Pink Banana

Millie and Me in Brixham had one of their occasional pop-up bars today.
 They ordered a few Onion Seed Rolls and a Green Pesto Twist, which is a plaited loaf with a pesto filling. As usual I started the ferments yesterday and finished them off this morning. The long prove gives them a fuller flavour, and added Olive Oil a rich smooth taste.

 

 

 

And the weather was beautiful down on the cliffs, a bit windy but with a taste of spring,

 

 

 

We have a bug hotel in the front garden, Yvonne made a sign for it on a stone I picked up on my travels.

 

 

 





One week to go.

It's just seven days till my operation. This time next Friday I will be either on my way to hospital or already there.
I'm looking forward to getting rid to the continual pain in my shoulder and having a few days of being waited on, but I will miss not walking the dogs over the cliffs and in the countryside.

I made a boring basic White Sandwich loaf this morning,

something else I will miss being unable to do for a couple of weeks. I might even have to resort to buying bread. That's a thing that I haven't done  (apart from a week or so while we moved house nearly 5 years ago) since 2008 and I just hope no-one spots either of us doing it. I have visions of all my customers stood in line behind Yvonne as she buys a loaf - good advertising.

Meanwhile, Georgina gave me a selection of sauces and marinades for Xmas and I've just used the Teriyaki marinade on some chicken.

We will have it with salad and new potatoes this evening. Speaking of which, I hope my shoulder will be up to planting the seed potatoes later this year.

We have snowdrops in the garden, I got hold of a load of snowdrops in the green last year and have been waiting for their appearance. At last they have started to pop up.

But where are the rest?

A Bit of Baking

Following the success of my Lentil and Turmeric Sourdough, (see the bread blog)

I found a load of dried fruit and nuts that were getting close to their sell-by date.


So I made Granola,

and then because I have just got this book, £ 8 in Smiths!




I made his version of Cornish Fairings.

Looks like the diets on hold again.

Fennel Bread and a Christening.

We had a great time at Elsa's Christening,

Amy, Harry and Elsa.

Godparents

Yvonne looked particularly gorgeous,

and there was a good buffet.

Of course when we got home, I had to make a loaf. I chose the quick bread as it only takes about an hour,

and Yvonne did some shortbread for a friend.

I have had an idea for a new type of loaf, it all came to me in  a flash as I was drinking a cup of Green Tea. I like the taste and I wondered what bread would taste like made with Green Tea instead of water.

After all you use milk in some sweet breads, and buttermilk in Soda Bread so why not?

Then I had another idea, we have a fennel in the garden and Yvonne saved a load of seeds last year. 

They are nice on Salmon, but how about as flavouring in a loaf? Taking it to its logical conclusion, how about a loaf made with Fennel Tea, with added Fennel seeds. And it would of course be Organic. There's a project.

So I made a normal dough, with two major differences. First, I used two Fennel teabags in the liquid and second I added a tablespoon of fennel seeds to the mixture.

Of course all this is guesswork, I don't want to put too much flavour in but also want enough. So if this one isn't tasty enough I will try a bit more.

It rose well in the batch proof, then I split it in two and put it in 1lb tins, that's one for me and one for Oats tomorrow. If I ask nicely they will put it on the counter for samples.

you can see the seeds.

After a second rise,

 it went in the oven for 20 minutes,

you can see the seeds in this close up,

Now for the all-important taste test.

and it passed! Now for the public reaction.

Saffron Buns Part 2

So I've got the infused milk and butter, I warmed it up and added it to all the other ingredients. Then I kneaded it all together for 6 minutes in my Kenwood.

I then proved it for an hour in my proving oven. (Its just my oven with a tray of boiling water in the bottom, heated on max for 1 MINUTE ONLY)

When I took the dough out to cut and shape it had doubled in size,

I made 10 rolls and left them covered for 45 minutes whilst the oven heated up to 200 degrees. They grew again.

I baked the rolls for 16 minutes, rotating twice to get an even colour, (my oven has hot spots)

I had to try one, they were lush.

Give it a try, you won't be disappointed.

Saffron Buns recipe

I'm off to my Granddaughters Christening and have been asked to make some of my Saffron Buns to take as part of the buffet after the service.

So the first thing to do is soak the saffron in the milk for 24 hours to get the flavour going.

As you can see, it goes quite yellow. If you taste a bit you will find a very delicate flavour. The aroma is worth a bite as well.

The recipe is, 500g strong white flour,
60g Caster Sugar,
300g milk, (infused as above) and warmed to about 30 degrees C
50g butter, softened.
10g each salt and instant yeast,
250g fruit, this is a mixture of Raisins and Cranberries. 

 After that its just a normal bread method, cut the dough into 10 pieces (about 115 -118g) and shape.

You can egg wash before baking but I don't normally bother, bake at 200 degrees for around 15 minutes.

They will go quite brown on top, but you are looking for a slightly moister interior, with a chewy texture.

Here's some I made earlier.