Cornmeal bread

Ingredients:

Starter (Banana yeast) 130g

Very strong flour 250g

Cornmeal 20g

Milk 190g

Salt 4g
Olive oil 1tbsp

A variation of my basic white loaf. I added cornmeal to give the bread extra flavour and slightly yellow and lighter crumb.

I also tried a new scoring pattern, which, I have to say, I'm quite please with. It's my interpretation of 'Corn'. ;D

So, last Saturday started with my freshly baked Cornmeal bread. For breakfast we had some slices with butter, and some more toasted...

Bread and butter, such a simple combo yet, so satisfying. 

With the left over slices, 

we made nice homemade sandwiched for lunch.

....♥︎....

Mine with salad and peanut butter...

It sounds weird but tasted pretty good. ;)

The meat eaters had Andy-made burgers.

As I was preparing for lunch I caught Lana diving for a big piece!

I can already see this Cornmeal bread becoming one of our regular;D

♡ Pain de campagne ♡

'Heart' pain de campagne, this is what I made for Andy as a Valentine's gift. (I did make Valentine's dinner dessert as well.;D)

Half white and half wholemeal flour, made with my strawberry yeast. It's simple but certainly have that 'got-to-have-another-slice' feel to it...

Humm, broken heart? (Andy cut this...)

It's great toasted and buttered, of course;)

By the way, look at my new bread knife. 

It's super cute and very sharp!

Croissant - Strawberry yeast

It's been a while since I made croissants and last weekend I had a sudden craving for the buttery pastry.

I choose my strawberry yeast in order to achieve a nice flaky outside. (my strawberry guys are the best when it comes to the crust!). My guys did a great job. The croissants came out with flaky layers and they smelt heavenly!

I used the same recipe as the one with raisin starter, but I added a tea spoon of honey in the dough. Because it's pretty cold now, the proofing took much longer this time, in fact I went to sleep during the final proofing....;D

The following morning, we had freshly baked croissants.... yes, nothing can beat freshly baked croissants on a Saturday morning! They were simply beautiful, probably the best croissants I ever made! And it had no yeast but my starter!

I just love those moments when a long process comes down to a perfect success, and it definitely was one of those moment. :D

Forget about the amount of butter! It's a 'Buttery Heaven'!

And, mini ones for Lana;)

Cheesy Loaf

I love cheese.
I am quite possibly addicted to cheese.

So, this one was for the cheesy hole in my stomach.

I made a basic white loaf with my yoghurt and raisin yeast, and added cheese in the dough as I was shaping it.
It was midnight when I finally started baking the bread, and the smell of cheese coming from the oven made my sleepy stomach rumble...

First I had a slice just as is. The loaf was soft and springy and it had a 'not too strong' cheesy flavour to it. I was very happy with the bake. But then, when I toasted it, it went up to the next level! The cheese in the bread got slightly melted and it was like cheese toast.The crispy cheesy crust was amazing too!

Cheese melting in the bread..., yum yum..;D

I used mozzarella (that was the only cheese I had...) this time but next time I'll go for bit more stronger ones like cheddar or emmental.

New Banneton & Knife

I've been looking for a good Banneton, a bread proving basket, for a while, and I finally found the one that I love!! It's from Suffolk Food Hall's kitchen shop. They have different sizes and shape baskets there.

I got a medium size round one, and this basket is simply amazing! I dust it with only a small amount of rye flour when I prove the bread, and the dough comes out so perfectly!

No more 'dough stuck' accidents...;)

I also got a baker's knife, Grignette, from Andy's mum and dad at Christmas. Honestly, I was so happy when I opened the present. I love my new knife. It cuts the dough ever so cleanly.

No more 'dough tearing accidents... ;)

Strawberry yeast bread 

and

banana yeast bread...

both baked perfectly with my new basket and knife;D

Always..., good bread needs butter! ;D

Strawberry yeast bread - 3

It's already September but we are still enjoying the summer heat here in England, which is great for being out and about, but not so great for my sourdough starters...

While it's hard to maintain sourdough starters on hot days, there is an advantage that we can take in this heat. Instead of making and keeping a fully matured starter, I often do the straight method by using a liquid starter.

Because of the hot weather, the liquid yeast gets very active and ready in much shorter time, and the dough rises much more easily.

My strawberry starter took 3 days, and banana starter was ready in only 2 day! By using this method not only will nice crusty sourdough bread be ready in 3 to 4 days but also you have less job in maintaining the starter (therefor less likely to fail...).

You can use any fresh or dried fruits (make sure they aren't coated with oil) or vegetables, but the ones with high sugar are easier to get started. Strawberries are perfect as they are cheap in summer and have a really nice flavour to it. Bananas are good all year around too.

All you've got to do is to follow the steps of Strawberry yeast starter until step two, then use that liquid to make your dough.

I made strawberry one again... this time with the strawberries that I used to make the liquid starter. Look at this beautiful crust! :D

Good bread and cheese is my ultimate sandwich combo...

More about strawberry yeast bread? Have a look at:
Strawberry yeast bread - 1
Strawberry yeast bread - 2

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