The beauty of malt powders, syrups and grains is how their complex flavours and colours occur directly from nature’s own transformation process. As grains sprout, sugars are created, then slow drying and toasting enhances their sweet flavour, and the result is malt. So in this loaf, whole grains and four different types of malt combine with cooked pumpkin and toasted hazelnuts to create the most... Read more
Sometimes, I've written recipes which use specific types of flour from small millers, and it may be that they won't always be in stock. If that's the case, do feel free to substitute something similar from the BakeryBits range. Here, for example, I’ve made a walnut sourdough using Heritage Harvest flours, combining their Roller-Milled White Flour with their darker Organic Stoneground Wholemeal ... Read more
This is a three-day adventure to take you towards croissant perfection. Much easier and less effort than classic puff pastry, with much less rolling to do. This recipe only makes 6, but I’d like you to start here, getting your technique as sharp as you can, before you set up making dozens to supply your entire neighbourhood as the local viennoiserie star baker. You can do it, I believe in you, ... Read more
This recipe is designed to fill the 9" USA Pan Pullman pan. Using the quantities below, you have the basis upon which your can alter the recipe to suit you. Getting the quantity just right for a pan with a fitted lid can be a little hit-and-miss depending on the recipe, exact flour used etc. This is a starting point to get pretty close and from here you can adapt it with your choice of flour and ... Read more
Back in 2003 when I was writing my sourdough book "The Handmade Loaf”, I travelled to Sweden to understand rye crispbreads better, making my way to the organic Roslagsbröd bakery. There, huge dimpled rollers were part of a wheel-and-belt old school apparatus – fascinating in its complex Heath Robinson ingenuity – which squished and extruded the sticky grey rye dough into pitted sheets that ... Read more
In this new age where we’re either used to lockdown or feeling less inclined to travel, I find myself thinking more about the journey ingredients take to get from the field to my table. The grain used to make flour is no exception. It used to be said, until not so long ago, that all of us, the world over, could only make fine bread from high-gluten Canadian wheat varieties. And we believed it, ... Read more
In France a “Pain Complet” is almost what we would call a wholemeal loaf. However, the flour used is typically slightly more refined: often roller milled without the wheat germ, resulting in a bread with a rich dark crumb colour, but a rather lighter texture than our regular 100% wholemeal bread, yet maintaining a bold bran flavour. This means that if you want to add other ingredients ... Read more
