Baking with bay and other kitchen stories
My wholegrain conversion continues apace. The more I learn about the benefits of eating the whole grain of a cereal, as opposed to roller milled white flour where the bran and most of the nutrition is sifted out, the more I’m enjoying the taste and flavours of Stoneground Wholemeal flour.
This cake uses spelt flour for a lovely nutty flavour and includes one of my favourite spices - bay..
Seven seeds of rye
Bread is such an important part of my life that admitting I have a favourite feels a little like confessing to having a favourite child(!) but if pushed I would probably choose a darkly complex, sweetly sour, dense and satisfying Scandinavian rye bread.
Crispbreads and fancy rolling pins.
Crispbreads and fancy rolling pins - baking gifts for Christmas.
THE FIRST LOAF
The First Loaf: our ancestors knew best.
In 1864 yeast was synthesised in a laboratory and became widely available. Fast forward 100 years to 1961 and the ‘Chorleywood process’, as it became known, introduced the world to fast processed mass produced bread and suddenly the world seemed to become ‘gluten intolerant’ overnight.
Somewhere along the line we lost sight of the best way to make nourishing, wholesome, digestible bread. The wild yeast method (AKA sourdough) forces us to slow down and consider more traditional ways of raising bread that’s tastier and better for us.