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

homemade tagliatelle

After watching a new TV programme on Italian cooking and not having enough bread to make two packed lunches, I've decided to make pasta to go with my jar of red pesto. I've followed the recipe from the programme by mixing 1 egg with 100g plain flour and a pinch of salt. The dough was kneaded until it formed a smooth dough. Then it was wrapped in clingfilm and rested for 30minutes before rolling and cutting into the shape of tagliatelli. They only took 2-3 minutes to cook in boiling salted water. Finally, drained the pasta and mix in a few spoonfuls of red pesto. It was so easy to make and I'll definitely will try to make some more soon.

Recipe from: Channel Four's new programme Simply Italian

lemon shortbread

I didn't have any passion fruit so I've omitted it and added a few drops of vanilla extract to make this shortbread. The first batch had to be thrown out as they were burnt, so I had to reduce the baking time for the second batch. These shortbread taste crumbly and not too sweet.



Recipe from: BBC Food

peach melba cake

Since we had some fresh peaches and frozen raspberries, I've made peach melba cake following a BBC GoodFood recipe. The cake is very moist because of the ground almonds. It tasted good on its own as well as being served with vanilla ice-cream. There is quite a lot of sugar in it but the cooked peaches and raspberries can balance it with their acidity.



Recipe from: BBC GoodFood

fruit scones with clotted cream and strawberry jam

Freshly baked scones from the oven served with clotted cream and strawberry jam. It's heaven! It's the perfect cake/bread (not quite sure which category scones come under) for afternoon tea.

Recipe from: Mary Berry's Baking Bible

poppyseed bread

This is my all time favourite bread to make. The recipe is from a Chinese recipe site called Leisure-Cat. My brother loves eating this and the bread normally disappears within an hour from leaving the oven.

Recipe from: Leisure-Cat Recipe

croissants take two

My second attempt at making croissants. I've learned my lesson, this time I've followed the recipe word for word. The result was much better with the croissants having a more flakier texture. I definitely need to make them many more times in order to perfect the technique.

afternoon tea

Nice afternoon tea at the Tea Terrace in House of Fraser. I love the crockery they use. The two little scones were fruit ones with the perfect texture, served with strawberry jam and clotted cream. I had them the Cornwall way - jam first, cream second. Delicious!

palmiers take two

Palmiers are one of my favourites and I had to make them again. On this occasion, I followed the recipe word for word to make the puff pastry. The result is much better than my first attempt. They turned out to be more flaky and crispier. It won't be long before "take three"!

cheese crackers

Crispy cheese crackers are a great way to use up leftover cheddar. This recipe was given to me by my primary classmate EH. They require very little effort to make. These little crackers are very moreish and irresistible. Once you've started munching on them you will have great difficulty to stop. Yum!