New toy

 

Such a bargain. So shiny and new.

Cut my olive bread dough up a treat whilst I was eyeing up 1992-Kevin-Costner in The Bodyguard.

 

Treats

Maneesh

 

 

Bread Ingredients:

250g strong white flour (plus extra for dusting)

5g salt

13g caster sugar

5g instant yeast

Rape seed oil (plus extra for kneading)

160ml tepid water

 

Topping Ingredients:

3 tbsp sesamie seeds

2 tbsp dried thyme

1 tbsp dried basil*

Rape seed oil

 

*meant to be marjoram #FailagainTooleyStTescos

 

Makes ~ 1 bread

 

Preparation/Baking Method:

Mix together the flour, salt, sugar and yeast. Add 3/4 of the water.

 

Using your fingers, mix the ingredients together. Gradually add the remaining water until all the flour has come away from the sides of the bowl and you have a soft dough (you may not need all the waterl; the dough should be soft and not sticky).

 

Pour a little oil onto your work top. Place the dough on top and knead for 5-10 minutes. The dough will be wet in the beginning but will form a smooth dough once kneaded.

 

Place in a clean, oiled bowl, cover with a tea-towel and leave to double in size (1-3 hours).

 

Line large baking tray with parchment paper.

 

Tip the dough onto an oiled work top. Knock the dough back by folding it on itself, repeating this until all the air is knocked out and the dough is smooth.

 

Roll dough into a large (approx 30cm) circle/disc.

 

Place on the lined baking tray and cover with a clean plastic bag. Leave to rest for 20 minutes.

 

Preheat the oven to 230C/450F/gas 8

 

Mix all the topping ingredients with a little rape seed oil until you have a thick paste.

 

Brush the surface of the bread with rape seed oil. Spread the topping over the bread and bake for approx 15 minutes.

 

Remove from the oven and transfer to a wire rack to cool.

 

Alternatively eat immediately with a squidge of honey and your housemates.

 

Inspiration

 

Notes: Super yummy. Well worth the effort. Interesting to try with marjoram. Oil the baking parchment so the base doesn't stick? Try cooking for less time/longer so it doesn't stick.

Wrap up Sundays

 

Recipe as before.

Served with fishfingers and beans (random, yes) and 3 episodes of Come Dine with Me.

Notes: Improving. Bigger wraps, baked better, lovely steamy air pockets. Helped by spreading the dough out a little more by hand (careful fingers) when they first go into the pan.

Soda bread Saturday

Recipe as before. Breakfast as before.
I need to mix my Saturday mornings up.

Notes: Super crusty. Didn't seem baked for ages. Wetter dough next time? Shallower scoring on dough as bread seems to split open more? 

Vegan banana & strawberry loaf cake

Cake Ingredients:

560g self-raising flour

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

1 tsp baking powder

230g caster sugar

2 over-ripe bananas

350ml soya milk

250ml light rapeseed oil

2 tsp vanilla extract

12 fresh strawberries hulled and roughly chopped

 

Vanilla Icing Ingredients:

300g icing sugar

2 tbsp soya milk

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

 

Dried banana chips for decoration

 

Makes ~ 1 loaf cake and 1 7" cake

 

Preparation/Baking Method:

Preheat oven to 180C/350F/gas 4 and grease and line loaf/cake tin

 

In a large bowl mix together to flour, bicarbonate of soda, baking powder and caster sugar. Add the mashed banana, milk, oil, vanilla and chopped strawberries.

 

Using a metal spoon, quickly mix everything together for about 10 seconds until the ingredients are just combined. Don't mix the batter too much, it should still be a bit lumpy.

 

Pour/spoon the mixture into the tins and place in the preheated oven for 45-60 mins. Cool on a wire rack.

 

To make the icing mix together the icing sugar, milk and vanilla in a bowl. If it's too firm add a couple more drops of milk, and if too runny, add a little more icing sugar.

 

Ripple the icing onto the loaf/cake and decorate with dried banana chips.

 

Enjoy on summer solstice after a stroll by the river.

 

Inspiration

 

Notes: Makes a crazy amount of cake. Halve and just make one loaf/cake. Recipe adapted from the one in Ms Cupcake's recipie book as I ran out of oil and s/r flour. Extra banana made it super moist, smelt really 'banana-y' and didn't have the faint oil taste the victoria sponge seemed to have.

Wraps

 

Ingredients:

500g strong white bread flour (plus extra for dusting)

10g salt

30g caster sugar

10g instant yeast

30g softened unsalted vegetable margarine

320ml cool water

A little vegetable oil for cooking

 

Makes ~ 10-12 wraps

 

Preparation Method:

Tip the flour into a large mixing bowl and add the salt and sugar to one side of the bowl and the yeast to the other. Add the butter and 3/4 of the water, and turn the mixture round with your fingers. Continue to add water a little at a time until you've picked up all the flour from the sides of the bowl.

 

You may not need to add all the water, or you may need to add a little more - you want dough that is soft but not soggy.

 

Us the mixture to clean the inside of the bowl, folding the edges into the middle. Keep going until the mixture forms a rough dough.

 

Tip the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead well for 5-10 minutes. Do not add to much flour to the work top as this will make the dough too dry.

 

When your dough feels smooth and silky, put it into a lightly oiled large bowl. Cover with a tea towel and leave to rise until at least doubled in size (1-3 hours).

 

Dust your work top lightly with flour and tip your dough onto it. Fold it inwards repeatedly until all the air is knocked out and the dough is smooth. Divide into 15-17 equal sized pieces.

 

You may find it easier to shape and cook your wraps in batched. Roll each piece into a ball. Using a rolling pin, roll our each ball into a circle approx 20cm in diameter.

 

Heat a 25-23cm frying pan over a high heat and add a little vegetable oil. When it starts to smoke place one of the dough rounds in the pan and fry for 2 minutes. Flip the bread over and cool the other side for 1 minute.

 

Repeat adding more oil as/when needed. When each one is cooked, stack it on top of the last to trap the steam between them.

 

Serve with home made fajitas and guacamole. Obvs.

 

Inspiration

 

Notes: Use minimal oil in the pan. Make them bigger and thinner.

Saturday soda bread

Ingredients:

250g plain white flour (plus extra for dusting)

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

1 tsp salt

400ml buttermilk

 

Makes ~ 1 loaf

Preparation/Baking Method: 

Preheat your oven to 200C/400F/Gas 6 and line a baking tray with baking parchment/silicone paper

 

In a bowl, mix together the dry ingredients then stir in the buttermilk to form a sticky dough.

 

Tip the dough onto a lightly floured surface and shape it quickly into a ball. Flatten the ball a little with your hand.

 

Place the dough on the baking tray. Mark it into quarters, cutting deeply through the dough, almost, but nor quite through to the base. Dust with a little flour.

 

Bake for 30 minutes or until the loaf is cooked through - it should be golden brown and sound hollow when tapped on the base.

 

Leave to cool on a wire rack.

 

 Alternatively...serve immediately, lavishly buttered and topped with slices of avocado, seasoned with black pepper, sea salt and crushed chili flakes.

 

Inspiration

Notes: Bake for longer for a more golden bake. Cut deeper/less deep so it doesn't spread out at much?



Vegan Victoria Sponge Cake (with raspberries)

 

Cake Ingredients:

400g self-raising flour

240g caster sugar

2 tsp baking powder

400ml unsweetened soya milk

160ml light rapeseed oil

2 tbsp vanilla extract

 

Icing/Filling/Decoration Ingredients:

40g dairy-free margarine

1 tbsp vanilla extract

325g icing sugar

3 tbsp unsweetened soya milk

6 tbsp raspberry jam

150g fresh raspberries

 

Serves ~ 8-12

 

Preparation/Baking Method:

Grease and line 9" cake tin and preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4.

 

In a bowl, mix together the flour, sugar and baking powder. Add the soya milk, oil and vanilla, stirring with a metal spoon until just combined. 

 

Tap the bowl on the work top to stop the raising agents working too quickly - you will see the bubbles pop (and the ingredients will be crackling like magic).

 

Pour the mixture into the tin and tap the tins on the work top to pop the bubbles again.

Bake for about 40-50 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean.

 

Transfer to cooling rack to cool completely.

 

To make the icing whip together the margarine, vanilla extract, icing sugar and soya milk until you have a smooth, creamy consistency. If the icing is too firm add a bit more milk and mix, if too soft, add a little more icing sugar.

 

To finish, cut the cake into two and apply a generous layer of jam, fresh raspberries and just under half the buttercream to the bottom layer. Then spread the remaining buttercream on the second layer and sandwich together. Finish by decorating the second layer with fresh raspberries.

 

Perfect with a glass of muscatel on a Sunday afternoon.

 

Inspiration

 

Notes: Try with light rapeseed oil next time. Stupid no-option-London-Tescos.



Itty bitty pittas

Ingredients:

250g strong white flour (plus extra for dusting)

5g instant yeast

5g salt

160ml cool water

2tsp rapeseed oil (plus extra for kneading)

 

Makes ~ 4 small pittas

 

Preparaton/Baking Method:

In a bowl, mix together the flour, yeast and salt. Add 120ml of the water and 1½ teaspoons of oil. Using your fingers mix the ingredients together. Gradually add the remaining water and oil until all the flour has come away from the sides and you have a soft dough.

 

(You may not need all the water; the dough should be soft and not sticky)

 

Pour a little oil onto your work top. Place the dough on top and knead for 5-10 minutes. The dough will be wet in the beginning but will form a smooth dough once kneaded. Once a smooth dough is achieved, place it into a clean, oiled bowl. Cover and leave to prove until doubled in size (between 1-3 hours).

 

Preheat the oven to 250C/475F/Gas 9 and place a clean baking tray or baking stone on the middle shelf.

 

When the dough has doubled in size, tip it out onto a work surface dusted with flour. Knock the dough back by folding it inwards over and over again until all the air is knocked out. Split the dough into 4-6 equally sized balls. Roll each ball into an oval shape 3-5mm thick.

 

Remove the hot tray from the oven, dust with flour and place the pitta breads on it. You may have to cook them in batches.

Bake for 5-10 minutes, or until they just start to colour. Remove them from the oven and cover with a clean cloth until they are cool.

Nibble them in the kitchen with caramelised onion hummus.

 

Inspiration

Notes: Too small. Too salty. Next time, try rolling them out thinner. Bake for longer for more colour.