I really should be writing more in here.
I havent done a great deal of baking this past week - but I did knock out a batch of cranberry muffins (Craisins ROCK for this), some cookies and a loaf of bread.
If you havent already have a go at the basic white loaf in the River Cottage Family Cookbook, its really straight forward and turns out really well. It has a couple of good tips in there - high heat for the first ten minutes of baking, then down to moderate, then turn the loaf upside down in the tin, high heat again and brown the base off to finish it.
I picked up the Bourke Street Bakery cookbook as well and it is phenominal. Loads of lovely tips in there - a four week guided plan for creating sourdough starter, and a guide to making croissant ferment. So many things to try, with the croissants being top of the list.
So much to do! So much to do!
But its all good for the Soul ;)
Yup...I also throw in some boiling water into a tray in the base of the oven, when I stick the loaf in, then slam oven door jolly quick...10 mins later, hopefully, the bread has shot up another few inches! weyhey :)
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Oooh! Good plan.
ReplyDeleteIn the Bourke St Cookbook is says to have a water spray (like a spray gun for plants) and spray the loaf after the first five minutes (so when the oven is hot) to make the yeast go into overdrive.