How do I get my loaf to spring upwards and not spread sideway?
If you hold a knife with good butter on it over the top of the loaf and sing ‘Food Glorious Food’ at the top of your voice, your loaf may well decide to spring upwards to see what is going on. On the other hand, if your singing voice is poor, it might just slope off sideways to get away from you. Bread in Victorian times was very variable in quality, mainly due to this. Continue reading
There’s been a lot of discussion on the Mellow Bakers forum about semolina versus durum wheat. Please visit over there if you want to join in with the conversation. I am still unsure as to what exactly Jeffrey Hamelman uses when he talks about durum wheat flour or semolina flour even though I have had a good look over on the KAF site to find out. We need a picture of your flour Jeffrey!
This is one of the not uncommon challenges of baking from a cookbook written by someone not based in your own country. Continue reading
Mainly out of curiosity and a dash of nostalgia I recently bought a copy of Scandilicious (Saltyard Books May 2011), by Signe Johansen. I was just watching her promotional video on Amazon today and reflected on how different her upbringing was from mine!
Min Danske Mor arrived in England in the fifties from Sweden, where she had lived from the age of thirteen, armed with two Swedish cookbooks and only the vaguest notion of how to feed a family. She struggled with the butchers, who cut the meat up differently, the imperial weights and measures, unfamiliar dishes with names like Yorkshire Pudding and relied on a handful of suppers which she could make. We never had puddings, but ate large quantities of salad as our second course, always with a mustardy French vinaigrette. Continue reading
Zeb Bakes 