La Couronne Bordelaise

Un pain ironique to celebrate the birth of Charlene, Princess of Ambridge: First you need a couronne banneton: Not a cheap item (but then neither’s Princess Charlene). This one’s about a 1 kilo basket so I just stuck to my usual 940g dough to produce an 800g loaf. After proving the method is divide the […]

It’s a Girl!

Bugger me. One day we’re celebrating International Workers Day, next day we’ve got another royal mouth to feed. Gert was doing Cuba forMay Day so he ordered Black Bean, Jalapeno & Coriander Bread: But I also took the opporunity to make some cigars – Fidel’s Exploding Cigars! You all remember the CIA plot to knock […]

Sugar & Spice

“Tropical” says Gert last week. “Spring fever” says I as an aside. Nosed around a few Caribbean sites for ideas: Invented Caribbean Pumpkin/Allspice Bread – Butternut Squash, Pecans, Raisins, Brown Sugar, Alspice, Ginger. Pretty good for breakfast this morning.

Beyond the English Muffin

The Russian Muffin. Actually I had a friend coming to dinner who has trouble with wheat but can do rye and I wanted something crostini-ish on which to serve a very rich goo of chicken livers. I think it could be said to be a work in progress. Welsh Muffin?

Hoppity Hop

Look what the Easter Bunny done left: Brioche au chocolat, Brioche Nicoise, Chocolate & Raisin Rye (100% rye)

Q&A

Q: Hey DrDoh. My problem is I love that Borodinski with the coriander seed on the bottom. My partner loves the bread but not the seed. Is our relationship doomed to failure? A: Hi Budgieboy. This was one of the toughest problems put to me and I lost a lot of sleep struggling with it. […]

Thinking Aloud

You might have noticed there’s a bit of cleaning up occurring on this blog. I just realised it’s been running for over five years and has amassed getting on for 375 posts and – it makes a girl think. It’s the old dilemma of which direction(s) to take next. I’ve developed my own baking style […]

Good Day’s Baking

Someone asked me recently if I got bored with baking. It really stopped me in my tracks because, although I have been “breaded-out” in my time and it is harder work than it used to be, baking has become part of me to such an extent that, if I stopped, I wouldn’t be the same […]

La Bella Vita

There used to be a pizza restaurant in Bangor called La Bella Vita. It was run by two women and it was pretty reasonable in all senses but the partners eventually fell out and the restaurant didn’t survive too long after one of them departed. Pity because they sold good, honest food – something of […]

Cheapest/Best Course in the UK?

Had a really good student, Bella, here at the weekend. She was doing a basic Introduction to Sourdough course, so she did a couple of hours late Friday afternoon and about seven hours on Saturday. The results: Clockwise from bottom left: a beautifully slashed Classic, a 5 Seed with Spelt, a Pain de Campagne and […]