A little bit of baking....

Howdy folks! Hope you all had a good weekend! Just thought I'd share with you my baking collage from this weekend. We have spinach, halloumi and herb quiche; a tasty white loaf which was lovely toasted this morning - I had the Jam, Mr P had the boiled eggies; and some lovely scones (you can take the girl out of Cornwall, but you can't take Cornwall out of the Girl). Now where's that clotted cream gone!?

I also treated myself to some new cutters this weekend - Tala Plain Cutters - which I love! I can remember my mum having the Tala measuring cone at home (I think it still exists) which seems to have come back into fashion.... I'll have to have a rummage in the cupboard when I go back home next!

They cutters were brought from my local cook shop, Steamer Trading in Witney which is an amazing shop. It's like mecca for cooks!  I'm also lucky to have a great little cookshop in Woodstock as well, The Kitchene'rs Cookshop, which is a little closer for kitchen emergencies (i.e. like when my electronic scales died on me!). God bless the local cookshops!

Have a good week, bake on!

Nic xoxox

A little bit of dough love!

PHOTOS TO FOLLOW!

There is nothing more comforting than coming into the kitchen and smelling freshly baked bread. A few years ago I attended a bread making course ran by a company call Blue Mango in Truro. Linda used to make and sell baked goodies in Truro Lemon Street Market and then turned her hand to teaching. Unfortunately she moved to Tavistock in Devon and opened up a restaurant. But you will be pleased to know that she still runs bread courses so it’s a good excuse for a weekend away! I was very lucky as Mr P brought me the course as a Valentines present and has since got a lot out of me attending it!

I like to make bread every now and then and I spied some Organic Spelt Flour in our local health food shop and thought I’d give it a go. You can also buy it in bigger supermarkets if you don’t have a health food shop nearby. Doves Farm Flour always comes with some recipes on the bag and I first tried the White Spelt Loaf which turned out lovely. The crust was a little bit crispy, but I think that was down to playing with the oven temperature and maybe reducing the cooking time a little. Anyway, it hasn’t failed me and creates a nice nutty flavoured loaf.

The second recipe that they have on the bag is a milk bread plait which is made with warm milk and melted butter instead of water. It’s a really simple recipe and produces great results every time. It’s one of my favourite breads to make. The bread tastes sweeter, possibly because of the milk, and the crust doesn’t go as firm. I have been sprinkling sesame seeds on the loaf as well as the recommended poppy seeds. I think next time I might even try some sunflower and pumpkin seeds! This bread keeps fresh for 4-5 days, makes lovely dipping bread (maybe with some Cotswold Gold Rapeseed Oil!), amazing toast and it also freezes very well. I really recommended having a go at making it. It also looks very pretty on the table before the hoards take to it with the bread knife!

I must admit that making bread is one of those things to do if you are at home pottering around.

Here’s a link to the milk bread plait recipe http://www.dovesfarm.co.uk/recipes/milk-bread-plait/

Go on, give it a go!

Nic xoxox