Twister Bread

This is a very pretty loaf to look at and delicious to eat. I got the original recipe from Lorraine Pascale's Twister Bread. It's worth looking at her video recipe for the technique of twisting the dough on the BBC Food site.
As always, I twisted the ingredients for my convenience and availability of my cupboard stock.
Basically, I used olive oil and grated Italian hard cheese instead of sesame oil and poppy seeds. So, somehow, my version  has an Italian touch.  I used Grana Padano cheese. Simply that was in my fridge when I baked this loaf.  I would say any hard cheese could work. Parmesan cheese would be the obvious option, so I put that down in my recipe. I normally prove twice when I prepare bread, but for this recipe, I only proved once following her technique.
I loved the crunchiness of the crust and the softness of the crumb. The aroma from the oven when I was baking this loaf was heavenly...


Ingredients

• 400g strong white bread flour 
  
• 100g wholemeal bread flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 7g sachet of fast action dried yeast
• 1 tsp caster sugar
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 300ml warm water
• 1 tbsp olive oil (to spread on the dough)
• 50g finely grated parmesan cheese (or any other hard cheese) 

Method

1. Put the flours, salt, sugar and yeast into a large bowl, mix a bit and then make a hole in the middle. Add in 300ml of warm water. You may need more water to make a soft dough. Then mix everything together until combined. 
2. Then tip the dough onto a floured surface and knead it for 10 minutes (or five minutes if kneading in a food mixer fitted with a dough hook). To test and see if it has been kneaded enough, form the dough into a ball with a nice taut top. Dip your finger in the flour and then prod the side of the dough making an indent. The indent should spring back all the way and almost disappear if it is ready.
3. Put some more flour on the surface and then, using a rolling pin, roll the dough out into a long rectangle. If it is too springy to roll then cover it with a tea towel and leave for five minutes or so. That way the stretchy gluten strands in the bread can relax a bit which will make it easier to roll out.
4. Using a pastry brush, brush the top of the dough with the olive oil going right up to the edges and then sprinkle the parmesan cheese evenly all over. Then cut the dough into six wide strips down the length.
5. Keeping the strips lined up together, twist each one up like a twisted breadstick or cheese straw. Once they are all twisted, stack them into a bundle and pick them all up in one go. Then twist them together so you have a long thick twisted rope made up of the individual strands of bread. Try to twist evenly so the rope is an even thickness throughout.
6. Then curve the bread into a ‘wreath’ shape and squish the ends together, sealing them with a bit of water. It does not have to be perfect, just as long as they are joined up. 
7. Place the wreath on a baking sheet. Oil some cling film and use it to cover the dough, oiled side down, so it is airtight but with enough room for the dough to rise a little.
8. Leave to prove for about 30 minutes. To test if it is ready for the oven (because the bread will not have doubled in size but probably grown by about half again), dust your finger with some flour and then make an indent in the side of the bread. The indent should spring back about half way. If the indent just stays there and does not really move very much, then it needs more time.
9. When ready, place in the preheated oven (200C/400F/Gas 6)  to bake for 35 minutes.
10. The loaf is cooked when it sounds hollow when tapped underneath. If not, then give it another five minutes or so in the oven. Once ready remove from the oven and serve. 

Focaccia ... the real thing

Making Focaccia....
'Nobody said it was easy. No one ever said it would be this hard."
I had been really curious about making authentic focaccia though I had heard that it was notoriously difficult. I baked "my take" on focaccia which is really normal bread made flat sprinkled with some olive oil. However, I thought it was about time I tackled the famous Paul Hollywood's focaccia.      
As I expected, the dough was terribly WET and STICKY... When I looked at Paul Hollywood's recipe and watched last year's GBBO master class, I thought to myself, the dough recipe couldn't be right.
400ml of cold water for 500g of strong flour?? The ratio of flour and water is totally unconventional... What is more, his recipe told me to add 2 sachets of yeast which was twice as much as I use for making a 500g flour loaf.  So, I compromised by trying the "wet consistency", but sticking to my instinct and adding only one sachet of yeast. .... However, I followed the rest of his instructions. The dough was an absolute nightmare to work with throughout the process, though I spread plenty of olive oil on the worktop following Mr Hollywood's technique. Perseverance was required . 
Then, the dough needed to rise. It took more than 3 hours for the dough to double in size....Phew... but I managed to get to that stage. I cut the sloppy dough in two and placed them on two baking trays and waited another hour to prove the dough. Then, finally I pressed the dough with rosemary to make some "focaccia dimples". I also sprinkled some more olive oil and salt and then my long suffering dough was finally ready to go into the oven.... And here they are. They tasted lovely. 
Was it worth such a hassle? ..... Well... probably, YES. 

Here is the video of how to make focaccia from GBBO 2011

Pizza

Once you've made your own pizza from scratch, you will know how enjoyable it is to make and eat.
It's seriously good. :) My pizza dough is half the quantity of my basic loaf recipe for a 12 inch round pizza. It's plenty for 2 people. It doesn't take as long as you may think. I got home at 5:30pm today and had this pizza dinner at 7pm. Actually, it's a de-stress exercise as you need to punch the dough to make the pizza's lovely chewy texture. :)    Anyway, once you make the pizza dough, the topping options are endless.
My topping list tonight is as follows.

• Caramelised onion (cook the thin sliced onion with olive oil for 15 minutes with low-heat. Splash with  balsamic vinegar at the end)
• Roasted vegetables (aubergine and courgette roasted in the oven with olive oil)
• Mushrooms
• Anchovies
• Green olives
• Low-fat Mozzarella cheese
• Tomato paste (It works well if you don't have time to cook tomato sauce. I always use this.)

Ingredients  
for 12in round Pizza dough

• 250g Strong Bread flour 
• 3.5g sachet fast-action dried yeast (1 tsp)
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 Tbsp dried mixed herbs 
• up to 175ml lukewarm water
• 
  

Method

1. Make the dough by tipping the flour, yeast, salt and dried herbs into a large bowl and making a well in the middle. Pour in most of the water and use your fingers or a wooden spoon to mix the flour and water together until combined to a slightly wet, pillowy, workable dough - add a splash more water if necessary. Tip the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead for at least 10 mins until smooth and elastic. This can also be done in a tabletop mixer with a dough hook. Place the dough in a clean oiled bowl, cover with cling film and leave to rise until doubled in size.
2. Heat oven to 220C/ fan 200C/ gas 7. Knock back the dough by tipping it back onto a floured surface and pushing the air out. Stretch the dough on the pizza oven plate. Cover it with the oiled cling film. Then leave it for about 10 mins. 
3. Bake the dough on the oven proof pizza plate for 15 mins.
4. Take the dough out of the oven and spread the tomato paste, then put toppings on the dough
5. Bake the pizza for another 10 minutes or so until the cheese begins to bubble.

My little Tiramisu Cake

I love Tiramisu, the popular Italian dessert which has a strong flavour of coffee liqueur and rich creamy Mascarponi cheese filling.
I used to work in a big language college that offered various modern foreign languages. The staff room was absolutely a melting pot, where I could hear an amazing variety of languages from all over the world. I loved the lively atmosphere. There we teachers shared tips and new methods for teaching, but some teachers also brought their home-cooked food. One of the Italian teachers brought in a large dish of Tiramisu for anyone to eat. It was absolutely delicious and it didn't take long for the large dish to be completely cleared. She said that her Tiramisu was very authentic and traditional, and that it was easy to make and did not need to be cooked in an oven.
However, I'm now really into baking, I decided to bake a moist coffee flavoured cake and to add a generous portion of Mascarponi cheese filling. The ingredients are mostly the same as for Tiramisu but the  technique and presentation are different. Here is my take on Tiramisu.
Ah, I tell you, this is seriously good.

Ingredients 

For the Cake

• 160g Butter softened
• 140g Caster sugar
• 2 Large eggs
• 200g SR flour
• 2tsp Baking powder
• 2tsp Espresso coffee powder (or more if you prefer stronger coffee flavour) 
• 100g chocolate chips

For the Coffee Syrup 

• 1tbsp Espresso coffee powder
• 2tbsp Sugar
• 3tbsp Hot water
• Coffee liqueur (optional)

Foe the Cheese filling 

• 200g Mascarponi cheese
• 2tbsp Icing sugar ( add some more to taste )
• 1tsp Vanilla extract

Method 

1. Mix the butter and sugar with a spatula.
2. Whisk the eggs into the mixture with an electric hand whisk.
3. Sift in the flour, baking powder and coffee powder, then mix in the chocolate chips.
4. Pour the mixture into a loaf tin.
5. Bake at 180c for 30-40 minutes.
6. Leave the cake outside of the oven for 10 minutes.
7. Brush the coffee syrup into the cake while it is still warm.
8. Cool the cake completely.
9. Mix the Mascarponi cheese, icing sugar and vanilla extract.
10. Slice the cake and dish up on the plate, then drop the cheese cream on top. 

Italian job continued

Rosemary and sea salt focaccia 

Lorraine Pascale made baking easy on her BBC cookery show in 2011. Her version is one of my favourite recipes for  Focaccia. I love Italian bread which has a spongy and light texture. Ciabatta bread is  another favourite with good quality extra-virgin olive oil to dip it in. This Focaccia already has lots of olive oil in the dough, so you may not need to add much extra. Lorraine uses a mixing machine in this recipe video, but she showed how to knead the bread dough in another episode, which I found very useful. I don't have a fancy mixing machine, I always knead the dough with my hands for 10 minutes, which is quite a long time for kneading, but it's a very tactile experience and kind of therapuetic. Ah, another thing I missed was sea salt! So, my focaccia is really rosemary and table salt focaccia... however, it tastes pretty good. :)

Italian Job

Bread with Pesto alla Genovese & Rosemary

There was a jar of Green Pesto in the fridge. I used it for pasta and pizza filling and there was still a bit left in the jar. It had been neglected for a while and it was about time to use it up. So why not for bread?
As always, I prepared basic bread which contained 400g strong white and 100g strong whole meal flour, as well as 2 tablespoons of porridge oats. Oats are really good for you, and give bread an extra chewy texture.
I flattened the dough after the first proving, and spread the pesto, before rolling it up, like making Swiss roll. Then, I stuck some pieces of rosemary into the loaf. It smelled amazing when I was baking it, like being in an Italian restaurant. When it came from the oven, the pesto was slightly oozing out and the oil gave the bread an extra crunch. Ahh, the taste was incredible. I ate the most of the loaf for lunch, since it really should be eaten when it is still warm.

This bread would go nicely with a chilled glass of wine.  Happy days.