Panettone 1 – Naturally Leavened

Tags

Aroma Panettone, King of the Sourdough, Panettone, Peel, sorelle, Sweet

Panettone is a wonderful thing, and any keen amateur baker is likely to want to try making it at some point. But before they dive in, they might like to consider the response of a famous baker, when he was asked to recommend a recipe for Panettone. “Leave it to the experts”, he said. I can understand where he was coming from; Panettone is neither quick nor easy to make and there is no guarantee that the end result will be superior to something you might buy.

All that is even more true when you make a naturally leavened version, using a sourdough starter. My first attempt at this took nearly 3 days from start to finish and ended up a little on the sour side. The second version took a little less time but was perfectly sweet – someone declared it was the best Panettone they had ever eaten… It also won the prize at Hobbs House Bakery’s King of the Sourdough competition. (See bottom of this post.)

So why make Panettone? Well, if, like me, you relish a baking challenge, you enjoy the processes of baking as much as the end results, and find it rewarding to know that you have produced something impressive and delicious, why not give it a go? All you have to lose is 60 hours or so of your life!

Cottage Loaf

Tags

autolyse, low hydratrion

I have fond memories of this classic British bread form from my childhood, but I don’t recall seeing it in bakeries recently. I was inspired to try my hand at it by a stunning photograph posted on Twitter by Karl Bowyer.

Although my version is not as spectacular, I take heart from the words of Elizabeth David (in English Bread and Yeast Cookery):

“Cottage loaves, as all professional bakers writing for their colleagues readily admit, are notoriously difficult to mould and bake…”

And her recipe doesn’t even include the slashes that seem to me to be so characteristic of this loaf – but do add to its difficulty. So if you want to omit those you are in good company!

Saffron Bread Revisited

Tags

Apricot, Cardamom, Chelsea Buns, Knotted Rolls, Orange, quanti modi di fare e rifare, Saffron

 Nota per lettori italiani/e: troverete una versione italiana della ricetta qui.

I was delighted that Anna and Ornella, the lovely organisers of Quanti Modi di Fare e Rifare decided to use my Three Kinds of Saffron Bread for their baking challenge this month.

Although I was only too happy to revisit the rich and colourful world of saffron bread, I did not want to repeat myself and so I decided on another two variations on the theme.

Pane allo Zafferano per Quanti Modi di Fare e Rifare

Tags

albicocche, arancia, cardamomo, panini, quanti modi di fare e rifare, zafferano

An English version of this post will be found here.

Mi ha fatto tanto piacere che Anna e Ornella, le carissime organizzatori di Quanti Modi di Fare e Rifare abbiano deciso di utilizzare il mio post Three Kinds of Saffron Bread (Pane allo Zafferano) per la sfida di questo mese.

Non volevo ripetere la stessa ricetta, quindi ho deciso di fare ancora due variazioni sul tema.

A Plate of Traditional Biscuits

Tags

Bourbon, custard creams, Jammie Dodgers, jammy dodgers, Marzipan spacers, rolling pastry evenly, rolling soft dough

I thought it was fitting that Signor Biscotti should end the year with some biscuits, although these are not Italian biscuits, but are instead about as British as you can get.

These Jammie Dodgers, Bourbons and Custard Creams are far more exciting than those that you would find on the supermarket shelves. With the possible exception of the Custard Creams, they look much more glamorous than their commercial counterparts, and they smell good too. They have a delicate, light, crunchy texture and, last but not least, are richly flavoured.