Hi gang  =)

Apologies for the lack of posts over the weekend, and pre-emptive apologies for the no-doubt sporadic posts I'll get out in the next couple of weeks!

Things are getting rather hectic at School, with two big essays due in this month, including our Business essay, which has, quite frankly, the broadest essay title ever invented... o.0 

What with those two, plus Dairy reflections every two weeks & reports on super hydrated doughs & the key pre-ferment systems, I think the next couple of weeks are going to be tough.  Might have to invest in some coffee!  (See, it's not all about making & eating tasty breads & cakes & cheeses, we have to do actual studying as well!)

But no matter  =)

This week we'll be looking at traditional British breads, almost all of which are made using sponges.  This meant today was a fairly quiet day, we set down sponges for Scottish morning rolls, fruited teacakes, malted wheat loaves, a honey & bran loaf, & last but not least, an oven-bottom bread with 60% pre-fermented dough.

Once those were done, we set about making up a slightly enriched white dough, using a sponge set down yesterday.  The dough was fairly firm, being quite a low hydration, although this did make it easier to mould & shape  =)

I made a two-strand plait, called a 'Jews Button', supposedly after the buttons you used to get on coats  =)

And this simple, but effective swirl.

Doesn't look like much now, but once risen & baked, it was quite impressive!

The bread was really very light, with a very soft white crumb, & a proper crusty crust  =)  This type f bread, whilst not my favourite of the course so far, certainly has its place, & would make a very nice bacon buttie  ;)

After that we made a fruited malt loaf, using malt flours & extracts.  Not entirely sure how well malt extracts fit into artisan baking, but Clive, our tutor this week, is keen for us to experiment with them.

The breads look a little like your usual malt loaf, & smell quite chocolaty, despite the absence of cocoa in the recipe, but I guess that's where the malt flour comes in  =)  We haven't tried them yet, apparently they're best after a day, so I'll let you know tomorrow if they were a success!

For now, I'm going to relax with a well-earned cuppa, & hope it doesn't snow again overnight - quite enjoying this cycling lark now I'm doing it again!  =D