Breadmaking is a wonderfully therapeutic process.
Life has been crazy busy lately, but my weekly Saturday breadmaking always affords me a little downtime.
I’ve been baking bread at home for over four years now, and the routine has become both comforting and easy. And since we don’t buy bread (with the exception of Lebanese pita bread), I have no choice but to bake at least once a week, often more.
I fed my starter up on Friday night, spent twenty minutes making the dough the following morning, then another twenty minutes or so shaping the dough after lunch. The sourdough process takes a long time, but very little hands on involvement is required on my part. Yeasted breads are even faster!
As the new school year is about to start, I baked a large (90cm/36″) tray of sourdough focaccia for Small Man. He takes a substantial slice for lunch each day, spread with Vegemite…
I also knocked up a very large batch of sourdough (half spelt, half bakers’ flour). The finished dough weight was 2700g (nearly 6lb), and it became two pointy-eared epi…
…six oversized lunch rolls…
and three baguettes.
If you’ve never made bread before and would like to give it a go, you might find this basic tutorial useful. But be warned, breadmaking is addictive!
Fig Jam and Lime Cordial 
xxxxx
It cannot be helpt
I cannot make spelt
Comes out like felt
Is it ?
The baking cards that life has dealt
Or simply that the Poms can’t grow spelt
the way the Aussies do
Tra La!
Hehehe…I do think I have special spelt at the moment, Jo! I’ve baked my fair share of felt spelt in the past! :)
Celia, you make this sound so darn easy but I know the work that goes into this sort of repetitious production. What fantastic results your achieving, just perfect. Small Man knows his stuff huh, I reckon I’d manage a sizeable slab of that foccaccia too. Have a great Monday Celia :)
Anna, no, it really isn’t that hard! I knead the bread for only a few minutes, look at it occasionally as it’s rising, and then shape it up. And yep, Small Man does know his stuff, he wants to take a plain slab to school, but I convinced him to let me put vegemite in it, so I didn’t look like a bad mother..hahaha
Have a great week too, love!
I must get more organised so I don’t buy bread too. I love it and agree with the theraputic nature of the making. It just makes me feel better about myself and the world if I’ve made a loaf (and feed my girls with it when they come home from school with the last vestige of oven warmth still remaining in the slices). Do you freeze your bread after this mammoth baking session? It looks like too much for a single week!
Sally, it’s funny how much bread we go through in our house! A slab of foc and a baguette went to the neighbour, another baguette to a friend. I took another slab of foc and an epi to dinner that night at a friend’s place. The rest was portioned up and frozen, and will probably be all gone by next Saturday! :) The bread does freeze beautifully, and defrosts with no real loss in quality!
You put me to shame, Celia.
I need a nap making just 2 loaves at the same time.
Nice one. Especially the french sticks.
Hardly Grilly, I’ve seen your breads! :) Thank you for saying nice things about my baguettes, I was very chuffed when they turned out all nice and straight. You never know, right? Sometimes they get big lumps all over them!
Beautiful!
I made a couple of pies and a loaf of sourdough rye/spelt yesterday. Not the workout you had- but we were very happy with the blueberry pie for dessert last night.
Love your pictures- great post, Celia!
Thanks Heidi! You must remember what it was like feeding teenage boys – they seem to eat endlessly! :)
Wow it looks like you’re running a bakery! Have baked bread but yet to tackle sourdough on my own. Yours looks divine!
Thanks Helen! It sometimes feels like I’m running a bakery! :)
These look wonderful! I’m more of the make-and-bake-as-we-go school, so never have so much arrayed at once. Do you do anything different to the focaccia dough, other than the shape and dimpling it?
Nancy, thank you! The focaccia is a Dan Lepard olive oil flat bread recipe from the Handmade Loaf, which uses a mixture of sourdough and yeast. I’ve sized it up to suit our oven. It has an enormous amount of olive oil in it!
That bread looks delicious! Can’t wait to do my breadmaking class…as soon as I book it!
Sue, you’ll never look back! :)
Oooo I was playing with epi’s during the week, so much fun! They all look so good Celia. Your kitchen looks like a bakery.
I would love to do the long baguettes, but would have to get a bigger oven. Stumpy rolls for us.
Your whole neighborhood must smell wonderful on baking day Celia! Do you get an influx of ‘drop ins’ after it’s out the oven?
These look amazing, it’s funny I tried making some bread yesterday…..
Your right I could just become addicted!
Beautiful bread, I’m inspired to try the focaccia, I’ve been baking sourdough for a whilt now but usually just stick to a plain loaf. will have to get more adventurous.
Brydie, the epi’s are great fun, aren’t they? (Epi? Epies? Must ask Anna what the plural of epi is) Have you tried making flowers and stars yet? My little blog icon is an epi star…
Chef, the neighbours are all too polite to ask.. ;-)
Muppy, fair warning! Hahaha…
Your bread really does look fresh from the bakery! I’ve been trying to bake all our bread as well. It’s so much more satisfying than buying it.
The one thing I’m yet to master is the soft hot dog rolls. If anyone can tell me how to make them I’m set.
Claire, thank you! Try the semolina BBQ bun recipe by Dan Lepard – not quite hotdog rolls, but soft and burger perfect – https://figjamandlimecordial.com/2010/07/27/dan-lepards-semolina-bbq-buns/
At the risk of sounding repetitive, I must say you ARE amazing!
I wonder how long it took you to bake it all, several hours, I suppose, unless you have a real large oven… I’ve never been able to bake in large scale, but you do make it seem “almost” easy!
Hope you will have a wonderful first week of February..
Sally darling, you’re always so kind, but as we know, most of the time passes with the dough proving, with no involvement from us! In terms of actual baking, it all baked in two batches, the foc was ready first, and then all the spelt sourdough went in at the same time. We have a ginormous oven – 90cm free standing Smeg – what we refer to as a “four fruitcake oven”. When we bought it, the advertising blurb had a photo of the oven with a whole pig in it! :)
The bread looks lovely Celia. Do you change your technique from winter to summer? I read in an earlier post that you make the dough at night, do a bulk ferment then shape and cook in the morning, but I’m thinking I might have read that post in relation to winter baking……? My starter is coming along OK but if I feed it twice during the day (I’m working on 100%) it ‘fluffs’ up beautifully but has deflated by the next morning. I’m ending up with really lovely soft bread with a great flavour, but very few holes – my hubbie thinks there is something wrong with me because I’m not happy with the end result! In this weather (we’re nearly 40 degrees here today) is it worth making the dough up at night, putting it in the fridge and then shaping the next morning? Cheers, Meaghan.
Meaghan, absolutely! I know this is an annoying thing to say, but after you’ve baked with your starter for a while, you’ll instinctively know when the dough is ready to bake – it really does change every day, depending on the ambient temperature and really what sort of “mood” your starter is in on any given day!
In winter, I can feed the starter once at lunchtime and again before bed, and it will be ready to go in the morning, OR I can actually make the dough at night before bed, and simply shape it in the morning after a 12 hour rise. The starter we bought is very resilient, but other starters I’ve tried seem to burn out if the dough is left that long.
In summer, I feed the starter once mid afternoon, and then again as late as possible before going to bed. If it’s flat in the morning, I give it yet another feed to get it going before I mix up the dough. In summer it’s easier for me to bake on the weekends at home, because the dough is risen and ready to go within a few hours – as opposed to the 8 – 12 hours it can need in the middle of winter!
The only rule I’ve learnt the hard way is this: if your starter isn’t frothy and bubbly, don’t bother baking with it unless you’re willing to toss in a little yeast to help it along. Some mornings I get up all excited to mix up a dough, and the starter is flat, and I have to feed it up and wait again. Can be very frustrating, but not as frustrating as baking flat bread! :)
Ooops, sorry this turned into such a long reply, but don’t give up, sourdough baking takes a little while to get right, but it’s worth it! :)
that last picture made me drool! i am addicted to bread! definitely, have to bake more at home. thank you for the great tips!
It just occurred to me that Fig Jam and Lime Cordial would be a great name for a bakery! Which is kind of like what you’ve got with all of these lovely breads!
Must be something in the wind – like a virus!
Celia, your bread as always is perfect. Not sure I would have the tenacity to be as dedicated as you. You are remarkable.
Does what you bake stay fresh for the whole week?
:-) Mandy
Aleida and Lorraine, thank you!
Doc, it’s like a fever.. ;-)
Mandy, thank you! It’s less about tenaciousness and more about feeding starving teenage wolves. I often come out mid afternoon and find the boys were peckish, so they’ve eaten an entire loaf, spread with half a jar of peanut butter! :)
It doesn’t stay fresh for the whole week, although the sourdough is usually good for a couple of days. I freeze almost all the bread that isn’t eaten on the day of baking, and we pull it out as needed – stores brilliantly in the freezer!
Ahh, I do love epi (s?)! And your bagettes look divine, Celia. Must do some back to school baking this week :)
All looks fabulous, pity I’m not your neighbour! x
Thanks for all the info Celia – really appreciated.
As the starter’s more than doubled I’ll try to get the first stage done tonight and fridge it to bake tomorrow. I’m trying to follow your lead and get into a routine, but I might be jumping the gun a bit given that my starter is only a month old. I did buy some Northwest starter (again, following your lead) as I thought my attempt at a starter would end up being an exercise in futility. You can imagine my surprise when mine worked! I did make a great doorstop with Bertinet’s sourdough recipe though. Thanks again!
What a bountiful bake! And how it would taste with your butter and jams…….
That – is impressive. (I had no idea sourdough starters could be moody – it makes me think, when I finally do get one going, that I should play it mood enhancing music – sillier things have worked!)
You are really an amazing baker. I love all your creations and they always look so good. I also love that making bread make me feel like I have time for myself :)
That is a lot of bread!
Do you use a mixer or do you knead all by hand?
Chris, Yvette, thank you!
Meaghan, have fun! Doorstops still make good breadcrumbs! :)
Anna, help! What’s the plural of epi, please? :)
Jan, oh yes, Priscilla can be most temperamental. If I change her flour, she pouts and sulks for a day or so, before bubbling up again. And you don’t want to know what she’s like if left too long without a feed.. ;-)
Tes, thank you, yes it really is very calming to bake bread.
Up, thanks for stopping by! I knead everything by hand, although I’m sure a mixer would work…
Les baguettes en épis
Merci! :)
Hi Celia
Baking sourdough is still on my ‘must-do’ challenge list. You’ve reminded me to try it soon :-) It won’t be easy but you make it look so yummy I’m sure I’ll get hooked easily x
Ah, Vicki, you’re back. Must get some starter to you via PA! :)
That would be wonderful, thanks Celia! I’ll have no excuse to not get baking x
Hi Celia
Long time reader, first time posting.
I love the look of your bread and I am very keen to give the home baking of bread a go.
Can you make any reccomendations on where to purchase flour and what types you use. I did try looking back through old posts but your references to flour come up as a dead link (404 error).
I have to say I find the process of the “starter” completely daunting!!! I think I need to do some reading!
Thanks
Cin
Hi Cin, the dead link is because our flour distributor is no longer in business! We now buy our flour at Harkola – we buy Manildra Bakers Flour. We’re based in Sydney Australia, and Manildra is an Australian flour miller. I’d suggest starting with a yeasted dough recipe and then moving on to sourdough – it’s an easier way to start breadbaking at home! :)
Have fun, Celia
[…] version of Dan Lepard’s olive oil bread from The Handmade Loaf: Celia’s recent Weekend Sourdough post had reminded me about how good this flatbread can be for a quick […]