Chaps Can Bake Too..

Illegal Stout Bread...

It is nearly the weekend, so time to again turn our thoughts to food & drink.

Living life on the edge.. the Danish Police could be here any second.

I've not ever been a fugitive from the law before, however this bread contains marmite, illegal here in Denmark, so I suspect my days as a free man may be numbered!

Based on a German recipe I found, this is a mite more involved than last weeks' soda bread offering but don't let that put you off - this is some of the nicest bread I've tasted. Wonderfully aromatic with the complex taste of the stout mixed with marmite & honey.

The dough is left to rise overnight, and then again for a few hours, creating a lovely moist loaf.

Ingredients:

1. 10g of fresh yeast (or a 1/4 tsp of the dried stuff.)
2. 1 liberal dollop Marmite.
3. 1 tbsp honey.
4. 330ml stout or porter, room temperature.
5. 400g strong white or spelt flour.
6. 200g rye flour.
7. 1 tsp salt.
8. 25g warmed butter, diced.
9. 1 tbsp left over beer, for brushing

Procedure:

1. Crumble the yeast in to a jug, add the beer, honey and marmite and mix well.
2. Mix the flours, salt and butter in a large bowl until you have something that resembles bread crumbs.
3. Make a well in the middle and pour in the liquid. Gradually work over until it is all mixed together and you have a sticky dough - if too wet add a little more flour.
4. Turn out on to a floured work top and knead enthusiastically for 10 minutes. The dough will gradually firm up.
5. Plonk in to  a bowl, cover & let dough rise for a minimum of 6 hours, ideally overnight in the fridge. The dough should double in size.
6. Turn out on to work top again and punch to deflate.
7. Shape in to a round and place on a baking sheet.
8. Cover & leave in a warm place to rise for 1 to 4 hours (depending on the initial temperature of the dough.)
9. Preheat oven to 200ºC / 400ºF / Gas-mark 6.
10. Assuming you have not already drunk any left over beer use it to brush the loaf. If you want to dust with cracked rye.
11. Score the loaf with a sharp knife.
12. Bake for 35 mins or until the loaf sounds hollow when tapped underneath.

Enjoy!

Chaps Can Bake Too...

Spelt & Rye Soda Bread

Soda bread. Actually fairly easy, tastier than the shop bought stuff and any special lady acquaintances will love you for it.

Baking, until a couple of years ago, was a bit of a blind spot with me. However, with the cost of a decent loaf of bread in Copenhagen around the 35DKK mark (approx £4) necessity has meant that I've learnt pretty quickly. And chaps reading this can too.

Soda bread is easy. There is no yeast involved, therefore no buggering about with kneading or waiting for the dough to rise. The whole operation takes a mere half hour. The results will be immensely satisfying and far better than the bland stale offerings pedalled by supermarkets.

This bread is a Scandinavian take on a recipe I found here. As a rule our Nordic cousins regard with deep scepticism any bread that does not include rye flour in the mix. So to prevent open rebellion here at New Utility HQ I've thrown some in. It adds a lovely deep golden brown hue and depth of taste to the finished article. Makes enough for one small loaf.

Ingredients:-

1. 100 grams rye flour.
2. 200 grams spelt flour.
3. 2 tsp baking powder.
4. 230ml buttermilk.
5. Pinch of salt.
6. Flour for dusting.

Procedure:- 

1. Pre heat your oven to 200°C with a baking tray in it.
2. Mix the flours, baking powder and salt together in a large bowl.
3. Pour in the buttermilk and mix thoroughly ensuring that there is no excess flour left at the bottom.
4. The dough will be quite wet, scoop out on to a floured work surface and gradually form in to a round.
5. Plonk the formed dough on to your baking tray (I suggest you might want to use baking paper here too.)
6. Bake for 25 minutes or until golden brown. If you get a hollow sound when tapping on the bottom of the loaf you're good to go.
7. If you have the patience cover loaf with a tea towel to cool for a bit.
8. Devour with liberal amounts of butter and any strong cheese.

That's it. Enjoy.