Soft, slightly sweet and a perfect foil for a hearty filling, these brioche-style burger buns are my go-to whenever I want to make the buns from scratch. Continue reading “My ultimate burger buns!”
Tag: yeast
Saffron and roasted garlic bread
Delicately scented but with much depth of flavour, my saffron and roasted garlic bread is a real treat when eaten with good butter and perhaps some cheeses. Continue reading “Saffron and roasted garlic bread”
Spiced onion & chilli bread
Think onion bhajis in a bread, with a chilli kick, and that will give you the idea behind what I think is a wonderful tear-and-share bread. Continue reading “Spiced onion & chilli bread”
Fool-proof focaccia
I am always sceptical whenever I see “fool-proof” preface anything: this often leads to vastly inferior approximations of what you really want….but this approach to focaccia gives an exceptional bread. Continue reading “Fool-proof focaccia”
Easy spiced orange & vanilla Danish pastries
Always a total comfort to eat (cue what has got to be guilt-free indulgence!), these buttery pastries, with with an orange and vanilla almond filling, evoke the flavours of Panettone. Continue reading “Easy spiced orange & vanilla Danish pastries”
Panettone
This is my take on the classic panettone: a rich, buttery but oh-so-fluffy sweet bread, adapted from a recipe by Andrea Tortora. Continue reading “Panettone”
Black treacle and Guinness bread
A simple and full-flavoured bread that is perfect with some salted butter, perhaps with seafood (it goes particularly well with crab) or as part of a Ploughman’s platter. Continue reading “Black treacle and Guinness bread”
Chocolate and cherry focaccia
A sweet focaccia is a joy to eat, and my chocolate and cherry focaccia gives a lovely twist on a classic bread – it is also very easy to make. This focaccia is particularly great served in slices with a cup of tea, especially when spread with salted butter or with a dollop of tangy crème fraîche. Continue reading “Chocolate and cherry focaccia”
Chocolate & orange bi-coloured viennoiserie
Bi-coloured croissants and the like have been doing the rounds for a few years and has been on my “to make” list for some time, especially as they can look striking. In essence, you have a croissant dough with a second, coloured dough running through it.
Continue reading “Chocolate & orange bi-coloured viennoiserie”
Tomato and basil English muffins
This my savoury twist on classic English breakfast muffins: these are wonderful toasted and liberally buttered: the butter has to be liberal, and low-fat spreads and the like do not do justice to these muffins! Continue reading “Tomato and basil English muffins”
Garlic & rosemary fougasse bread
Fougasse is such a lovely bread, with a very crisp, shattering, crust and a soft interior. It is especially great as a tear-and-share bread, but I invariably find that once I get my hands on fougasse, sharing is a difficult option! Continue reading “Garlic & rosemary fougasse bread”
English breakfast muffins
Updated Feb 2017: new photos of the muffins
Perfect sliced, toasted and buttered, English muffins (well, “muffins” to those of us brought up in the UK!) are very simple to make and require very little attention. And as with most home-made breads, they taste so much better than any you can buy – and for a fraction of the cost. Continue reading “English breakfast muffins”
Orange & vanilla rum babas
Surely it is time for a full-on revival of these fabulous 1970s dessert trolley staples? Continue reading “Orange & vanilla rum babas”
Cheese & onion sourdough crumpets
These particular crumpets arose from an idea that came to me late one night – as is often the way! Continue reading “Cheese & onion sourdough crumpets”
Black garlic bread rolls
A fairly new ingredient to me, I tried my first black garlic just the other day: I just peeled it and ate it as it was. I have to say, I initially had mixed feelings about the flavour: concentrated balsamic vinegar with a hint of aniseed, with a sweet garlic flavour (more like roasted garlic flavour than raw garlic) just coming through. Continue reading “Black garlic bread rolls”
Fool-proof bagels
I say fool-proof, but this is a recipe I have used for many years. I also use it when teaching how to make bagels at cookery classes and am always thrilled by the excellent results from the classes.
Roasted onion, chorizo & Parmesan focaccia
I have posted several focaccia recipes on this blog, and while I make my roasted garlic focaccia many times more than any other flavour, I do like to play around a little. This time, I used ingredients lurking around in the fridge and the larder! Continue reading “Roasted onion, chorizo & Parmesan focaccia”
Ciabatta with a touch of rye
Although I am an unashamed bread addict, I will confess that until fairly recently I have never got excited by ciabatta; I have tried many ciabatta but have never really been blown away by the flavour – and particularly with bread, I like to be blown away! Continue reading “Ciabatta with a touch of rye”
Smoked ham focaccia with confit onions
Another focaccia variation, this time using up some left-over hams after Christmas. I used a mixture of Parma and Black Forest ham, taking off the fat and chopping it into smallish pieces. The salty-smokeyness of the hams adds a lovely flavour to the focaccia. Continue reading “Smoked ham focaccia with confit onions”
Bread: tips & ideas for the novice home baker and upwards!
There are few greater pleasures than the evocative smell of bread as it bakes, followed by eating warm bread that has been spread liberally with good quality butter: simplicity at its very best!
This post is about the basic, but nonetheless majestic bread loaf, made with commercial yeast, along with simple variations. I dip into pre-ferments as a great way to add even better depth of flavour to bread and I also give recipe links for classics such as focaccia.
My detailed post on sourdough bread, focusing on making and maintaining a sourdough starter, as well as how to make an excellent sourdough loaf with variations, can be found here.
Continue reading “Bread: tips & ideas for the novice home baker and upwards!”
The quickest & easiest croissants: 20-minute lamination!
Quicker croissants: 20-minute lamination!
A batch of traditionally made croissants can take the best part of a weekend with all the resting and chilling in between the turns and at other stages.
Don’t get me wrong, making croissants this way is one of the top baking pleasures for me, but there are certainly times when effective shortcuts are called for. And this shortcut is certainly effective in that it gives excellent results and is easier to achieve than traditional croissants. Continue reading “The quickest & easiest croissants: 20-minute lamination!”
Jam doughnuts
A classic doughnut, rolled in sugar and filled with jam: a real treat. Continue reading “Jam doughnuts”
Pain de Campagne
A gorgeous bread, with real flavour, this is a few notches above the supermarket artisinal breads – and it can be made for a fraction of the cost. Great just as it is with butter and jam but wonderful toasted for breakfast. The simplest of life’s pleasures! Continue reading “Pain de Campagne”
Phil's Home Kitchen 