Cardamom Buns

I’ve been craving a cardamom bun for weeks. I found a gorgeous Swedish cafe on the harbour arm in Margate and on a very rare week day off I decided to celebrate with a bike ride, iced coffee and cardamom bun (with a book of course), safe in the knowledge that the cafe served them. Sadly though, not that day. Since then I have been looking in every bakery and cafe window for cardamom buns but it seems I am in the wrong country (or city, the best cardamom roll I’ve had in my life was from Fabrique bakery , London but I have yet to venture to any Scandinavian countries (since I was a small child)). This story actually goes way back through to my work buddy Edd, and his very lovely Swedish girlfriend; on one of his many visits to Sweden I asked him to find me a Swedish baking book, given the country’s affinity with baked goods and ‘fika’.

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Rye & Spelt Sourdough Loaf

After my adventures in sourdough post last week (which has now been updated with starter feeding and maintenance tips), it is time to share a sourdough recipe. I’ve chosen my every day loaf of bread to share first, light rye spelt sourdough, a recipe from Yoke Mardewi’s ‘Wild Sourdough‘ (I love how primordial it sounds, what a great title for a book). I really must branch out though, there are at least 20 loaf recipes in Yoke Mardewi’s books that I want to try and don’t get me started on the non-loaf recipes in the books.

I’m going to give two recipes, firstly, Yoke’s complete recipe as she is the master and then my butchered, quick, version.

Adventures in Sourdough

What I like about sourdough is the deep rich flavour, the texture and the process leading to some of the gluten already being broken down. If people are slightly gluten intolerant, sourdough can be a great alternative. When it comes to sourdough, I have two bibles, both written by Yoke Mardewi (somewhat of a sourdough oracle): Wild Sourdough and Sourdough: From Pastries to Gluten-Free Wholegrain Breads. These books, particularly the latter, offer a load of information about the types of wheat and other grains available, and the benefits of sourdough. You can make sourdough with completely gluten free flours, I opt for flours with a lower gluten content, like rye and spelt because those are the flavours I like the most. Yoke’s books contain an enormous number of different recipes using a sourdough starter as the rising agent, from loaves, to croissants, pancakes, Christmas cake and crumpets to name a few.

I am by no means an expert but having sourdough in my life is a joy (and I promise that I’ll share the crumpets recipe soon) and I thought I’d share my adventures in sourdough with you and how to begin the process by making a sourdough starter.

Parma Ham, Mozzarella & Basil Brioche Couronne

I hosted a belated birthday tea party this weekend. It was all I could have wanted and more, in celebration of being another year older; I cooked up a storm and had friends and family around to eat it all. We had an absolute feast! Recipes from a few of the things will be making there way to you, just hold tight! The savoury crown (no pun intended) was given to this baby, a savoury brioche couronne. This particular one was made by my lovely man, it is a favourite of ours and I hate to say, he does a far better job of it than me. He always does when it comes to bread; irritating, given I showed him how to make it in the first place! Anyway, I secretly am glad he is so good at baking bread, as this was to die for. Everyone at the party kept saying how gorgeous it was, and kept going back for seconds, thirds and even fourths! It would be criminal not to share the recipe. It is a recipe from the bread master himself, Paul Hollywood.

I’ll give you a couple of seconds just to bask in the glory of this bread…

Rye, Ale & Oat Bread

Flavour of the moment: Ale. I do love ale, on the extremely rare occasions I drink I’ve been known to have a good old fashioned ale. It’s even better in bread though.

Rye flour makes for a dense bread, which is by no means a bad thing. Some days call for a big hunk of bread with a nice warm soup to sooth the soul. This is perfect bread for that. In fact this is my favourite bread, my secret indulgence with its rich, earthy flavours and outer oaty crust. Boy oh boy, I love this bread.