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Sourdough Bread and Starter

Sourdough Bread

When I started getting back into bread baking several months ago now, one thing I really wanted to try making was sourdough bread. While it is probably more common in the US than in the UK, there does seem to be a growing interest here, due to the increase of US cooking shows on our TVs.

I think that the name, sourdough, is also quite misleading. I have spoken to people who have not tried it because they are expecting the bread to have a sour taste. I would describe it as having a more 'bread-like' taste and a very slight tang. There is a slightly deeper flavour as it is a more fermented than usual bread, so if like me, you are a bread fan, then waste no time in getting your hands on a starter. It is fantastic with soup, and it makes the most unbelievably tasty toast.

Unlike bread that is made using cultured yeast, sourdough bread takes a lot longer to prove than you are used to. It takes me about a day and half to make my bread, but in the time, my actual involvement is very little.


How to grow your own sourdough starter

Having a sourdough starter in your life is much like having a pet. We have actually named ours Heston. You have to keep him in the right conditions and feed him, or he will die.

The hardest bit is getting your starter started, but once its going, it is much easier to look after. There are many variations of method on the web if you care to look, but this is the method I prefer. You could also ask around your friends, because if someone has a starter already, that would make your life much easier.

Equipment you need:
* a clean large glass jar or jug (I use an old pickled gherkin jar)
* bottled water - not tap water
* organic rye flour

Day 1
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add 100g rye flour and 140g bottled water. Mix thoroughly into a paste. Cover with towel, and leave away from direct heat (radiators etc) at room temp (20c/21c) for 24hrs

Day 2
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You may not see much activity at this stage. Discard half the starter and add in 100g rye flour and 140g water. Cover and leave at room temp for another 24hrs

Day 3, 4 & 5
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You should see some activity now, and have maybe a fresh beer-like yeasty smell. There should be bubbles in the mixture which is caused by the wild yeast population eating the flour.Now that your yeast population is growing you now need to feed twice a day at evenly spaced intervals - roughly every 12 hrs.

For each feed - keep 100g of starter, and discard the rest. Add 100g of rye flour and 140g water, cover and leave.

Day 6
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By now you should have quite an active starter. It should have a slightly acidic smell. If at any point it smells 'off' and offensive, discard and start again as something nasty has gotten in. If you get a slight layer of off-coloured liquid on top, that is 'hooch'. Essentially its alcohol produced by the yeast. Pour it off or stir back in - either is good.

Your starter should be stable enough to use now and store in the fridge, which means it is much less maintenance.

Baking with your starter.

There are many recipes out there for sourdough bread if you do some searching online,  but this is the recipe/routine I have developed which works best for me.

Sat AM
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Fed starter

I take my starter out of the fridge, and place 1 large tablespoon into a clean glass bowl, and discard the rest. Instead of chucking it in the bin, you can use it to make pancakes or waffles for breakfast.

Add 100g of rye flour & 140g bottled water. Cover with tea towel and leave to double in size - approx 5-6 hrs depending on room temp. When it is risen, spongy and bubbly, it's now called a 'fed starter'.


Sat PM
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Take 200g of 'fed starter' and place in a large mixing bowl. There should be a small amount left of fed starter which can be popped back into your large jar with 100g rye flour and 140g bottled water. Stir, then place the lid on loosely, not tightened, and leave in the fridge until next week.

Add to the 200g of starter - 500g strong white or wholemeal bread flour, 1 teaspoon of salt, 240ml bottled water (and I also add on a squirt of honey to feed the yeast but not enough to make the bread taste sweet, but this is completely optional).

Mix until combined, and then knead on a lightly floured surface until smooth and elastic for 8-10 mins. If the mixture seems too sloppy, add a smidge more flour before turning out to knead, but beware the more flour you add the denser and heavier your bread will be, and a wet dough will tighten up as you knead and produce a much better crumb.

Once kneaded, place in an oiled bowl, cover with clingfilm, then place in the fridge overnight.

Sun AM
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Your dough should have doubled in size by now. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface. Knock all the air out, then half the mixture. Shape into smooth rectangles and place gently in to 2 x greased and floured 2lb loaf tins.

Dust the top with more flour, and make a shallow slash cut along the top in the middle, from about half inch from each end.

Cover both loaves with a clean tea towel and leave at room temp for about 5-6 hours at least, longer if it is cold, until it has doubled in size again.

Sun PM
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Bake in middle of oven at gas mark 5/375f/190c for 30 mins, then turn out onto a baking tray, upside down. Place back in over for a further 10 mins, then cool on a cooling rack.


Once cooled, I tend to place one loaf in a freezer bag and freeze. The bread will keep fresh for several days, but it is definitely at its best eaten within 2 or 3 days.

About Sourdough bread

Sourdough bread, unlike bread made from cultured yeast, is slightly better for you because the lengthier rising times actually breaks down a lot of the proteins(gluten) making it more digestible for humans. Good if you have a sensitivity to wheat gluten.

Like all other fermentation processes, the bacteria present in the sourdough starter eat the starch and sugars present in the grain. This results in a lowering of the starch or carbohydrate content of the bread, which is helpful for keeping blood sugar levels regulated. It also increases some of the vitamin and mineral content of the grain.

The increase in lactic acid, what gives it that light tang, actually works as a natural preservative, and prevents mold growth.

Finally, the bacteria present in the sourdough help to activate phytase, an enzyme that breaks down an anti-nutrient present in all grains, beans, and seeds called phytic acid. This may seem minor, but phytic acid is known to strip your body of minerals and can be hard on your digestion.

Your starter will live quite happily in the fridge for a week. You will notice it rises after about 3 or 4 days then starts to drop a little by the 7th day as the yeast population has peaked. I would advise feeding once a week, even if not baking with it, to keep the yeast and bacteria population strong, but it can go up to two weeks at a push. It's not unknown for sourdough enthusiasts to take their starter with them on holiday.

If you want to bake more than once a week, you can always take your starter out of the fridge after about 3 or 4 days. Alternatively, you can store it at room temp but you will have to bake with it and feed it every day.

Have a play, do some reading on the web, but don't be too put off - everyone seems to handle things slightly differently but the basic rules are the same.

Cinnamon Rolls

For a long time, I didn't think I liked cinnamon.

Growing up in a household that used very little in the way of herbs and spices in cooking, I wasn't too familiar with it. My introduction to cinnamon came in the form of some horrendous boiled sweets a friend brought back from the US. I hated them, and so I though I hated cinnamon.

It is a spice that I have since grown to love however, but in moderation. I still don't like it if people are too heavy handed with it. Other than in apple pie, my favourite use of cinnamon is in the cinnamon roll. The beautiful soft enriched dough with the hint of cinnamon is a great breakfast treat, especially if it is oozing with a delicious cream cheese frosting, or maple syrup glaze. As it is quite sweet, you can just brush it with a little melted butter.



Dough Ingredients:

• 180ml milk, warmed (110f/43c)
• 7g instant yeast
• 3 large eggs, room temperature
• 560g plain flour
• 70g corn flour
• 115g caster sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 170g  softened unsalted butter, cut into small pieces (easier to do this while cold)

Filling Ingredients:

• 200g light brown sugar
• 1½ Tablespoons ground cinnamon
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 70g unsalted butter, melted and cooled

Method:

1.      Line a 13"(33cm) by 9"(23cm) baking pan with foil, allowing excess foil to hang over pan edges. Grease foil and set aside.

2.      Add warm milk into mixing bowl, stir in yeast and allow to bloom.

3.      In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, cornflour, sugar and salt.

4.      Once the yeast has bloomed, dump the dry ingredients into the mixing bowl.

5.      With mixer on low and using a dough hook, slowly add in the beaten eggs until dough comes together.

6.      Increase speed to medium, and add the butter 1 piece at a time until incorporated.

7.      Either turn out and knead by hand or continue to mix until the dough is smooth and comes away from the bowl (approx. 8-10 mins).

8.      Transfer dough to a lightly greased bowl, cover with cling film, and place somewhere warmish until its doubled in size(about 1½-2 hours)

9.      In the meantime, prepare your filling. Combine brown sugar, cinnamon and salt into a small bowl.

10.  Once the dough is fully risen, turn out onto lightly floured surface. Knock the air out of the dough, then roll our into a rectangle about 16"(40cm) wide by 12" (30cm).

11.  Pour the melted butter over the dough and spread with your finger tips. Sprinkle over the sugar mix and spread with your fingertips.

12.  Starting at the edge nearest to you, roll the dough into a tight cylinder and pinch to seal seam.

13.  Cut into 12 even sized rolls. Transfer rolls into prepared foil-lined pan. Cover with cling film and leave to rise again until doubled in size. This can be done overnight in a fridge so that they are ready to bake for breakfast.

14.  When ready to bake, discard cling film and place in an oven pre-heated to Gas 4/180c/350f for 35 to 40 minutes.

15.  When done, allow to cool in the pan for a moment. At this point, you can ice or glaze them if you want. When ready to serve, use the excess foil to lift from the pan.

TIP: Cinnamon rolls freeze very well once cooked (unfrosted). You can freeze them  in bulk or individually, then once thawed, warm for a few minutes in the oven before frosting, or you could just stuff your face with them  straight away.

Also, for an interesting twist, why not try throwing a handful or two of mixed dried fruit along with your sugar and cinnamon filling.

Pumpkin Pie

Sadly, due to the inclement weather this year, my squash patch was pretty much a wash out. The incessant rain caused mold on the broad leaves, and any budding squash was soon munched on by the army of slugs and snails that invaded my garden this year.

I was devastated, my grand plans of producing enough pumpkin and squash puree to last me through many soups and pies were dashed. However, a delightful friend from the US happened to mention that she used canned pumpkin. All was not lost, I thought.


Canned pumpkin however, is not a staple item of the British supermarket. The internet came to my rescue, and several cans were ordered and delivered. The most famous brand is of course Libby's, which is actually a puree of Dickinson's Select, something more akin to a squash than an actual pumpkin. Fresh pumpkin tends to be a little too stringy or fibrous to give a truly smooth finish.

I am not sure why it is but, Butternut aside, fresh squash is largely ignored in our supermarkets. It is a delicious and nutritious ingredient and I love cooking with it, and wish more people did. Many people I have spoken to have also never tried a pumpkin pie. The British as a whole seem to have trouble accepting the idea of a vegetable based dessert.

The dish is quite sweet because of the condensed milk, so I reduced the sugar from the original recipe. Next time, I might switch the sugar for Maple Syrup which will add a taste of New England to this autumn classic.

Ingredients:

• 40g caster sugar 
• 40g light brown sugar
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon ground ginger
• ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
• ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 2 large eggs
• 1 can (15 ounces)340g condensed milk
• Pastry for one 9” pie tin 

Method:

1. Prepare shortcrust pastry, or buy ready made.
2. Line a greased 9" pie tin, then cover with clingfilm and chill for 30 minutes
3. Cover with greaseproof paper, and fill with baking beans.
4. Bake blind at gas mark 6/200c/400f for 15 mins then remove the paper and beans
5. Brush with a little beaten egg, and place the pastry shell back in the oven for a further 5-10 minutes until golden.

6. Mix sugar, salt, and spices in small bowl, and set aside.
7. Beat eggs in large bowl, then add pumpkin puree and spice mixture.
8. Gradually stir in condensed milk.
9. Pour into pie shell
10. Bake at Gas Mark 4/180c/350f for 40-50 minutes, until firm but there should still be a slight wobble in the middle.
11. Leave to cool on a cooling rack for at least 1 hour before turning out and serving with a dollop of whipped cream.

Blood Fudge

Kinda looks like stewing steak doesn't it?

Recently, a delightful author known as Joseph D'Lacey made a plea on twitter for someone to make him some 'blood fudge' to give away to attendees of the launch of his new book, Blood Fugue, at Blackwell's Charing Cross on Friday (16th Nov).

I will admit, my curiosity was piqued. I have made plenty of fudge before, but the idea of creating some that was meant to look like blood intrigued me. I offered to do this, and he gratefully accepted. His brief was that it should be marbled. I thought 'yep, I can do that'. I offered the suggestion of the addition of sour cherries, to represent coagulated blood. The blood thirsty author was delighted with the idea, but then he threw a small spanner into my works. He added that it needed to be vegan. Vegan fudge? Does such a thing exist? Apparently, yes it does.

Taking a basic fudge recipe, I substituted cream for soya milk (I choose chocolate flavour to give extra taste and colour), and the butter for soya margarine. Despite much head scratching, I could not figure out a way to create the marble effect using vegan ingredients.

First attempt was quite brittle, much like a fudge made with milk. It was tasty, but had a little too much of a snap for my liking. I decided to try again, this time adding a little extra margarine to increase the fat content as I felt that this would add the creamy texture and softness I was looking for.

Success! I sent a sample batch to my client, and he loved it. YAY!

For those interested, here is the recipe.

Ingredients:

• 700g caster sugar
• 600ml soya milk (I used chocolate but you can use plain)
• 140g soya margarine
• kosher red food colouring gel (any brand like Wilton is fine)
• 75g sour cherries, lightly chopped
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

 Method: 

1. Line a 7" square tin with cling film
2. Place milk, sugar, and margarine in a large heavy bottomed pan (preferably a preserving pan as the mixture will bloom to more than twice the size)
3. Over a medium heat, stir the mixture until all the sugar and margarine has dissolved.
4. Turn the heat up, and continue stirring until the temperature reaches about 240F/115C on a candy thermometer (which can take about 20 mins or so), or it has reached the soft ball stage.
   Soft ball stage is when a small amount of mixture is dropped into ice water and it can be squeezed into a soft ball.
5. Take off the heat and add the colouring, flavouring and the cherries. 
6. Beat firmly until the fudge just begins to lose its glossiness, then pour quickly into the tin. 
7. Level out with a metal spatula, or back of a spoon. DO NOT TOUCH WITH YOUR HANDS.
8. Score the surface into squares, then leave to cool for a couple of hours.
9. Once cooled, turn out and break along the score marks. 

This will keep in an airtight container for two weeks.

Halloween party food

Here are a few ideas for some savoury Halloween party fare.

Bloody Eyeball Soup

1. Take some cherry tomatoes, cut in half and scoop out the seeds
2. Place a mozzarella pearl into each shell then make a small incision
3. Take a basil leaf and roll into a tight cigar shape
4. cut a slice of the basil leaf and press into the incision in the mozzarella
5. Warm up some tomato soup, and serve with two 'eyeballs' floating on top

Witches Fingers

1. Make a batch of the soft pretzel recipe I used here. 
2. Instead of forming them into the common pretzel shape, form them into small sausages, slightly longer then your longest finger
3. Boil in water and bicarbonate of soda, then place on a baking tray.
4. Using a knife, make some knuckle indentations at the one third and two third mark
5. pinch the 'fingers' a little above and below each knuckle to give that gnarly and bony finger effect. 
6. Brush with an egg wash, and sprinkle with rock salt if you like
7. Press an almond into the end to be the fingernail
8. Bake in a hot oven, Gas 8/230c/450f for 10 minutes or until golden brown

Slimy Worms in a Bun

1. Take a packet of cold hot dogs.
2. Cut length ways, then cut each length again so you have 4 long strips
3. Drop into boiling salted water for about 3 mins
4. Drain the place into a bowl and coat generously with barbecue sauce
5. Serve the 'slimy worms' in a nice kaiser roll or any roll of your choice.

Gravestone Wedges

1. Cut cleaned sweet potatoes into wedges leaving the skin on
2. drizzle over some olive oil
3. Sprinkle in some salt, cumin, paprika and black pepper (or whatever mix of spices you prefer)
4. Rub the oil and spice mix over the edges ensuring that they are all coated
5. lay them out on a baking tray and cook at 200C/gas 7 for 40 mins, or longer if needed to make them crispy

Mini Mummy pizzas 

1. Take one packet of English Muffins and cut each muffin in half. These will form the base of your mini pizzas
2. Smooth a layer of tomato purée over the top of each muffin
3. Take some slices of mature cheddar and cut into strips about 2cm wide
4. Lay them over the muffin pizzas to look like bandages
5. Cut two slices from a pepperoni (or an olive for vegetarian version) and place as eyes
6. Bake in an oven at Gas 5/190c/375f for about 10 mins or until the cheese is bubbling and golden

 Mummy Sausages

1. Take one packet of pork chipolata sausages
2. Roll out a sheet of puff pastry, and using a pastry wheel cut into thin strips about 1cm wide
3. Lightly wet one side of the pastry to help it stick
4. Wrap each sausage in one or two strips of pastry leaving a small space about two thirds up for eyes
5. Bake in the oven at Gas 6/200c/400f for 15 to 17 mins
6. Once cooked, place on a cooling rack then put two small dots of mustard for eyes

Halloween Cakes, Cookies and Cupcakes

Eyeball Cookies

These are just iced sugar cookies, using my recipe from here.

I used a cookie cutter shaped as a rugby ball/American football. After the royal icing set, I popped a rice paper topper on top. If you have the time, you could also wait until the icing has set and is fully dry, then paint your eyeball on using a fine paint brush and food colouring.





Creepy Cupcakes

I made a dozen red velvet cupcakes to start with. Red velvet is essentially a moist chocolate sponge with a generous dose of red colouring. 

Ingredients:

• 60g butter
• 150g caster sugar
• 1 eggs
• 125ml buttermilk
• red food colouring
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoons bicarbonate of soda
• 125g plain flour
• 1 dessertspoon cocoa powder
• 1 tsp salt

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 180 C / Gas mark 4. 
2. Line a muffin tins with 12 paper cases.
3. Beat the butter and sugar until light, pale and fluffy. 
4. Mix together the eggs, buttermilk, red food colouring and vanilla. 
5. Add to the sugar mixture a little at a time.
6. Sift together the bicarb, flour and cocoa powder. Stir in the salt, then add into the mixture. If using a machine, do this but until just until blended. Don't over beat or you will beat out all the air you incorporated.
7. Bake for 20-25 until the tops spring back when lightly pressed, or an inserted skewer comes out clean. Cool in the tin set over a wire rack. 
8. When fully cooled, scoop out a little of the top and put in a teaspoon of raspberry jam.
9. Top with buttercream and decorate with edible glitter

Halloween Cake 
For this cake, I used a rich Victoria sponge recipe, times by 1.5 so I can make 3 layers.

Ingredients:

• 6 large free range eggs
• 335g self-raising flour
• 335g caster sugar
• 335g butter
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 3 tsp baking powder
• 1 tbsp cocoa powder
• black food colouring
• purple food colouring
• green food colouring

Method:

1. Cream together the butter and sugar until light, fluffy and pale.
2. beat the eggs with the vanilla extract and add to the cake mixture a little at a time
3. Sift the flour and baking powder together then gently fold into the mixture
4. separate the mixture into 3 portions, and add the cocoa powder to one portion along with some black colouring.
5. to a second portion, add some green colouring
6. to the final portion, add some purple colouring
7. Bake the cakes at 180C/350F/Gas 4 for 20-25 mins
8. Once cooled, sandwich each layer with buttercream, and then coat a thin layer over the outside
9. Allow this outside layer to set and harden a little before covering the cake with orange coloured fondant. 
10. Using a small amount of black coloured icing, pipe a design around the side