I've always liked cooking and enjoy eating almost anything (except meat now) but always feel compelled to cook dishes that usually have an element of risotto, cous cous or pasta in them. I often feel inspired to cook after flicking through my ever growing recipe book collection or when I see something on TV that I can imagine myself recreating at home. However, I haven't mastered baking yet as flapjacks and basic muffin recipes seem to be my limit. With this in mind you can imagine my excitement when I heard that Paul Hollywood (the silver fox from The Great British Bake Off) was to star in his own show spreading knowledge on how to bake bread. The show is aimed at all skill levels and has clear instructions on how to create spectacular baked dishes. If I was going to master bread baking, I had to first check that I was able to get hold of the equipment and ingredients. I realised that I didn't have any scales and had been guessing weights for far too long. I grabbed my purse and paid a visit to my local Wilkinsons store. They have a great kitchen range for reasonable prices. I bought The Wilko Kitchen Scales Pastel Green 5kg for only £7, and oh my goodness! I love everything about them. Originally I was buying scales that would fit neatly into the kitchen cupboard, but after getting these scales home and unboxed there was no way that they were being denied the right to shine in all their glory.
I followed this (recipe and video tutorial) bloomer recipe step by step and the result was a little loaf of perfection. I had it served slightly warm as part of a ploughmans lunch. The whole baking process was exciting as you can see the dough growing before your very own eyes. If you are thinking of baking a loaf just be warned that it is quite time consuming as you need to allow your dough to prove for up to 4 hours (maximum). I've always thought that baking bread was such a hard task and assumed it is much easier to just grab a loaf in the supermarket during your weekly shop. But after baking this glorious loaf I can say that I am converted. I'm not promising to bake every week, but when I've got the urge to bake I will no longer shy away from it.
Have you been baking anything lately? I would love to hear your favorite recipes and any tips you might have for a beginner baker.
Twitter - Facebook - Bloglovin - Instagram
