Cakes & Bakes: Bottle of beer bread

Sliced & buttered bottle of beer bread | H is for Home

A friend of ours has a micro-bar that sells an ever-changing selection of beers produced by micro-breweries all over the world. Doesn’t everyone want a friend like that?

Anyhow, we looked after their dog for them on occasion, and they thanked us with a few different bottles of beer. One of the bottles, a Buxton Brewery IPA, didn’t get drunk for ages, so I decided to use it to make a bottle of beer bread loaf.

Bottle of beer with sourdough mixture

I used my usual liquid to starter to flour ratio, but I felt the resultant dough was a little too wet, so I’ve upped the flour content by 50 grams in my recipe below. Perhaps I needed to weigh how much 330cl of beer weighs compared to 330cl of water!

Sourdough beer bread dough proving in a glass bowl Dough proving in a cane banneton

The time this loaf takes to prepare can vary widely depending on the temperature of your kitchen (ours rarely gets above 15ºC… in the summer), and whether you refrigerate your dough whilst it bulk ferments. Sometimes, if it’s really cold, I shut the covered dough in the microwave (pre-warmed by leaving a mug of boiling water in there).

It is helpful to know when estimating rising time according to room temperature that the rate of fermentation, or rising, is about double for every 15°F [8°C] increase in temperature. The Bread Bible

Freshly baked bottle of beer loaf

The resultant loaf was hoppy, tangy and flavoursome. It was delicious with a bit of mature cheddar or just with butter and gorgeous a few days later toasted.

Click here or on the image below to save my bottle of beer bread recipe to Pinterest

Sliced & buttered bottle of beer bread | H is for Home  #bread #realbread #beer #beerbread #sourdoughbread #sourdough #recipe #baking #cooking #cookery

Bottle of beer bread
Yields 1
Cook Time
30 min
Cook Time
30 min
Ingredients
  1. 330ml bottle of beer
  2. 115g/4oz starter @ 100% hydration
  3. 175g/6oz wholemeal flour
  4. 375g/13oz white flour
  5. 8g/¼oz saltBottle of beer bread ingredients
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Instructions
  1. In a large mixing bowl, stir together the beer and the starter, getting rid of a lot of the fizz from the beer
  2. Mix in the flours and salt, then turn out on to a work surface (I like to use a large marble board as it's very non-stick) and knead for 5 minutes
  3. Form the dough into a ball, put it back into the mixing bowl, cover and leave to prove until double in size (the warmer your kitchen, the quicker this will happen)
  4. Scrape the dough out of the bowl back on to the work surface, fold and shape the dough into a round and place it in a well-floured, circular banneton (smooth-side down). Prove again until double in size
  5. Preheat the oven to 250ºC/475ºF/Gas mark 9 (put your cloche or stone [if using] in the oven to preheat as well, at this point)
  6. Once the oven has reached the correct temperature, carefully remove the dough from the banneton, score and bake for 30 minutes (you can take the lid off the cloche for the final 10 minutes to get a lovely brown crust)
  7. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely on a wire rack before attempting to slice
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H is for Home Harbinger https://hisforhomeblog.com/

Cakes & Bakes: Buckfastleigh sourdough loaf

Sliced Buckfastleigh sourdough loaf on wooden breadboard | H is for Home

I have found my new ‘go to’ sourdough loaf recipe; a run-of-the-mill, no frills method that has worked for me perfectly every time. I give you… **loud trumpeting sound** the Buckfastleigh sourdough loaf!

Ball of sourdough dough in a glass bowl | H is for Home Ball of proved sourdough dough in a glass bowl | H is for Home

It’s the unfussiest sourdough loaf recipe I’ve come across, and it’s also the best tasting. With the scarcity of strong bread flour (all flour, to be fair) because of the Covid lockdown, I bought a few kilos direct from Shipton Mill and boy, did their Extra Course Organic Wholemeal Flour make a difference to the finished loaf. The flavour was incredible; I won’t be going back to the common or garden supermarket own brand version.

Ball of sourdough dough in a cane banneton | H is for Home Ball of proved sourdough dough in a cane banneton | H is for Home

The recipe came from Gordon, a small-scale baker who bakes 5 times per week, selling his loaves locally. I’m not sure if he’s based in the Devon town of Buckfastleigh – which I think may be the origin of the bread’s title.

The recipe directions are very spare; perhaps not the best to give a go if you’re a complete newbie. However, he gives a more detailed breakdown of the method (broken down into two separate posts) – complete with photographs – on the Fresh Loaf blog.

In it, he reveals his views on the matter… about which I wholeheartedly agree:

Sourdough – I do not think there is any magic to it… Here’s my take; It’s just bread. Get over it and just do it.
Sure – you can apply rules, you can take far more care with it that I appear to do, you can regiment the process and create rules – if what you’re after is something extra special. The one loaf a week you make and you want to take pride in it and make sure its the best there is. And that’s fine. I’m making basic daily sourdough bread here and for that, there is nothing special. No tricky processes, no strict timings or (within reason) temperatures. Gordon, on the Fresh Loaf blog

Home-made Buckfastleigh sourdough loaf | H is for Home #sourdough #sourdoughloaf #realbread #sourdoughbread #recipe #baking #cooking #cookery #wildyeast

Want to give it a try? Click here or on the image below to save the recipe to Pinterest

Home-made Buckfastleigh sourdough loaf | H is for Home #sourdough #sourdoughloaf #realbread #sourdoughbread #recipe #baking #cooking #cookery #wildyeast

Sliced Buckfastleigh sourdough loaf on wooden breadboard | H is for Home

Buckfastleigh sourdough loaf

Gordon
Course Bread
Cuisine British
Servings 1 kg loaf

Ingredients
  

  • 100 g wholemeal
  • 400 g white
  • 150 g starter @ 100% hydration
  • 8 g salt
  • 300 g water

Instructions
 

  • Mix, knead, leave overnight, shape into a boule, put in a cloth-lined basket/banneton, leave to prove (maybe 2 hours, do the finger poke test) and into a 250ºC oven with a cup of water splashed on the bottom (in a metal tin) and down to 210ºC after 12 minutes for another 25 minutes.
Buckfastleigh sourdough loaf ingredients
Keyword bread, loaf, sourdough

Cakes & Bakes: Soft sourdough sandwich loaf

Home-made soft sourdough sandwich loaf | H is for Home

What do a bacon sandwich, fried bread, French toast, Croque Monsieur and Welsh rarebit all have in common? They’re all best made using a plain, white sliced loaf.

Kneading soft sourdough loaf dough | H is for Home

I’ve confessed in the past that I’m quite partial to the odd, soft slice of Warbie’s Toastie now and again. The French have a far more chic-sounding name for this kind of bread – pain de mie. I saw this recipe recently for a soft sourdough sandwich loaf and thought I’d give it a try. As I outlined earlier, you don’t always want a strong flavoured loaf with an open, uneven texture.

Doing the windowpane test on a piece of bread dough | H is for Home

The knack to making a loaf with a soft, tearable texture is to knead, knead, knead until the gluten has developed fully. You can attempt to do this by hand, but my arm muscles aren’t up to the job! The other trick is to roll it out and roll it up… twice. Finally, a couple of long proving sessions with an overnight stint in the fridge in between.

Soft sourdough loaf dough made into four rounds | H is for Home Soft sourdough loaf dough rolled out and then tightly rolled | H is for Home

Making a sourdough sandwich loaf is a long, drawn out process – the exact opposite to the mass produced, Chorleywood processed stuff. Don’t fret though, bread preparation can fit easily around the rest of your day and night.

Soft sourdough loaf dough made into 4 rolls and placed inside a loaf tin | H is for Home

The original recipe says you need to allow your loaf to have a final proof of 6 hours. I don’t know if it’s the ever-cool temperature of my kitchen, but this wasn’t anywhere near long enough for mine. I’ve made this loaf on two different occasions now, and I’ve needed at least 12 hours on both occasions. Rather than go by length of time, judge it ready when your dough has doubled in size.

Soft sourdough loaf pulled apart to show the crumb | H is for Home

I like the first few slices of my fresh, home-made bread plain & simply buttered. Justin preferred using it as an opportunity to make a bacon sandwich. Apparently, the sweetness of the bread worked perfectly with the saltiness of the bacon.

Bacon sandwich made with slices of home-made soft sourdough loaf | H is for Home

What’s your favourite sandwich to make with soft, white bread?

Save the sourdough sandwich loaf recipe to Pinterest here

Soft sourdough sandwich loaf
Yields 1
For the levain
  1. 18g/⅔oz ripe sourdough starter (100% hydration)
  2. 30g/1oz milk
  3. 56g/2oz strong bread flour
For the dough
  1. 138g/4¾oz plain flour
  2. 138g4¾oz strong bread flour
  3. 20g/¾oz milk powder
  4. 34g/1oz sugar
  5. 134g/4¾oz milk
  6. 1 large egg white (50g)
  7. All of the levain
  8. 34g/1oz butter, softened
  9. 6g/⅕oz saltSoft sourdough loaf ingredients
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For the levain
  1. Mix together the starter, milk and flour and allow to develop at room temperature (23ºC/73ºF) until mature (about 12 hours)
For the dough
  1. In the bowl of a stand mixer with the dough hook attachment, combine the flour, milk powder, sugar, milk and egg white until it just comes together. Cover and autolyse in a warm place for half an hour
  2. Add the levain and half of the butter mixing in completely. Add the rest of the butter and the salt
  3. Knead until the dough is smooth, silky, stretchy and shiny and passes the windowpane test (this took me about 15 minutes in my stand mixer, on a slow-medium speed)
  4. Cover and bulk rise at room temperature for 2 hours. Fold, cover with cling film (or plastic bag) and refrigerate overnight
  5. Divide the dough into 3 or 4 equal pieces (I made 4 x 160g/5⅔oz pieces), roll them into balls, cover with slightly oiled cling film and allow to rest at room temperature for an hour
  6. Using a lightly floured rolling pin, roll out each piece into an oval. Roll up tightly and allow to rest for 10 minutes
  7. Roll each piece along its seam into long oval again. Roll up tightly for a 2nd time.
  8. Place the rolls, seam side down, into a 23cm x 13cm / 9" x 5" loaf tin or Pullman pan if you have one. Cover the tin loosely with cling film and allow to proveat room temperature for about 6 hours
  9. Preheat the oven to 200ºC/400ºF/Gas mark 6. Bake the loaf for 20 minutes
  10. Turn the temperature down to 175ºC/350ºF/Gas mark and bake for a further 15-20 minutes. If the top of loaf is browning too quickly, cover over the top with a piece of aluminium foil to prevent it from burning
  11. Take the loaf out of the oven and immediately turn the loaf out on to a wire cooling rack
  12. While the loaf is still warm, brush the top and sides with a little melted butter
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Adapted from Cook Til Delicious
H is for Home Harbinger https://hisforhomeblog.com/

Cakes & Bakes: Simple plain white loaf

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Simple, home-made plain white loaf with Cambozola cheese | H is for Home #baking #recipe #bread #realbread

A good recipe for a simple, plain white loaf is an essential in your home baking repertoire. This is an easy to make, easy to remember recipe – 100% flour, 60% water, 2% salt, 1% dried yeast.

This ratio of ingredients means the quantities can be multiplied easily depending on how many loaves you want to make. Just like a basic sponge cake recipe, it can be adapted to make all manner of variations. I regularly use this recipe as a starting point for other kinds of loaves…

  • Use half white, half wholemeal flour.
  • Add mixed seeds & nuts such as poppy, sunflower and pumpkin seeds.
  • Add dried fruit such as raisins, currents, sultanas (pre-soaked for a few hours in ) and/or chopped dried figs with a teaspoon of cinnamon and tablespoon of honey or maple syrup.
  • Simply kneading in a teaspoon of caraway seeds makes one of my favourite loaves!

The quantities below make one, medium-sized loaf.

Simple plain white loaf

Cook Time 35 minutes
Total Time 35 minutes
Servings 1 medium loaf

Ingredients
  

  • 500 g/18oz plain flour
  • 300 ml/10.5 fl oz warm water
  • 10 g/⅓oz salt
  • 5 g/⅙oz active dried yeast

Instructions
 

  • sift the flour and salt into a large mixing bowl
  • add the yeast to the warm water (no hotter than blood temperature) and mix together
  • make a well in the dry flour & salt mixture and pour in the water & yeast mix
  • fold the flour from the edges into the centre of the mixing bowl to combine well
  • lightly dust a tabletop with flour and knead the dough well for about 10 minutes until smooth
  • form the dough into a ball and put it back into the mixing bowl
  • cover the bowl with a damp tea towel or oiled cling film (Saran wrap) - I use a very large, clear plastic bag which I reuse over & over again
  • leave to prove for 60-90 minutes (depending on the temperature of the room) until the dough has doubled in size
  • lightly dust a tabletop with flour and knock the dough back and form it into an oblong and put it into a greased 500g/1lb rectangular loaf tin
  • put the tin back into the bowl and cover again with a damp tea towel or oiled cling film
  • leave to prove again for 60-90 minutes until the dough has doubled in size
  • preheat the oven to 240ºC/465ºF/Gas mark 9, put an empty roasting dish on the bottom shelf of the oven and fill a cup with cold water and set aside
  • when the loaf has proved, use a small serrated knife or grignette to score the top
  • Quickly & carefully pour the cup of water into the roasting dish before putting the loaf into the oven
  • After 10 minutes, turn the oven down to 200ºC/ 400ºF/Gas mark 6
  • Bake for a further 20-25 minutes before taking it out of the oven, removing from the tin and tapping on the base. If it sounds hollow it's done
  • Leave to cool on a wire rack for at least half an hour before use