The BakeryBits Blog

No, not laid by the metal chicken but by a free-range ex-battery hen. We’ve had lots of odd shapes, huge and almost square eggs but none the size of a walnut. Not even a mouthful! Poor hen must be protesting at the wild wind and rain today. She probably still squawked as loudly as ever when she laid it though.

Not strictly a bread-related post, but one for the start of the school summer holidays. Muntons has a string of uses for its malted ingredients up its long sleeves. The latest tip from them is to add some Muntons dried malt extract (spraymalt) to your kids’ milkshakes.

Adding powdered malt extract to a milkshake is commonly known in the United States as “Malts”. Add a spoon or two to your favourite recipe to bring out the fruit or chocolate flavours of the milkshake. For a really malty flavour, add quite a bit more – 10% to 20% will do it.

…and one for the parents…Muntons suggests a malted frappachino. Add a spoonful or so of Muntons dried malt extract into the milk and coffee with crushed ice.

Sounds just right to me should we have a long, hot summer!

The recipes that most of us are familiar with use specific weights of flour, leaven, salt etc in grams, teaspoons, tablespoons, cups or ounces. But what if you would like to make the recipe a little larger, or a lot larger? Doubling or trebling a recipe using mental arithmetic is usually easy enough but can lead to very annoying mistakes (at least, in my experience!). Making an odd proportion of the original recipe, say 3/4 or 2.5 times is much more prone to error.

Bakers use a system of proportion, or percentage, based on the relationship between the weight of flour to the weight of the other ingredients in the recipe. It provides an easy and reliable way to make a lot or a little of a specific recipe, reliably. The weight of flour added to the mix is always 100%. Then, all other ingredients are described as a proportion of the weight of the flour. So, a very basic bread recipe that would make four small loaves might comprise:

• 1kg white flour (100%)
• 650g water (65%)
• 400g sourdough starter or leaven (40%)
• 20g salt (2%)

If you are lucky, the author will have already added the percentages for you, otherwise you need to work these out once (and write them on the recipe). This recipe shows 1kg flour, or 100%. There is 650g of water which is 65% of the total flour added and so, on.

Using the recipe or formula above, it is very easy to scale the recipe to any size since the proportions are easy to work out given a desired quantity of flour. More than this, looking at recipes (or formulae) in terms of percentage is a good way to get a handle on the nature of the recipe since it allows the baker to quickly understand the proportions of water (hydration) the type and weight of flour specified and so the stiffness of the dough and so, with experience, the resultant bread.

Developing an understanding of the essential proportions used in various doughs allows for confident experimentation and the development of new recipes.

The MyWeigh KD8000 is a kitchen scale that has a baker’s percentage function. It is easy to use and here is a summary:

1. Place your empty measuring bowl on the scale and zero the weight by pressing “Tare”
2. Start by measuring the quantity of flour that you want to use. This will be the 100% flour measure.
3. Press the “%” button to set 100%.
4. Press the “%” button again to show the proportion of 100% for your next ingredients.
5. Now, tip the flour from your measuring bowl and into your mixing bowl.
6. When you put the measuring bowl back onto the scale, it will read 0% in readiness for you next ingredients.
7. Add your ingredients to the measuring bowl and you will see the % weight.
8. Tip the measured ingredient into your mixing bowl and continue until you’re finished.

That is all there is to it. Starting with a formula that gives a known number of loaves or quantity of dough, this method allows you to increase or decrease the recipe with ease and accuracy.

Ask a dozen bakers how they look after their sourdough starter (or leaven), you’ll probably get a baker’s dozen replies. Everyone starts by avidly following guides to get started – Dan Lepard’s method in his excellent The Handmade Loaf is how I started mine, several years ago now.

After a little while, and probably with too much confidence and too little experience with a healthy touch of laziness, I wondered about just keeping the starter in the ‘fridge and just “feeding” it every-so-often rather than following the strict tending routines as some guides suggest? What would happen? Is there an easier way?

Well, I think there is and it is what I do. Some suggest tipping away the excess starter when feeding it to keep the culture vitalised. I’m a bit too mean for that – even though I’d give it to the chickens rather than the kitchen sink. So, I don’t throw any away, and only feed the starter when I need to bulk it up for a bake…unless it is going to be a long time until the next one, in which case I treat it with a bit of flour and water once in a while, when I remember.

So, now I live with a couple of starters in small Kilner pots (the plastic ones, 250ml, with clip-on lids – better than glass and metal), one white and one wholemeal. They sit in the ‘fridge from one week to the next, undisturbed and apparently happy. They have been left for a good 3 weeks – probably more if I am honest – with no ill effects that I can detect. They don’t look pretty, but they don’t need to win beauty contests.

When I want to do a bake, I take the starter from the ‘fridge and empty all of it into a bowl and add the flour and water that I need for the recipe I am to follow. I add in the ratio of about 5:4, that is for every 100g of flour I add 80g water, stir it up and leave covered at room temperature for about 24 hours – 48 makes it more lively.

When I come to bake, I put a dollop – to about 1/2 full – of the starter back into the Kilner pot and put it safely back into the ‘fridge before I forget and bake the lot. With the rest, I follow a recipe and proceed as usual.

It isn’t the most scientific method, but is really easy with no waste and little effort. For me that is perfect!

In a nutshell:

1. Get your starter going – follow Dan Lepard’s method or get a sachet
2. Keep your starter in the ‘fridge in a plastic Kilner pot
3. A day or two before you need to bake, then remove it from the ‘fridge.
4. Add flour:water in the ratio 5:4, stir, cover and leave at room temp 24-48 hours. It’ll begin to bubble away in a few hours.
5. Just before you bake, put some starter back into the pot (I half-fill a 250ml Kilner) and return the pot to the ‘fridge.
6. With the remainder, follow your favourite recipe.

How do you care for yours? Maybe you’d like to comment about my method or tell about yours? Just click on the comments button at the bottom of this article.

We all like to rush out at the first sign that there might be some sunshine, dust down the barbecue and savour the smells and flavours of outdoor cooking. In the UK, each sunny day may be the last for some time, so we have to make the most of it!

One part of the barbecue that seems neglected is the sad, rather soulless burger bap. We seem to sacrifice quality for ease and happily put our lovingly carbonised creations into a flavourless, soggy bap. These described here are quick and easy (they even use fast-acting yeast!) and freeze well.

These have just the softness (thanks to the milk and butter) needed for barbecue burger baps and more taste than the goo the supermarkets offer. Why not make some yourself?

Ingredients:

• 100g warm milk (15%)
• 185g warm water (28%)
• 1 sachet fast-acting dried yeast (you could use 2tbps Sekowa Backferment, but allow longer for the proofing)
• 80g melted butter (and a little more for brushing) (13%)
• 20g sugar (3%)
• 10g mustard powder (optional) (1.5%)
• 6g Diax (optional – better crumb) (1%)
• 1/4 tsp salt (2g or 2%)
• 650g strong white flour (100%)

Method:

Mix the water and milk with the sugar. Add the dried yeast (or if using, 1-2 tbsp Sekowa Backferment Starter). Leave in a warm place and covered until bubbling away (longer if using the Sekowa baking ferment). Stir in the melted butter and the dry ingredients, mixing until it forms a dough (mustard will give a little more flavour and Diax will give a better crumb). Tip the dough onto a worksurface, scraping the bowl of any remaining dough. Kneed for a little while until the dough becomes soft and elastic – a few minutes.

Return the dough to a lightly oiled bowl and cover with a damp cloth until doubled in volume.

Give the dough a quick, light kneed, then roll out to about 15mm (1/2 inch) thick. Using a 3″ crumpet ring, cut the baps from the dough, placing each onto a greased baking sheet. Cover and leave until risen again to about double the height.

Brush the baps with more melted butter (and top with sesame if desired) and bake at 200°C for about 20 minutes.

Makes around 15 baps.

Just sharing some of our excitement at Croakham Farm with our first honey of the year – 76lb – the first for 3 years as we’ve had no summer for ages so we’re happy with that. The farm next door has been good enough to plant lots of Oil Seed Rape – great for bees and bad for hay-fever…

At one point, a couple of 2-year-old twins, a 6, 8 and 10 year-old were all “helping” at once!

Maybe we will see a decent summer this year.

The Sekowa Spezial Backferment is an alternative to fast-acting yeasts and to sourdoughs or levains. It is a honey-based ferment very popular in Germany since it gives many of the qualities of sourdough breads without the need to look after a starter.

Here is a very straightforward and rewarding (in the eating!) recipe for a lovely, crusty white loaf with a soft, open crumb and very good keeping qualities.

Before you start, you need to have a jar of Sekowa starter sitting in your fridge. Easy to make up a batch that will keep for months – read here. It is a two-stage recipe where a pre-mix is made up the evening before the bake. It will make about 2.4kg  (5.2lb) of dough, enough for a few loaves.

Stage 1:

Ingredients:

• 10g Sekowa Backferment starter (from your pre-made starter)
• 1 tsp Sekowa Backferment granules
• 15g Diax (optional – add with flour)
• 400g strong white flour
• 400g lukewarm water (30°C or 86°F)

Method:

Mix the starter, granules and water together, breaking up any lumps. Add the flour and mix well. If using Diax for even better crust and crumb, add it with the flour. The pre-mix should then be left in a container with room for it to double in volume, covered with cling film, undisturbed at 30C or 86F for 12 hours. We used our airing cupboard.

After 12 hours have passed (for a stronger flavour, you could leave the pre-mix for longer), the pre-mix should be bubbling vigourously.

Stage 2:

Ingredients:

• 950g strong white flour
• 18g table salt
• 500g warm water (50°C or 130°F)

Method:

Combine the pre-mix with the Stage 2 ingredients mix well, then tip out and kneed until silky. Place in a bowl, cover and put in a warm place such as an airing cupboard for about 30-60 minutes, until risen substantially.

Divide the dough into the loaf sizes you want, kneed each portion gently into your preferred loaf shape and place, seam-side up in a rye-flour-dusted proving basket. Return to the warm place, covered with a damp teatowel until doubled in volume, about another 30-50 minutes.

Heat your oven to 220°C or 425°F, not forgetting to put your baking stone in. For extra crust, place a bowl of water in the bottom of the oven to add steam.

Tip the loaf, one at a time, onto a semolina-dusted peel and slide into the oven and bake for about 45-60 minutes depending on the size of the loaf and your oven.

A mouthful of a name, worth it though. A chocolate fudge cake made with the addition of some dried malt extract in place of some of the sugar and baked in a Bundt cake pan. Bundt cakes are becoming increasingly popular as even with no or minimal decoration, the finished cake looks great taking on the ring pattern of the mould and helping to ensure even cooking. The Bundt® pan was invented in the US in 1950 by Nordic Ware and by 1960 became the most popular cake pan in the US.

Here is a recipe for a chocolate Bundt cake using the smaller of our Bundt tins from Chicago Metallic, with volume 6 cup or about 1.4L. The cake is easy and quick to make and is very moist. We used 80g Muntons Spraymalt (dried malt extract) in place of 80g of the sugar to give a malty flavour, but this is optional.

If you want to, you can decorate the ring cake with your favourite topping, but, since the malty flavour of the moist chocolate sponge is so nice, we just dusted with icing sugar once cool.

Ingredients:

• 200g softened butter
• 200g granulated sugar (optionally substitute 80g with Spraymalt Light (DME))
• 3 eggs
• 125g icing sugar
• 125g plain flour
• 40g cocoa powder
• 40g mixed chopped nuts

Method:

Preheat your oven to 170°C. Grease your Bundt Pan using a light vegetable oil or butter.

Whisk the butter with the granulated sugar to a cream then add the eggs, one at a time followed by the icing sugar then flour and cocoa powder. Finally, stir in the mixed chopped nuts. Spoon into the mould, smoothing before placing in the middle of the oven to bake for 35 minutes until springy.

Allow to cool in the pan and then tip out. When completely cooled, dust with icing sugar – or another topping of your choice.

The cake should be firm with a very moist centre.

This cake can be doubled for the larger Bundt pan, or divided for the individual Bundt-lette pans.

This beautifully tasty loaf was made using a standard wholemeal sourdough bread recipe, with a small proportion of RBM flour added which lifted both flavour and colour to produce a delicious loaf that once tasted will be gone.

Ingredients:

• 200g strong white flour (50%)
• 180g strong wholemeal flour (45%)
• 20g RBM flour (5%)
• 300g wholemeal or rye sourdough starter (75%)
• 250g luke-warm water (63%)
• 8g salt (2%)

Method:

Mix the sourdough starter (leaven) with the water, breaking the lumps. Add the remaining ingredients and stir until the dry ingredients are taken-up by the wet ones. Tip onto a lightly floured (or oiled) surface. Using Dan Lepard‘s low intensity technique, you can kneed for about 10 seconds – it’ll be sticky, so oil your hands and use a scraper – scraping the dough back into an oiled bowl for about 15 minutes, then repeat, leaving for about 30 minutes. Repeat, leaving a gap of 1 hour then 2 hours after which time, the dough should be easier to handle. The full technique suggested placing the dough in a warm place between kneeds – I find the kitchen is fine.

Mould into a loaf shape and place seem-side up into a (rye) floured 750g proving basket and prove in a warm place, covered with a damp cloth, until doubled. With sourdoughs this is likely to take several hours: much longer than with a commercial yeast.

Tip out onto a semolina-dusted peel, slash with a grignette with your preferred pattern and then onto a pre-heated baking stone (or, tip onto a baking sheet if you don’t have these) and bake at 210C. The RBM makes the dough much darker, so don’t take the loaf from the oven too soon – over baked is better than under-baked bread. It should sound hollow and be fairly crusty. To be sure, the dough inside should have reached 90C. As a rough guide, allow about 40-50 minutes for the quantities above.

As a sourdough loaf, it will have better keeping qualities as well as better taste and texture than fast-acting yeasted breads…and with the RBM you’ll achieve an extra-special flavour that will make the keeping quality irrelevant!

Caramel slices have never – until now – been high on my list of sweets. Usually the biscuit base is too dry and the rest just sweet and rather tasteless. Not so with these! Muntons gave me a recipe to try using their Spraymalt (dried malt extract, DME) and malt extract in place of some of the sugars and golden syrup in the traditional recipe, in both the base and the caramel, from a staff member there called Patsy. What a transformation. The overtones of Ovaltine/Maltesers makes these really delicious with a much more complex flavour. It has been a job to keep them long enough to grab a photo.

Here is the recipe – simply add the Spraymalt with the sugar and smell the difference right away!

Biscuit Base:
340g plain flour
225g butter
55g Sugar
55g Spraymalt light
Pinch of salt

Preheat your oven to 160C, 325F or gas mark 3. Grease and flour (or line) a baking tray – a Swiss-roll tray is ideal. Put the flour and salt into a mixing bowl, rub in the butter then stir in the sugar and Spraymalt light. Lightly work the mixture together until it forms a smooth stiff ball of dough, then, roll into the baking tray. Prick all over with a fork and chill for 15 minutes. Bake until golden brown (about 20-25 minutes).

Caramel Filling:
170g butter
40 g sugar
40 g Spraymalt Light
50 g Light Malt Extract
14 cl can of sweetened condensed milk

Place all ingredients into a saucepan, heat over low heat and stir continuously. Let simmer gently for 5 to 7 minutes, still stirring, let cool slightly then spread over biscuit base. Place in fridge and cool.

Chocolate Topping:
150-200g bar of chocolate (dark or milk – we used a bar of dark Green and Black cooking chocolate)

Melt the chocolate in the microwave for about a minute or in a bowl over a pan of water. Spread over the cooled caramel. Allow to cool – avoid the ‘fridge at this stage or the chocolate may develop a bloom (discolouring).

Slice and eat!