Yes, the previous was a rehearsal for our neighbour Steffi’s birthday party. She, amongst her other talents, is a surfer girl. Couple of years back she had a memorable holiday in Haiwaii so this was the theme for her party. I did a couple of creatures from the deep plus a load of coconut flatbreads. […]

Just for a change Gert’s sent me to the Pacific. “Haiwaii” he commands. All the bakers I tell this to make the same joke: pineapple, ham, cheese – why not put it on a round, flat dough? Google leads us to King’s Haiwaiian, a bakery set up in Hilo in the 50s and to the […]

Let’s start with Fri p.m. You remember cider making with Jay last November, the work that went into filling that 580 litre tank. Well now it’s payback time. Imagine the sense of security that comes with knowing there’s no chance of a drought this weekend. Anyway, twenty odd bakers are assembled here  at Jay & […]

Gert asked for Tex-Mex bread this week. I think he was expecting an old favourite like Black Bean and Jalapenos so he was quite surprised when he collected his order this afternoon, a brand new, purpose designed Texas Tomatillo Bread. Tomatillo Salsa, plus Chiles Serrano, plus soured cream – not to mention the Lone Star […]

I’m currently revising “Sourdough Made Simple” and planning a series of little ebooks so I’m putting up a few bread formulas on the blog to wet your appetites. They might change and they certainly won’t be there for ever so take advantage now. Position the cursor over “Bread” on the top menu and a sub-menu […]

If you think I’ve been quiet for the last several weeks you should talk to Sue. She would tell you there’s been nothing  but moans and groans, whining and complaining from me since I last posted here. It’s my knee. It died last time I did a big bake. You know what these aches and […]

Two weeks, two new breads from famous bakers. The daughter of one of my customers moved back to Wales from France with her Breton husband who, of course, was soon raving about my Pain de Campagne. So I poked around the net for a Breton bread to have a go at. The only thing that […]

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 […]

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 […]