Pampushky

You never know where you are with a bread like this because it looks pretty but good looks don’t necessarily mean good bread. I’ve noticed that in the rush to bake Ukrainian breads to support the country after Russia’s invasion, a lot of bakers have gone for this as the example of Ukrainian bread. I wonder …

On the other hand Pampushky can be made from good dough. Stick with me kid.

This is my adaption for sourdough of Olia Hercules yeasted recipe from her book “Mamushka”.

Knock up a sponge the evening before the bake. Just mix the sponge ingredients and leave the dough in a covered bowl or box overnight.

Next morning mix in the remaining flour and salt and give it the usual treatment – knead ten times, rest five minutes, repeat the process three times. I rested the dough (while I had my breakfast), divided it into 8 x 60g pieces and shaped them into rolls.

An oiled 7 inch cazuela seemed to be the right size for the rolls with a little space to expand. They proved for about 3.5 hours, were egg-washed and baked in the Pico for about 25 minutes, steam for the first 10 minutes. 250C top, 220C bottom. Second coat of egg-wash half way through.

When they came out of the oven, a few tablespoons of olive oil infused with finely chopped garlic and parsley was spooned over the rolls.

Of course, the main attraction was a huge dish of Ukrainian Borshch which also came from Olia Hercules’ book.

There’s probably enough there for the rest of the week …