Sourdough bread

Results! Bread is out of the oven and it tastes okay, slightly too sour. Well, the sponge was probably left out for too long before using. Anyhow, it was a good bake with a good crust.

opps...

Oops...I forgot to take a photo before carrying out the next stage. Oh well, you'll just have to take my word that it has risen all the way the bowl after overnight (6 hours to be precise). Final proving is being done in the banneton now. I'll have to make sure to remember to take photos before tipping the dough out.

ready for making the loaf

The sponge was ready after resting for over 12 hours. Well, it was left untouched for 16 hours before I had time to use it. Added flour, salt and olive oil to the sponge. Mixed and kneaded, then prove in an oiled bowl and covered with cling film. This is the first proving and I will continue with second proving tomorrow morning. Fingers crossed that it will rise okay.

ready for sponge

Sponge is made! Just need to wait and see what will happen this evening.

Starter fed and stored in the fridge.

my sourdough journey 6

Day 7 photo taken after feeding.

my sourdough journey 5

Day 6 photo taken before feeding. Still looking bubbly.

my sourdough journey 4

Day 5, photo taken 3 hours after feeding. Growth has slowed down a bit, probably because I didn't add as much water as before. It's still bubbly and now it has a slight smell of alcohol. 

my sourdough journey 3

Day 4 before feeding. Woah! It filled up the entire jar! Very active indeed!

I'm undecided if I should slow down the growth by putting it in the fridge after day 5 or continue growing it at room temperature for the full 7 days.

my sourdough journey 2

Day 3 before feeding. Looking bubbly!

my sourdough journey begins

Why do I bother attempting to make sourdough bread when I don't even like the stuff? Well, I never liked sourdough until recently when I tasted the best sourdough bread in my life. Okay, I had only eaten a few so far as I was put off by those I had tried in the past. But I see this as a challenge that I should tackle.

I'm only on day 3 of making my sourdough starter, so nothing exciting to talk about yet. Here are photos of my starter from day 1 and 2. I'll update later this evening after checking how the starter is doing before its next feed.

macarons

I've just discovered this blog post that I forgot to publish. D'oh!

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I finally decided to return to blogging after being "on leave" for nearly two years. Maternity leave that was! It wasn't pleasant to bake while you were coping with morning sickness and trying to bend down to reach the oven when your belly the size of a huge water melon. However, I did bake some raspberry muffins two days before I went into labour.

Let's skip the gory details and fast forward to 2014. I now have a happy 14 months old son who is now refusing to listen to our "commands" (more like our pleadings!). Luckily his grand parents are happy to baby sit him while I made macarons. I have made macarons in the past but it was always an unknown whether they will turn out successfully. I was beginning to think these little dainty treats behave just like my son - refusing to obey my commands and ignoring my pleadings to rise to give me the "pieds" - the distinctive character "feet" of the macarons.

At last I found a good recipe and made good looking and tasty macarons. Hooray!

Recipe from: Mad About Macarons