Photo: telegraph.co.uk
Imagine how chuffed I was to see my photo of cottage loaves (duly credited) appear in Lucy Jones’ article in the Telegraph UK!
Poor old Princess Anne – I hope she wasn’t too upset by the comparison of her hairstyle to an old style bread – but I guess if it helps to bring cottage loaves back into the public eye, then that can only be a good thing.
One of the theories behind the origin of the cottage loaf was given to me by UK based Peter May, who believes it originated hundreds of years ago when it was illegal to sell underweight bread in England:
The reason for the top (the same reason as for the ‘bakers dozen’ , which means 13) was the extremely severe penalties suffered by bakers who gave short measure. Loaves had to be sold by standard weight, thus to ensure the baker didn’t sell underweight he’d add a small dough ball on top.
Incidentally the bread laws which date from 1266 have been law right up to 2009 when the EU overruled them in the name of so called competition. Loaves had to be a full 800g (2lb) or half 400g (1lb)sizes.
I have baker friends who don’t see the sense in this, because the dough weight could be adjusted with water – why waste the extra flour? But I do think there is some merit in Peter’s argument – the finished weight of a loaf can vary quite a lot depending on baking conditions, and if I was at risk of being flogged for a light loaf, I’d be inclined to add a little to the top as well.
Don’t forget we’re having a cottage loaf bake-off – if or when you’ve baked a loaf, please send me a photo and I’ll upload it here!
Fig Jam and Lime Cordial 
Oh, this is soooo cool! Congratulations!!!!!
AWESOME!
You’ve been published, how funny.
Congratulations Celia!
Congratulations! And in such illustrious company too! Not to mention that your bread is the *much* more attractive of the two subjects.
Thank you, Gill’s right, it is just too funny… :)
Nancy, don’t be too hard, I’m quite a fan of Princess Anne, plus I think a hairdo that looks like a cottage loaf might not be such a bad thing. After all, it worked for the Bakerlite Girl in Wallace & Gromit – here’s a pic from http://www.wallaceandgromit.com – she’s almost got the same expression on her face as HRH…
Hee hee I knew it was only a matter of time! But your bread is the star of the article. I wonder how many people bought a cottage loaf after seeing your photo …
Yay! Way to go! Next stop the front page…. xx Jo
That’s a bit exciting! Congratulations :-)
congrats! :-)
Gillian, I wonder how easy it actually is to buy a cottage loaf these days? I’d be happy if someone actually baked a cottage loaf after the article! :)
Jo, CHFG, Simon, thank you! Though I think it’s simply a testimony to the wide ranging power of Google images!
Very cool indeed. And I agree, the cottage loaf definitely comes out the winner in that article!
Congrats! =]
how cool! congrats – I reckon your cottage loaves look better :D
Thanks guys. Poor old Princess Anne. For all you W & G fans out there – Jo sent me something interesting this morning for those of you who’ve watched A Matter of Loaf and Death – check out this 1970s bread ad on YouTube! :)
Wow! I read the article, saw the photo, thought it looked like your cottage loaf but didn’t actually think that it was your cottage loaf!
Funny to see the orginal Bakerlite girl!
Goodness Celia, well done and an excellent photo. Was it really just a random search on google that did this?
What’s scary about that Nimble add on Youtube is that I remember it!
Anna, Choclette, thanks! Choclette, I really do think so re google – can’t think how the photo might have come up otherwise.
How fantastic! Congratulations Celia! What a coup :D
Celia…..wow. Talent needs to microphone. I’m pleased for you……just doing what you love!
You really are famous! Will you remember me?