Spelt bread!! :)

This is a really scrummy, crumbly bread made with wholemeal spelt flour - a flour now widely known for its health benefits, apparently. (as you can tell I am no expert on this! :p). But not only that, it makes a delicious loaf with a distinctive, charecteristic flavour of its very own. Its really nice toasted, or served with some nice smoked fish, or  simply spread with marmalde or jam or peanut butter. 

ingredients :)

• 450 g wholegrain spelt flour
• 2 tsp dried yeast
• 2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp caster sugar
• 30 g softened butter, cubed
• 300 ml tepid water
• a little olive oil

Method :)

• Place the flour in the bowl and add the salt, the sugar and the yeast. Stir together until combined.
• Add the butter and lightly rub in with your fingertips.
• Make a well in the centre of the flour and Pour in most of the water.
• Mix together with your hands to form a soft ball of dough. It shouldn't be too moist, but it shouldn't be too dry either: just soft and slightly smooth to the touch. Anyway, if it feels too dry add a little more water, and if it's a little too much on the sticky side add a little more flour.
• Pour a little oil on your worktop. Spread it out with your hand, and then turn the dough out onto the greased surface. 
• Knead for about 8-10 minutes. Don't worry if it doesn't feel quite so elasticy as normal bread dough. Grease a clean bowl and place the dough in it, and cover with greased clingfilm.
• Place the bowl in a warm, draught-free place to rise. This usually take about 2 to 3 hours depending on how cold the day is. When it is ready it should have doubled in bulk and visibly risen up from the bottom of the bowl.
• Give the dough a punch to knock out the air, and then turn onto the work surface again. Knead briefly for a few minutes.
• Grease a 900g loaf tin.
• Shape the dough into a smooth-sided, oval-shaped round. Do this by rolling it gently back and forth on the worktop into a rugby ball shape before gently pressing it down with the palms of your hands.
• Transfer the dough to the loaf tin , gently pressing it down so it fits snugly in,
• Cover with greased cling film once more and leave to prove for about 1 to 1 and a half hours until risen and doubled in size once more. As before, leave it in a warm, draught free place to do this. 
• Preheat the oven to 210c/190 c fan. Gently remove the clingfilm from the bread and place in the oven. bake for 25 - 30 minutes, until risen and cooked. To test for doneness, tap the loaf on the base with your knuckles - it should sound hollow inside. 
• Remove from the oven and turn out on a wire rack to cool. Wrap in a clean, dry tablecloth if you like your crust nice and soft. 
• The bread is absolutely gorgeous eaten warm, but is is equally scrumptious toasted...slice your loaf into chunky, thick slices with a bread knife once it's cold if you want to use it for toast. It's best eaten on the day it was made, though if you are toasting it it should be fine for one or two days afterwards. Freeze any remaining slices and reheat in the microwave as required! :) 

I love breakfast.:)

It’s 7.30 am and I’ve been up since 7 writing bits of draft for the blog…and much to my surprise, my tummy is gurgling away like nobody’s business. It’s unusual for me to get hungry quite this early. It usually takes my body a good hour or so to wake properly, but usually, by the time I’ve finished my walk and it’s gone nine, I am starving and can’t wait to get the breakfast ready. I love breakfast and I am beginning to think, since this is the time of the day which I always seem to  feel the most hungry, perhaps I should take advantage of that and aim to eat just a little more than I usually do around brekkie time.

I’ve never been into a full English or anything like that…no, my ideal breakfast has to be, as I’ve mentioned before, hot buttered wholemeal toast with either jam or peanut butter…and a hearty bowl of cereal with lots of milk which is usually warmed unless it’s Weetabix.;) I recall all too well how minimalistic I used to be despite the fact that I had such a good appetite at breakfast time…it would always be a really titchy bowl of cereal with the smallest amount of milk as possible; the toast would have to be a really thin piece of bread with barely and spread on it…and that was when I actually had breakfast. And I felt as if I couldn’t have both, of course.

And so now, here is what I do try to aim for at breakfast time…

·         To have both cereal and toast

·         To have plenty of cereal in my bowl, and to not feel restricted to a small certain amount

·         To have not 1, but 2 weetabix!

·         To have different varieties of cereals, especially the ones that are low in sugar and absorb milk – these are in general my preferred choice anyway.

·         To have plenty of milk (preferably full-fat unless the other sort needs using up.)

·         To have plenty pf spread and peanut butter on toast

·         To have different varieties of bread for toast: brown, multigrain, wholemeal etc. And to not feel as if it has to be thinly sliced. Those thick crusts are so nice. ;)

Ganache Elf's patisserie.:)

When I think of France...one of the first things that automatically springs to my mind has to be the boulangeries or patisseries which are likely to be found in almost every single town city or little village throughout that fascinating country itself. I picture...perhaps a dainty little shop tucked away on perhaps a side street near the town centre, with big glass windows which give the passer-by full opportunity to view for himself what this particular little business has to offer. Through the open door drifts the most enticing and mouth-watering of smells; combined with the clatter of hot trays and the babble of voices as hungry customers eagerly make their orders. Fresh baguettes are propped haphazardly in a wicker basket by the door. Beautifully-shaped merigues and delicate little biscuits are arranged prettily in the window display, their variety of colours and shapes never failing to draw the attention of the wide-eyed school children who press their little faces to the glass and gape longingly at this spectacular display of sugary delights. And then, of course, there are the trays of French pastries and such like. The buttery croissant, possibly the most gorgeous-smelling of them all, and perhaps the ultimate symbol of French baking itself. Pain du chocolat and creamy, finger-shaped eclairs. Glorious mountains of profiteroles and fruit tarts and the brightly coloured macaroons...well the list is endless really, isn't it. You can keep your snails and your frog's legs - for me, the French baking tradition is in a whole league of its own.

and so to celebrate this epic tradition...I guess it's only natural for a baker like me to try out their time honoured-recipes for herself. So today Ganache-Elf got busy with both her rolling pin and piping bag and endeavoured to make both croissants and eclairs. and they were both a success, even though of course not as professional looking as the you would get in the boulangeries. But the aromas produced as they baked were no less delightful, I must say... ;)

Croissant-making is great fun and very rewarding, though again, not something to do if you are in a hurry or have an unusual dislike for rolling out dough (one of my favourites baking tasks...I do so love messing around with my rolling pin. ;) ). As there is ALOT of roling involved. This is to ensure the butter is nicely incoporated into the dough - you want it evenly dispersed after all, and not end up with croissants which are buttery in some parts and dry in others.

Now today I am going to give you my own recipe for butter croissants...well, Of COURSE, when I first made these for the first time ever, I followed a recipe out of one of my cookbooks. It looked so long and complicated and daunting...I very nearly chickened out, I must admit. But anyway I finally stopped dithering and having read the recipe possibly about a hundred times I went for it...and yes, as you can see from my pics, my croissants don't look as flaky and as perfect as the ones you'd get from a bakery, but...the taste, and the smell, were by no means any less appealling...possibly better, as home-baked often is. Since then I've made croissants a few times and I've developed my own recipe which is a little bit different from the original. I hope it provides any croisant-making novices with a clear and straighforward set of instructions for making thse gorgeous yeast-risen pastries at home...I don't think, though, if you want really, really beautiful croissants with a real professional finishing look about them, that my own recipe is the one you should turn to: this is more for someone who, like me, is content with croissants that are equally as awesome in their own right but due to a teency bit of laziness on the behalf of the baker aren't flawless in every way appearance wise. This laziness being mainly, that I don't roll my dough out into precise rectangles and ensure at every turn that it is the exact measurements as stated in the recipe. But anyway, enough of my waffling and onto the recipe. No wait actually - perhaps it would be best if I gave you the recipe in a different post, as this one is way too long AGAIN. And, after a very busy day in the kitchen once again, Ganache-Elf needs her beauty sleep, so off I go. Croissant recipe coming up tomorrow though, if you are interested. But for now I am just going to finish my bed time hot chocolate and stumble up to bed. Another day of cooking, bbaking and pottering around in the kitchen no doubt awaits us tomorrow. ;)