Bread http://benlund.info/log/Bread/atom 2007-01-31T14:37:46Z A Simple Crumpet Recipe http://benlund.info/2007/01/31/crumpets 2007-01-31T14:37:46Z 2007-01-31T14:37:46Z Ben Lund <ul><li>Flour: 225g</li><li>Milk: 150ml</li><li>Boiling water: 150ml</li><li>Instant yeast: 1 heaped tsp</li><li>Salt: 1 tsp</li><li>1 egg</li><li>A little bit of butter</li></ul>
  • Flour: 225g
  • Milk: 150ml
  • Boiling water: 150ml
  • Instant yeast: 1 heaped tsp
  • Salt: 1 tsp
  • 1 egg
  • A little bit of butter

Warm the flour for 5 mins in the oven, if you like that kind of thing. Then mix the milk and boiling water in a large mixing bowl -- the combination should be at about body temperature.

Dissolve the butter and salt in the liquid and then beat in the egg. Add the yeast to the flour, and then mix it in to the liquid. After mixing, the consistency should be more battery than doughy.

Cover the bowl, and leave to rise in a warm place for 1.5 hours. At this point the mixture should be thicker and a bit bubbly.

To make proper crumpets, you need a crumpet ring. But you can make pancake-shaped things instead that are just as nice if you don't. Get a frying pan to a medium heat, dab on a little bit of butter, and then pour in a ladel-ful of the mixture. Tip: control the heat so that lots of bubble-holes form in the surface, but be careful to not let them form too quickly.

First Oven Baked Loaf http://benlund.info/2007/02/08/first-oven-baked-loaf 2007-02-08T14:48:07Z 2007-02-08T14:48:07Z Ben Lund <p> When I retired from scientific publishing, people asked me what I intended to do with my time. I've been baking my own bread in a bread-maker for many years now, and so I told them that I planned to take up proper, oven-baked bread making. </p>

When I retired from scientific publishing, people asked me what I intended to do with my time. I've been baking my own bread in a bread-maker for many years now, and so I told them that I planned to take up proper, oven-baked bread making.

When I told them this, a friend recommended the Delia bread recipes. I had just bought some seeded brown flour, so this simple recipe seemed like a good place to start. Note that it's a simple wholemeal recipe, so the seeds no doubt threw things off a bit.

I only had a small loaf tin, so I used half measures. And my inexperience showed -- I had problems getting the amount of water right. I overdid it the first time, and had to add a tad more flour. And then some more water, because there was flour sticking to the sides of the mixing bowl. And then some more flour again. I think perhaps the dough consistency I ended up with was somewhat less than ideal...

But it ended up alright: