Cakes & Bakes: Cornmeal loaf

Dan Lepard is probably my favourite bread & pastry baker. I’ve cut out and kept some of his recipes that were published in his long-running (now sadly ended) column in the Guardian Weekend Magazine. Luckily, they’re all still available in the Guardian’s online archive.

I’ve had his tasty cornmeal baps recipe bookmarked for a few weeks, planning to give them a go. Instead of baps, I decided to turn them into a cornmeal loaf instead.

The recipe makes two, 500g/1lb loaves. I found the dough a little on the wet side and the cooked loaf a bit too sweet so I’ve ever so slightly tweaked the recipe below. Saying that, this is one of the best loaves I’ve ever baked.

It has a great, slightly springy crumb and crisp crust.

Lepard recommends pairing it with fried chicken – building your own (probably far superior) McChicken Sandwich or KFC Fillet Burger. Justin also likes the idea of slicing it for a smoked bacon sandwich.

Being a vegetarian, I might pair it with my home-made hummus or grilled Halloumi for its tangy saltiness.

What would you pair your cornmeal loaf with?

Cornmeal loaf

Dan Lepard: Step-by-step baking

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Cook Time 20

Course Bread

Cuisine American

Servings 2 loaves

Ingredients

100 g/3½oz coarse cornmeal or polenta
300 ml/10½ fl oz boiling water
100 g/3½oz plain yoghurt
400 ml/14 fl oz cold water
1 medium egg
30 g/1oz agave nectar or honey
7 g/¼oz fast-action yeast
1 kg/2.2lb strong white flour
50 g/1¾oz cornflour
3 tsp fine salt
Cornmeal to finish

Instructions

Put the cornmeal in a large mixing bowl, pour on the boiling water, whisk and leave for 10 minutes
Whisk in the yoghurt, water, egg and honey until smooth
Stir in the yeast. Add the flour, cornflour and salt, and mix to a smooth dough. Cover and leave for 10 minutes
Lightly oil a patch of worktop. Gently knead the dough on it for 10-12 seconds then return it to the bowl. Cover and leave an hour
If making 2 medium-sized loaves, divide the dough into 2 pieces of about 500g each. Shape into ovals with a little flour before putting into greased loaf tins. Leave to rise for about 90 minutes
Heat the oven to 200ºC/180ºC fan/400ºF/gas mark 6 and sprinkle with cornmeal
Bake for 20-25 minutes until golden

Keyword bread, cornbread, cornmeal

Cakes & Bakes: Hot cross loaf

Easter has come around again. I can’t believe I’ve never made hot cross buns, one of the most the traditional foods of this time of year. I almost never eat them, they traditionally contain orange and lemon peel and zest which my digestive system doesn’t seem to enjoy.

Baking my own means that I can omit those ingredients and making a hot cross loaf means it’s much easier to toast – the best way to eat it! I bought three, what look to be original Victorian, loaf tins this week. I’ve been looking forward to trying them out on something.

I adjusted a hot cross buns recipe from Emmanuel Hadjiandreou’s How to Make Bread. It’s probably the favourite of all my bread-making books because of all the great photos… and the fact that he has a bread-making method where there’s minimal kneading involved.

There are three main stages – the first two can be done a day or more in advance, allowing you to pace your bread-making and get other things done in between if you’re busy.

The recipe made two medium-sized loaves, the best hot cross bread I’ve ever eaten. A gorgeous flavour and texture, toasted and slathered in butter… yum!

Hot cross loaf

2017-04-06 12:18:54

Yields 2

For the glaze

225ml water
75g sugar
1 cinnamon stick
3 cloves
2 star anise

For the crosses

45ml water
20ml vegetable oil
40g plain flour
¼tsp salt

For the dough

10g fresh yeast or 5g active dry yeast
40g sugar
200ml warm water
200g plain flour
150g sultanas
150g currants
1tsp ground ginger
1tsp ground cinnamon
¼tsp ground cloves
200g strong bread flour
¼tsp salt
90g butter, softened
1 egg, beaten

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For the glaze

Put the water, sugar, cinnamon, cloves and star anise in a small saucepan.
Heat and bring up to a boil
Take off the heat and set aside in a cool place to allow the the spices to infuse. This glaze can be made a day in advance and stored in the fridge to use repeatedly for this recipe

For the crosses

In a measuring jug, combine the water and oil
In a small bowl, mix the flour and salt
Add the oil mixture to the flour & salt mixture and combine well until you get a soft, smooth paste
Cove and set aside in a cool place until needed

For the dough

Grease two 450g/1lb loaf tins
In a (larger) mixing bowl, weigh out the yeast. Add the sugar and water and stir until dissolved
Add the plain flour and combine until well mixed. This is the pre-ferment
Cover the bowl and let ferment in a warm place until doubled in size - about half an hour
While the pre-ferment rises, weigh out the dried fruit and spices, mix together and set aside
In another (smaller) mixing bowl, mix together the strong bread flor and salt. This is the dry mixture
Pull small pieces off the butter and lightly rub into the dry mixture using your fingertips until there are no more big lumps of butter
Add the egg and risen pre-ferment to the flour mixture and combine with your hands until it comes together
Cover and let stand for 10 minutes
After the 10 minutes, with the dough remaining in the bowl, pull a portion of the dough up from the side ans press it in the middle. Turn the bowl slightly and repeat this process with another portion of the dough
Cover the bowl again and let stand for 10 minutes
Repeat steps 9 & 10 three times
Add the reserved dried fruit mixture to the dough and knead gently until thoroughly mixed in
Cover and let rise for half an hour
Lightly dust a clean work surface with flour
Transfer the dough to the floured work surface and divide into 2 equal pieces
Form each piece into rounded oblongs and place into the two greased loaf tins
Cover and allow to rise until doubled in size
About 20 minutes before baking, preheat the oven to 220ºC/425ºF/Gas mark 7. Place a roasting tin at the bottom of the oven to preheat. Fill a cup with water and set aside
Fill a piping bag with the reserved mixture for the crosses. Pipe a cross across the top of each loaf
Put the loaf tins into the oven, pour the reserved cupful of water onto the hot roasting tin and lower the temperature to 180ºC/350ºF/Gas mark 4
Bake for 35-40 minutes or until golden brown
Remove from the oven, brush lightly with the reserved glaze
Allow to cool before slicing (toasting) and serving

By Emmanuel Hadjiandreou

Adapted from How to Make Bread

H is for Home Harbinger https://hisforhomeblog.com/

Cakes & Bakes: Tear & share smoked garlic bread

We’ve got a delicious tear and share smoked garlic bread for this week’s Cakes & Bakes post.

The majority of the recipe comes courtesy of Jamie Oliver with a few additions, omissions and twists. I can almost hear him say that, so it’s very apt.

Jamie’s recipe uses plain, fresh cloves of garlic. I used the smoked garlic bulb that we had in our veg rack. I omitted the chopped parsley when making the garlic butter – I can’t stand it – despite the fact that the breath freshening properties would come in handy! Finally, he adds a teaspoonful of cayenne pepper which I swapped for smoked paprika – double smoky loveliness!

It has lots of air, yet it’s substantial too. The breadcrumbs are a revelation, adding a great crispy crunch. The garlic butter is punchy & intense. We used the word delicious at the start, but we’ll also throw in flavoursome, comforting and generally stupendous!

It’s the perfect bread to have on the side of a saucy pasta dish or bowl of salad.

Click here to save the smoked garlic bread recipe to Pinterest for later!

Tear & share smoked garlic bread

2018-07-23 18:35:40

For the bread

800g/28oz strong bread flour, plus extra for dusting
7g/¼oz dried yeast
1tsp salt
550ml/19 fl oz tepid water
100g/3½oz stale breadcrumbs

For the garlic butter

½ bulb smoked garlic
250g/9oz butter, softened
1tsp smoked paprika
pinch of sea salt

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Instructions

Put the flour, yeast and 1 teaspoon of sea salt into a large bowl and make a well in the middle
Gradually pour in the water, continuously stirring and bringing in the flour from the outside as you go to form a rough dough
Transfer to a flour-dusted surface and knead for 10 minutes, or until smooth and springy
Place in a bowl, cover with a damp tea towel and prove in a warm place for 1 hour, or until doubled in size
Use this time to make the butter. Use a garlic crusher or mini-food processor to crush the garlic into the softened butter
Add the smoked paprika and a pinch of salt, then mix it all together
Remove half to use in this recipe, then spoon the rest onto a sheet of greaseproof paper, roll it up into a log and twist the ends like a Christmas cracker, then pop into the freezer for up to 6 months for future use
Using a pastry brush, spread ⅓ of your soft butter portion all around the base and sides of a large metal tray (25cm x 35cm), then scatter in the breadcrumbs and shake around into an even layer so they stick to the butter
Divide up the dough into 35 pieces, then, one-by-one, roll each one into a ball and place into the tray in rows – 5 balls across and 7 balls long is perfect
Brush over another ⅓ of the soft butter, in and around the balls
Leave to prove for another hour and a half or until doubled in size again
Preheat the oven to 190ºC/375ºF/gas 5
Sprinkle the balls with a little sea salt before baking on the bottom shelf of the oven for 30 minutes, or until lovely and golden
Brush over that final ⅓ of butter spreading it around to give the bread a beautiful shine
Serve straight away

By Jamie Oliver

Adapted from Jamie's Comfort Food

H is for Home Harbinger https://hisforhomeblog.com/

Cakes & Bakes: Victorian cottage loaf

Did you watch the first of three episodes of Victorian Bakers on the BBC this week? It inspired me to try to make a Victorian cottage loaf – something that would have been a rural family’s staple back then. Apparently this bread was eaten for breakfast, lunch and evening meal.

On the programme, the loaves were made using brewers’ yeast – not something readily available in the supermarket. I used fresh yeast instead, which you can buy very cheaply in Morrisons.

I took a recipe from Country Bread by Linda Collister & Anthony Blake as inspiration. It’s called ‘Clive Mellum’s Favourite loaf’. Clive is a master baker at Shipton Mill Organic Bakery in Tetbury. The very same Shipton Mill whose bread flour I currently use.

I slightly adapted the recipe using wholemeal instead of white bread flour. We like the flavour & goodness of wholemeal, and it’s perhaps the more authentic country loaf as white or refined flour was something that only the upper classes would have been able to afford.

You need to start this Victorian cottage loaf the day before, making the ‘sponge‘… a mix similar to a starter, and leaving it to prove overnight. So a bit of forward planning is required!

The resulting loaf was delicious – no wonder the Victorians ate it 3 times a day!

Victorian cottage loaf

2018-07-23 19:09:26

Yields 1

Cook Time

40 min

Cook Time

40 min

For the sponge

5g/⅕oz fresh yeast
130g/4½oz lukewarm water
150g/5¼oz wholemeal flour

For the dough

225g/8oz wholemeal bread flour
4g/⅙oz salt
12g/½oz fresh yeast
110ml/4fl oz lukewarm water

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Instructions

Crumble & stir the yeast into some of the water before adding this to the flour with the rest of the water
Mix until the thoroughly combined
You don't need to knead the sponge as time will develop the gluten sufficiently
Put the sponge into a bowl that's large enough to allow it to expand to at least 3 times its original size
Cover with a lid, polythene bag or cling film and leave it at room temperature for 12-18 hours
Mix the flour and salt together and make a well in the centre
Crumble the yeast into the water and stir to combine
Pour the yeast liquid into the well
Bring the flour from the sides of the bowl towards the centre
Add in the sponge and continue mixing to form a smooth but not sticky dough
Turn out the dough on to a lightly floured surface and knead for at least 10 minutes
Form the dough into a ball and return it to the bowl
Cover the bowl with cling film and leave to rest in a warm place for 15 minutes
Turn the dough out on to a lightly floured surface and knock back
Divide it into two balls - one with ⅓ of the dough, and the other with ⅔ of the dough
Place the balls of dough onto a greased baking sheet. Cover with inverted bowls or lightly oiled cling film and leave to rise in a warm place for about an hour until doubled in size
Towards the end of the rising time, preheat the oven to 200ºC/400ºF
Gently flatten the top of the larger round of dough and, with a sharp knife, criss-cross the centre about 4cm across
Brush or sprinkle with a little water and carefully place the smaller round on top of the larger
Gently press a hole through the middle of the top ball, down into the lower ball, using your thumb and first two fingers of one hand
Cover with lightly oiled cling film and leave to rest in a warm place for about 10 minutes
Bake for 35-40 minutes, or until golden brown and sounds hollow when tapped on the base
Allow to cool on a wire rack for at least 15 minutes before slicing or serving

H is for Home Harbinger https://hisforhomeblog.com/