Aussie Damper Bread

When I saw Lorraine Pascale prepare this loaf, I immediately thought of one of my trips to Australia where I spent a few nights sleeping under the stars at Uluru (Ayers Rock). I was taught how to make this bread by my guide as it is one of the simplest loaves to make and requires little preparation.

At the campsite, we mixed up the dough and placed it in an earthy pot with a lid and then buried the pot in the ground amongst some of the hot coals from the fire. About 45 mins later we had a delicious loaf. If I remember rightly, at the time of eating, a sandstorm swept through the camp and we ended up with a very sandy BBQ but you get the drift.

Hopefully if you give this a go at home, you won't have to contend with sand, but its a great place to start if you are keen to bake but unsure where to start. The recipe uses self raising flour, so no need for yeast and also doesn't require time to rise and prove. Lorraine suggests it's a good dipping bread in olive oil and a nice fruity balsamic - who am I to disagree. Give it a go.

Cobtastic

This is probably the best looking loaf I have made...tasted good as well. A trusted recipe from Paul Hollywood.

Spanish Rolls

Sometimes you want to just keep it simple. So these simple rolls made with plenty of olive oil hit the mark for a saturday lunch.

Pudding Club - White Hart, Cuckfield

It's the morning after the night before and I think we can safely say the inaugural Pudding Club was a roaring success. All entrants did themselves proud and produced some seriously delicious puddings.

Those present were;

Alfred - who produced a sublime Lemon Tart, which wouldn't have looked out of place in the finest patisserie. The highlight was undoubtedly the home made pastry. Judges comments included "WOW!", "Great pastry" and "very lemony".

Ben - Ben stuck to a real crowd pleaser with his White Chocolate and Raspberry cheesecake. Despite warm temperatures in the pub which threatened to melt the cheesecake, the dessert was awarded first place by the independent panel of judges. This dessert also probably won the most calorific content.

Simon - Despite stating he hadn't made a pudding in years, Simon produced a memorable Butterscotch and banana trifle with Madeira. I loved the boozy hit of the Madeira and the great texture of the sponge fingers. I think the rest of the pub enjoyed this one in particular.

Doug - At first glance, the simple tupperware box placed on the pub table didn't look that promising. But by the end of the evening, Doug's moist and fruity Bread Pudding was the only one that was completely polished off. Delicious. I'd like the recipe please.

A special mention must go to Andy who joined us for a pint after a week of very little sleep. Good effort!

And here are the photos to enjoy...onwards to Burgess Hill!

Rustic Spanish Loaf

I am a big fan of Spain and all things Spanish. It stems from childhood holidays spent camping on the Costa Brava amidst pine trees that clad the rugged coastline. I then spent a life changing year studying in Granada and ever since then, I have taken every opportunity to enjoy the Spanish way of doing things. They seem to have a great work/life balance and take great pleasure in the simple things in life such as great food and drink. Although it has recently become apparent that they probably enjoyed themselves a bit too much and should have taken more care of their finances!

Which leads me onto this bread which uses a 'starter' dough in the mix which you prepare the day before. This gives the bread a wonderful flavour, much like a soughdough. Don't be put off thinking that this all seems like a lot of faff, having to prepare dough the day before. It's really very simple and doesn't take much time. Bread making is the kind of hobby you can fit around your lifestyle...even when you have a 10 week old baby in the house!

Anyway, I have just enjoyed this loaf for saturday lunch. Delicious. All it needs is a generous covering of butter. That's it. Nice and simple.

German Potato Bread

I have found my new favourite bread! Again, the Hairy Bikers baked this loaf whilst on tour in Germany and I was intrigued to find out what it tasted like, especially as the dough is made with mashed potato.

We have just enjoyed this for lunch and it was the softest loaf I have ever made with a fabulous crust. I hadn't expected it to turn out so soft having used potatoes in the mix plus not a lot of water. I made it into a ham and cheese sandwich but I would imagine you could eat this bread with pretty much anything and not be disappointed. A great dipping bread for soup. Absolutely delicious.

My new paddle

I have discovered a great new site http://bakerybits.co.uk/ and treated myself to a bread paddle to help lift the bread in and out of the oven. It works a treat. Great for pizzas too.