pita bread. This […]

Bottle Bank

This was our neighbourhood bottle bank in Arcachon during our recent holiday. This is Saint Thomas Illyricus. This is where Catholic guilt kicks in. They’ve parked him right opposite so he can count your empties as they crash into the bottle bank …

Sunset

A Classic Sourdough glows red in the sunset …

Easter ’25

I can’t help it. At Christmas, if everyone else is baking Panettone, I’m baking Brioche de Noel. If they’re baking Stollen, I’m baking Christopsomo. I’m just perverse like that. So when it comes to Easter, it’s Jamaican Easter Buns, not Hot Cross Buns. Jamaican Easter Buns (full bread formula here) are rather more robust than […]

Chedddar/Jalapeños 04/25

Kev’s fault again. He rolled round with this tub of relish spotted in Tesco with the news that there was a world-wide shortage of jalapenos. Had the bright idea of trying it in a Jalapeno/Cheddar bread that I hadn’t made for years. (Formula here – Cheddar & Jalapeños) Followed the above formula substituting the same […]