You can use any fruit for your cobbler. Soft fruit such as berries may not need pre-cooking as they will cook along with the cobbler. Fruit such as apples and pears may need pre-cooking so that they are lovely and soft by the time the cobbler is baked. If you aren’t sure then pre cook […]
This recipe is for one loaf of sourdough that will weigh about 1kg. You can double the recipe to make two loaves whilst the oven is on. If you would like a copy of my Sourdough ebook with all the information you need about making and maintaining a sourdough starter, making and troubleshooting your loaf
White Sourdough Recipe Read More »
Guest Post by Jonathan Thomas This article is a collection of Facebook posts written by Jonathan Thomas on the Bread Made Easy Facebook group. I have collected them together here as I think they make interesting reading. You can pop over to the Facebook group to read the comments of others and to add your
The cost of baking a loaf Read More »
A question I am often asked is “Do I need to add sugar to my bread dough?”. The simple answer is no. Bread dough only needs flour, water and yeast to work, but adding salt, whilst optional, improves the flavour and the texture of the dough. Why add sugar? Many recipes for bread include a
Do I need to add sugar to my bread dough? Read More »
August 2022 As Veg Patch Kitchen Cookery School approaches its 8th anniversary there are some big changes taking place here at VPK HQ. The past two years have been difficult as a small business owner, first with the pandemic and now with increasing running costs and the squeeze on everyone’s purses. The uptake of my
This recipe uses my simple white bread recipe. Ingredients 500g white bread flour330-340g (or ml) water (You may need more or less depending on flour) 5-7g easy bake yeast or 10g fresh yeast 10g salt (or if you prefer you can go as low as 5g of salt) Method Place the flour, yeast, salt and
The weather can really affect how your dough ferments. This is true when using commercial yeast and sourdough. If the weather is warm, the yeast works more quickly. Yeast is most active at 38C ( and dies at 55C) so if the temperature in your kitchen is heading towards the high 20’s/ 30’s (above 80f)
Making bread in hot weather Read More »
This is a lovely bread well worth making. You can add any muesli that you might have in the cupboard or just add a mixture of oats, nuts and dried fruit. You can add 50-100g of muesli to a simple white bread or follow my recipe below to add more taste and fibre to your
I love it when I get an email asking me a bread related question. Today’s email was asking “how can I use diastatic malt powder?” This is a great question as I too had fallen victim to buying a packet of this, using it in a couple of loaves, and then finding it loitering at
Using diastatic malt Read More »
Gluten is only present in wheat flour once you add water. The proteins gliadin and glutenin can start to form chains as soon as the dough is hydrated and these protein chains form the gluten network. The gluten network adds strength to the dough. It allows the dough to expand when the yeast expels carbon
