Hello my lovelies and welcome to week three of my Great British Bake Off Blogging adventure. I won't lie to you all but bread week has been the week that I was dreading from the start. As I mentioned in my Biscotti post I don't have the patience of a saint, in fact I have very little patience at all. I have never been one for making bread as to be frank I can't be bothered to spend hours waiting for my bread to prove and rise only to 'knock it' back down and repeat the whole processes again if not several times over. When it comes to baking bread I have no knowledge over things such as gluten and what would make a tight dough structure at the end of the day bread is bread to me and what I do know is that a lot of supermarkets and bakeries sell delicious fresh bread. I am a complete novice this week on new territory so you'll have to bare with me. I was a little apprehensive before watching the bread episode yet I was so relieved to find out that this weeks signature challenge was for quick breads. For those of you who don't know and that included me by the way, quick breads don't involve yeast which means no proving - Hallelujah.
Quick breads were the perfect bread for me to start off with as it is what I would call bread for beginners. This meant that I could bake this bread quickly and it wouldn't take all day and I wouldn't have to fath about with rising and proving. I opted like many of the other bakers to bake a soda bread, with my variation including basil and sun-dried tomatoes. A very Mediterranean theme as I love Mediterranean flavours. I could quite easily live off an Italian, Greek or Spanish diet. I actually found it quite difficult to decide on a flavour as I had so many different ideas such as goats cheese and red onion, red leicester and red onion, rosemary or feta and black olive. They call themselves quick breads and oh my they aren't lying, it took me less than an hour to prepare and bake the bread. It was a lot quicker then baking the previous weeks challenges. I hate to say this but it was also quite easy so it has opened my eyes to bread making and it has definitely inspired me to try baking soda bread again. Perhaps I could try some of the other ideas I had for flavours who knows. I'm not one for blowing my own trumpet but I'm actually really proud of this bread it turned out a lot better then I ever could have expected so if like me you fancy a new challenge I would recommend you give this a go.
Ingredients
- 170g self-raising wholemeal flour
- 170g plain flour
- pinch of salt
- 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 290ml buttermilk
- 70g sun-dried tomatoes
- 1 tbsp basil (although I prefer the taste of fresh basil, I used dried basil flakes to avoid stringy bits of mushed basil)
Method
1) Preheat the oven to 200°C/ 180°Fan/ Gas mark 6
2) Add both types of the flour, salt and bicarbonate of soda into a large mixing bowl
3) Cut the tomatoes into chunks of your desired thickness (approximately 1 - 2 cm in thickness) and add along with the basil to the mixing bowl and mix the ingredients together
4) Form a well in the centre of the bowl and add the buttermilk. Once the buttermilk has been added quickly mix with a fork to form a dough
5) Place the dough onto a lightly floured surface and briefly knead the dough but don't over work it
6) Lightly shape the dough into a round and slightly flatten the top to get a smooth even surface
7) Cut a cross at the top of the bread in the centre and place on a lightly floured baking sheet and bake for approximately 30 minutes. You will know that the bread is baked once it sounds hollow when tapped at the base
8) Allow to cool on a wire wrack and enjoy - I would recommend enjoying this with a comforting and warming bowl of soup or lightly toasted with mozzarella and fresh basil on top for an authentic Italian feel
Thank you for reading this blog post my lovelies and a massive celebration all around as I think we may have just possibly made it through bread week. Small secret for you all here but this was my first attempt at baking bread ever so if you're prepared to trust me then I would recommend you give this ago. I would also recommend you enjoy this fresh as you can't beat freshly baked bread. It has a nice crisp crust and a warming gooey centre filled with Mediterranean summer flavours. Let me know if you attempt this or know of any good quick bread recipes to try. Next week for desert week we'll be attempting creme brûlée's so I'll have to get my thinking cap on for some flavours for that one. See you next week lovelies.
Week One: Cakes: Raspberry And Almond Madera Cake
Week Two: Biscuits: Coconut And White Chocolate Biscotti
No comments:
Post a Comment