Coronavirus isolating might be resulting in a lack of ingredients in my store cupboard but it certainly isn’t limiting the frequency at which I bake. If anything I’m finding myself in the kitchen more often than normal. This is partly down to the fact home baking helps to eke out our supples and partly to the fact that there are three of us living in this fairly small house at the moment. As much as I enjoy the others company I’ve quickly realised that by claiming the kitchen for an hour or two of baking I get my own space. Not only to bake but also to have my choice of music and my timetable for how often the coffeecup gets filled up. I’m happy to let you in what I’m doing as I know for a fact that neither of them read this blog.
In an effort to preserve store cupboard supplies I’ve been keeping my baking a bit simpler for the last couple of weeks and I’m finding bread and scones to be a great way of doing this. The bread is an obvious staple item to be making at the moment and scones, particularly if you add a bit of fruit, are a good afternoon or evening treat.
There’s a couple of basic recipes I use for these bakes and the beauty is that ingredients can be switched around in both dependent on what’s available in your pantry. If you’ve got unexpected time on your hands, and who of us hasn’t at the moment, now is your chance to bake.
Bread
This is a seeded loaf which ideally uses rye & spelt flour. However the recipe works if other bread flours are substituted. The recipe makes one loaf of approximately 800g
Ingredients
- 2tsp (10g) dried yeast
- 350g warm water
- 3 tbsp runny honey
- 250g dark rye flour
- 250g white spelt flour
- 1tsp sea salt
- 50g seeds. I currently have a stock of poppy & sunflower seeds. Any seeds you have in the cupboard will work.
Method
- Dissolve the yeast in the warm water, add the honey and set aside
- Combine the flours, salt and seeds in a bowl. Mix well
- Pour the liquid over the dry ingredients. Mix with a fork, than your hands, until you have sticky dough. Tip onto a floured surface and knead for 5 minutes. If you have a food mixer you can use the dough hook for this.
- After kneading the dough place it a bowl and cover it with a tea towel. Put the bowl in a warm place and leave it to prove for approximately an hour. The dough should rise by about 50%.
- After an hour briefly knead the dough again. Then form the dough into an oval shape and put on a floured baking tray. Cover it again and leave to prove for approximately 30 minutes. The dough should rise again by about 50%. During this proving session pre heat the oven to gas mark 9.
- Half fill a baking tray with boiling water and put it in the bottom of your oven. This will create steam in the oven and help to form a good crust on the bread during the baking process.
- After the second prove bake the bread for 30 minutes. When you take the bread out of the oven tap it on the bottom. If it sounds hollow it’s done.
Scones
This recipe produces 10 very generous size scones. I often half it and still manage to make half a dozen.
Ingredients
- 600g self raising flour
- 60g caster sugar
- 180g dried fruit. I’m currently mixing raisins & sultanas in mine
- 60g soft butter
- 2tsp ground cinnamon
- 2tsp baking powder
- 150ml milk
- 2 eggs
Method
- Preheat the oven to gas mark 6 and line a baking tray
- Place all the ingredients in a bowl and bring them together using a knife
- Tip the dough onto a floured surface and roll it to a thickness of approximately 4cm.
- Use a cutter or a mug to create the size scones you want
- Brush the scones with a little egg wash or melted butter and bake them for 12 minutes.
David in the kitchen. 