We’ve just had a long weekend here in Sydney, and I spent most of it in the kitchen! Great fun – although I’ve made a serious dent in the flour supplies..
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Over the past few weeks, I’ve been trying to improve my bread slashing skills, albeit with limited success.
Joanna, bless her, is doing her best to coach me via email and, whilst I’m making some progress, I’m still a long way from getting it right. Luckily all the rejects are edible, so nothing is going to waste.
I tried again on the weekend. The first loaf burst open – not unattractively, mind you, but not correctly. The little cottage loaf, which I’m now pretty happy with, was just sitting there, minding her own business…
The second loaf was more successful. I tried all of Jo’s tips – final prove in the fridge, didn’t oil my hands, didn’t spray water on the dough and put the cold loaves straight in the oven. I also added an extra slash, as the dough seemed to need more room to expand. I’m much happier with this one, although the loaf does remind me of a watermelon.
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Since the oven was on, I thought I’d try Dan Lepard’s latest Guardian recipe for tapenade rolls. My version had less added salt (8g to the 500g flour), jarred olive tapenade and, because I can’t do maths on a Sunday morning, I made twelve rolls instead of the specified ten. They were delicious, though…
…and so full of personality! For some reason, the little one below reminded me of Groucho Marx. I think it was the eyebrows. They were perfect with soup for lunch.
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We’d picked up a sheet of ameerdine (apricot paste) during our trip to Harkola and I was struggling to think of a way to use it. In the end, I made a large apricot danish, using Richard Bertinet’s sweet dough recipe and layering it with Pete’s apricot jam, some pastry cream and the ameerdine, before rolling the whole thing up and baking it in the oven. It was a messy process – the apricot paste was quite stiff, and the pastry cream oozed out during the rolling process. But the end result was a big hit with Pete and the neighbours!
Fig Jam and Lime Cordial 
That watermelon bread looks fab. I look forward to the tutorial on the new approach (hint hint).
And I love the idea of the apricot danish. You will laugh to hear this…the last time I went to a middle eastern store, I also bought a packet of that apricot paste. It has been sitting there waiting for me to come up with some creative use for it (other than just eating it ofcourse!). So thanks for the suggestion!
That is very convergently funny, Spice Girl! :)
I think the watermelon is a very professional looking number and any baker would be proud to have it in her artisan bread shop and I would like to have popped in for coffee and a slice of that Danish but it’s a little far sadly. ( I will grumble about my bottom cracking loaves again later and ask for your advice I think! I did it again yesterday :(
Praise from the teacher! Thanks Jo. I’m going to try the baguettes with ears that you’ve suggested next..
I still can’t figure out why something works once, and then never again. I guess that’s what makes breadmaking so darn addictive.. :)
Celia
I’m not good enough to teach bread, you flatter me, tsk tsk. It works once and never again because the stars are aligned in the sky and the Bread Goddess smiles down from wherever she is hanging out that day and sends some yeasty magic your way, but she is fickle and bestows her blessings randomly as is the way with most of those characters… which is why practice practice practice and changing one thing at a time probably works best in the long run….