Bake with Jack Apple and Cinnamon Buns

 When my nest is slightly akilter, as it has been over the last three years, a good way of destressing is baking.  I downloaded Apple and Cinnamon Buns by Bake with Jack. Whether you are new to baking or have been involved in the yeasty or sourdough stuff for years, Jack Youtube channel talks will inspire, entertain, and inform you. During the last talk, I discovered that Jack's First and New Book is due out next year, and I have put in a pre-order.  Shall I do Bake each Recipe and write about it as I did with Jane Mason's Book of Buns and Perfecting Sourdough?

Sixteen minus six mean that there are ten left here now.....

We were delighted with the two workmen and having finished their work, we sent off with three warm buns each, and a tip.

Smoked Chilli and Fennel Meatball Sandwiches

 Yesterday evening we sat down for supper, and we just needed a glass of beer to make this complete.  

I had prepared the meat balls in the morning together with its sauce, following Jack's recipe in the Home Baker's Club.  After ten years of watching Jack on YouTube, I paid my annual fee and joined Bake with Jack Homebaker's Club, and have learnt so much.  With his real time demonstrations he has plenty of time to pass on all those tips and expertise gleaned over his years of working as a chef.  

The amusing thing to me is as a good home cook for many years this is the first time I have made meatballs or even eaten them.  With their spices and minced pork these were the most delicious of things, and won't be the last meatballs I made.  I got 24 from the mixture, which will make us three meals.  I did not have any Smoked Chilli Flakes, so used some of my own dried chilis and some smoked salt that I have had lying around for yonks and did not know what to  use them in.  

Another new to me ingredient was Emmental melted....we don't tend to use cows cheese, but had had some on holiday and a little now I felt would be OK. There were two slices each side of the meatballs and the finished article certainly makes a very pleasing meal.

At first I thought it was strange adding 100g bread crumbs to 500g minced pork, but Jack explained that the bread crumbs absorbed all the juices which normally would flow out.  It just happened that one of the baked buns weighed around 100g and was blitzed to make the crumbs.

These 'sandwiches' was one of Jack's ....with bread recipes, to pair with the Hot Milk floured buns. Again with clear demonstrations and explanations all along the way.  

Mr S was quite aggrieved when one bun ended up as breadcrumbs.  These soft white buns are absolutely delicious, and as consolation he had one for his breakfast this morning!  The other buns and meat balls in tomato sauce are now in the freezer. These are ideal for a great bacon bap, and I may well have the meatballs with pasta another time. 

Hot Cross Buns hot out of the oven- recipe from Bake with Jack

 If you knead a cheerful and knowledgeable chap to help you get your baking to the next level, then like me you will enjoy Bake with Jack's on line tutorial or talks.  Today he posted one on hotcross buns. I've been watching Jack's tutorials almost from the start, he is a real showman and shares tips and tricks most weeks, all well worth spending time watching whether you are a beginner or experienced home baker.

I followed his recipe to the letter, trying the very large bun size.  I shall probably make twelve next time as these are 'big hungry chap sized' buns.

One a penny, two a penny, hot cross buns!  Happy Easter 2021.

Sunflower Sourdough twice

Having completed in principle one tour through all the sourdough recipes in Jane Mason's book: Perfecting Sourdough, we are now baking different recipes suggested up by members of the Facebook group.

I last baked and posted about the Sourdough Sunflower breads last July when it was particularly hot.  Today its been snowing, and since we were not venturing from home, this weekend has been one of baking, reading, research etc.

I set the sunflower seeds to soak, and the mother sourdough to prove overnight with a feed as per the recipe.  We have been discussing how to get a much tighter loaf, and various ways of getting a better shape on our loaves.  I also discussed bread making with my friend Marie-Claire whom I initially taught how to make bread.  Now with her many self taught bread making skills, we like to chat over the phone about bread matters.  We discussed the very helpful shaping techniques on u tube and I found Bake with Jack which she recommended as being fun to watch and follow.

I was not quite on the ball on Friday...weighed twice the amount of sunflower seeds, was busy moving plants around to more protected zones in anticipation of the snow...and forgot to reduce the temperature after the initial hot blast at 230 C.  I only moved the loaves round, but I managed to whip the loaves out after 25 minutes.  The crust is lovely dark and very tasty and because there is such a high hydration, the bread is not at all dry.

 As usual I like to bake two smaller loaves.

The same recipe was followed today...but I tried the loaf baked in my stainless steel roasting dish.  This technique works really well for me....It gives a really good and even rise and colour...I heat the roasting tin in the oven, and follow all the same temperatures, but remove the lid or rather the base, since I use the tin upside down, for the final 15 minutes baking.  I have even seen an old pyrex dish used to bake bread in.  Next time I am going to try using my stainless steel mixing bowl as the covering dome.  My shelves can only accommodate one covered dish on one level with another shelf with just the oven tray.  I think the oval loaf is my best sourdough so far.

The freezer is now well stocked up with bread...sofor the next week or so when the weather improves I shall have bread, and with weather improving time to go out and tackle the garden and continue with gloss painting!

Wholemeal Cobb Loaf a la 'Bake with Jack'

It is back to basics for me this week, and I am not too old to learn new tricks. I have loved making bread for years and years, sometimes using a large table top mixer, but for nearly twenty years have gone back to the hand process, by far my favourite.  I find the kneading most enjoyable.

As a treat to myself I joined Bake with Jack's 'The Homebaker's Club',   I have been watching him on YouTube, and there is almost everything you need there to achieve as good a standard as you could attain.  He has given much and he is a gifted communicator, so why not indulge myself in a little course available whenever I wish to log on?

This Sunday the weather was decidedly damp and wet, the bread bin nearly empty, as was the freezer of 'everyday' day bread.  I thought I would get back to basics after all the sourdough bread, and watched and printed out the Wholemeal Cobb Loaf instructions.

I followed it and make the one large cobb.  What would I do differently next time?  Divide the dough in two, or use perhaps some of the dough to make some rolls, as this loaf is a little too large for us.  A smaller loaf with extra for the freezer would suit us better.  All in all a superb recipe different from the other he had shown, and with explanations and reasons for doing various manoeuvres, I have further techniques to try on other recipes.  

Apple, Pecan and Cinnamon Buns

 I recently joined 'Bake with Jack' Home Baker's Club, and decided to start with the
Apple, Pecan and Cinnamon Buns.  I had only watched half way through the detailed video, and thought I could go ahead and try the recipe.  First mistake: I did not read properly through the whole recipe or watch all the videos to the end!

If you are not yet a member of the Baker's Club, the full recipe and YouTube link is easily followed.

These are the buns just before they went in the oven.  I realised that I had forgotten to put the cinnamon in with the apple when I was cooking these.  I used coxes orange pippin apples, and gave the buns a light sprinkle of cinnamon just before they were popped in..

I tried to cook both sheets in the oven at the same time, as I had yet to get to part of the video when Jack advised cooking only a single tray at a time to get an even bake.

I also didn't do the icing and sprinkle nuts in the order Jack suggested, but sprinkled the nuts first then iced them, which I think is one step better as the icing helps keep the nuts on the buns.  Half I did not ice so as to be able to freeze them.  Had I watched all the tips before baking I would have realised that for those that were to be frozen, no nuts or icing until the buns are defrosted and refreshed.  

All in all these buns are absolutely delicious, and I shall keep the cinnamon to add as a sprinkle as the apple is fragrant with the lemon juice and sugar, plus I added the zest of the lemon to the apples. 

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       Sandra came over to join me for a little walk, and we had afternoon tea and a bun each afterwards.

Apricot and Pecan Sourdough

 Having had this loaf on day two toasted for breakfast this morning, and it being just perfect fresh on the following morning after baking, I thought I would write a post about this loaf.  Firstly so that I can retrieve it from my blog for use again, and also it may inspire you to try something very much like it.

I have been reading 'Healthy Baking' by Jordan Bourke, and have followed his techniques more or less.  This require a 'very active starter', which I refreshed twice on the day before baking.  Here it was refreshed with equal weights strong white and tap water.  I tend to refresh my starter in slightly larger quantities.  However to arrive at the 225g for the recipe, the following is a guide.

Morning Day 1: 15g sourdough starter fairly fresh from the fridge (perhaps refreshed a couple of days previously), add 15g each water and strong white flour, and 5g brown sugar.  Evening Day 1 add 40g each water and strong white flour, and 5g brown sugar. Each time leave on the counter in your kitchen.

Morning Day 2:

225g of your now very active starter

300ml water from the tap

40g brown sugar

Mix these together, don't worry about any lumps.

In a separate larger bowl mix the following:

40g white rye or you can use stoneground wholemeal rye

100g wholemeal spelt

325g Strong While Flour

12g salt

Mix all these together, and add the wet mixture, mix using your scraper till all the dry bits are incorporated.

Leave for an hour

50g dried apricots, cut up and soaked in a warm water, whilst the dough is resting.

50g pecan gently roasted for a few minutes

1 to 2 teaspoons fennel seeds roasted mixed with the pecans.  

..watch carefully, you don't want scorched nuts! Break up into smallish pieces.

As they are cooling, crush the fennel in a pestle and mortar, leaving a few seeds visible. 

Drain off the apricots, and take the dough out the bowl, incorporate the nuts, spices and apricots. You can lightly knead, but the idea is that you will be doing some stretches either in the bowl or as I prefer, to do this on an oiled worksurface.  This adds a little oil to the dough each time you stretch and helps to make for a less hard crust.  Repeat the stretches about four times, when you will see the dough gradually gains strength. There are loads of help on the internet such as  Bake with Jack .

Leave to prove, the length of time depends on many factors, I find about five hours is about right. Divide as you wish, stretch and shape a round, leave fifteen minutes or so covered, then shape as appropriate for your tin or banneton. 

I had a 500g and a 750g banneton.  Tins are easier and quite as good.  

I bake at 200C Fan Oven with a tin in the bottom to which I add boiling water just as the door is shut with the loaves in the oven. It takes about 35 to 40 minutes depending on the size of your loaves.  Remove from oven and tins/baking sheets, banneton , and cool on a rack. One loaf goes into the freezer.

The nuts and fruit can be varied depending on what you may already have in your larder.

I am going to make my stuffing balls for Christmas with this bread...

Excellent used as a basis for Eggy Bread, or bread and butter pudding. As it is not a 'Sweet Loaf', it also goes very well with Chees or Pate and chutney.

Beyond 'standard' Babkas thanks to all those who inspire me

 I love the way that keeping in contact and sharing can widen one's horizons, and encourage one to step outside our comfort zones.  For several years I have been baking yeast doughs, then about ten years ago I got into sourdough. I love all types of yeast dough, having used fresh, dried, and wild yeasts.  Way back I met and became great friends with Vicki who used to bake for her artisan stall at Southwold, then I taught my friend Marie-Claire in Kenilworth to bake bread and to make preserves, then also in Kenilworth my friend Mandy who loves experimenting in the kitchen too, have all helped me enjoy and share my kitchen adventures.

Vickie introduced me to Bertinet, and various other great bakers and writers, on whose courses she had been on.  I am completely self taught, and enjoy absorbing and practicing techniques at home. Marie-Claire introduced me to Bake with Jack, and I have been following and enjoyed learning from him via his YouTube videos and blogs, and  Mandy suggested that I may find  Sourdough Bakers on Facebook, whose name has morphed to Wild Sourdough UK and Beyond, interesting.  

Last week after reading Joe Parke's details of his Babka on WSUB, I felt it was time for me to attempt a sweetened enriched sourdough.  

At the same time I wanted to try a 'filling' which Marie-Claire has used in some of her 'Chelsea Buns'.  So thanks to Marie-Claire, Mandy, and Joe Parke, my first Sourdough Babka is quite a success.  

The amusing thing is that I was completely unaware that Babka's had featured on GBBO recently.  It was  Marie-Claire who enlightened me after I emailed her with the Babka pictures as attachments with my rating of the filling she had sent me.  Now I understand the subtext to some of the comments on Joe Parke's post.  Joe is a professional working at Star Bistro, which is currently not open.  What a smashing place this looks, I wish them well and hope they open and are well supported as soon as safely possible.  With it not far from Cheltenham, I can just see that it would be lovely for Mr S and I to have a break in that area and drop in for a few meals at the Star Bistro.

Joe suggested I look up 'The Perfect Loaf'.  I happened on their post on how to make Ricotta, so out came the litre of raw buffalo milk from the freezer, and I have a cheese for a Pizza Blonde, another suggestion by an internet gardening friend Brian. The Whey is going in the dough, and also lunch time soup!

 Pizza Blonde about to go in the oven

Dinner is served!

Friday Bun Day - using creme pat in a bun for the first time

 Inspired by Weekend Bakery's Cherry and Almond Cream Buns, today being Friday Bun Day, I set to yesterday evening, and made a dough and WB's crème pat.  I used Bake with Jack's dough recipe for this breakfast fruit loaf, mainly as I like egg in an enriched dough which I had used before.  The two loaves made back in August were super successful..

I just love a bake with a crème pattissiere, but made a slight twist on the recipe as I forgot and added vanilla pod, before realising that I ought to have added the almond essence instead.  Since I also love pain aux raisins which I have never made either, I made a sort of pain aux raisins crossed with chelsea bun.  The raisins are some very large black flame raisins which I had on the shelf soaking in Marsala. I made the dough and filling last night, and the dough rose slowly overnight.

Mr S earlier on was disappointed that I was making 'custard' infused buns..not his favourite..but now we have had one, well I wasn't going to make him something different today, he LOVES them!

 

Rosemary & Sea Salt Focaccia

 I ordered Bread Every Day by 'Bake with Jack' born Jack Sturgess, way back when his book was first announced, and many months later a couple days after publication date, it arrived!

This is the first recipe from the book, and true to his many videos every step was clearly explained.  They feel as light as air..well almost, and look and smell delicious.

The mixture of 500g flour and everything else added made up a large square Foccacia, which will be frozen, cut into four ready for picnics, and the other two to go with suppers.  Each one has a different herb: Rosemary of course, and one with sage and the other with thyme. Jack's video recently released shows all the stages.

Sunday Supper - Tapas Style

 Today I backed a new recipe from The Bake with Jack Homebaker's Club.  The No Knead Roasted Onion Focaccia Rolls were easy to make but took about 4 hrs from start to finish.  They were well worth making and so very tasty, and with 8 rolls, is the making for 4 meal for the two of us.

Last nights supper was an 'impromptu' pasta dish make with a sauce flavoured with garden grown dill, asparagus and breast of chicken, goat's cheese, pinenuts and a little marsala wine.  There was a little too much for two moderate portions, so the rest got heated up in the oven again for one of the' 'tapas' dishes.

Yesterday afternoon I went and spent a just over an hour chatting over Eileen's thoughts on her new project for revamping part of her garden where her greenhouse has recently been demolished.  Our conversation then passed over to her recent holiday in Seville, and just on our way back through the house, she brought up some pictures to show me.  Their group went on a cookery course on one of the days, and I spied an interesting dish.  It was a tapas dish for Chickpeas and Spinach.  Today I found a recipe on line, and using a pot of the chickpeas that I had cooked in the pressure cooker which had been in the freezer together with frozen spinach, I followed the technique and make enough for three good portions.

Together with Olives, tomatoes etc....the making of an excellent supper.

Molten Ebbor Goat's Cheese with Roasted Banana Shallots

 In Jack Sturgess's Bake with Jack Home Baker's Club each month as well as bread recipes and full length classes, he also has each month a 'With Bread Recipe'.  To accompany the Rosemary and raisins rolls, there is a Molten Camembert on Roasted Banana Shallots.

Since we don't eat cow's produce, I decided to try this with an Ebbor goat's cheese from Wookey Farm. 

 

With thyme from the garden and red peppercorns and a sprinkling of the special salted fresh Kampot Pepper, we had a delicious lunch.  I had never eaten a baked cheese, as when we go out it is normally a baked cow's cheese that is on the menu.  Now that I have the technique for baking the cheese, this will most definitely be repeated.  Since I had to open a bottle of wine to help finish off the butter and olive oil in which the shallots were braised, we felt a glass of the Esk Valley Sauvignon Blanc that we had enjoyed and bought at The Grape and The Good's last wine tasting event,  was the perfect match too.

I do remember fondues! 

The Perfect Cobb Loaf Using 'Rock Star' flour

I've been a member of Bake with Jack's Homebaker's Club for some time now.  You would think I had nailed everything around breadmaking over the decades I have been baking, but still there is the element of learning, testing and tasting bread that enriches my life.

Sourdough takes three day for me, but when there is need for a loaf in say five or six hours, and you want just a good loaf, baking a Cobb Loaf fits the bill perfectly.  This is the second or perhaps the third time I have used YQ Wholegrain from Matthews Cotswold Flour, and this is definitely the 'Rock Star of Loaves' to have fresh and also makes excellent toast. 

 I tweaked Jack's recipe but followed his technique.

7g Fast Action Yeast

350g Room Temperature Water

375g Matthews Cotswold YQ wholewheat stoneground flour

150g Matthews Churchill White 

8g salt

1 dessert spoonful malted barley syrup

20g rapeseed oil

Following kneading of around ten minutes, two rises of 60 minutes, with a degas and made back into a ball for the second rise,  and a final rise of about an hour is about right for the lowish temperatures in the house this winter. 

The YQ flour is strong enough to make for good shapes along with the Churchill Bread Flour, and the flavour is excellent.

 "Matthews Stoneground YQ Wholegrain is a dark wholemeal flour, with a beautiful rich nutty taste. Perfect for sourdough breads, cakes, pastries and all-purpose baking. YQ ‘Yield & Quality’ is the rockstar of wheat populations. It is produced from a diverse, resilient populations of wheats. Use this flour in wholemeal recipes for it’s unique taste profile. These genetically diverse wheats are grown using a low input farming model which supports the regeneration of the soil, minimises use of chemicals and increases biodiversity. "

Baking when you are bored

So the weather is gloomy and cold, and just to cheer myself up, indulged in a little sweet playdough.  The recipe is from Bake with Jack.   These are Malted Cinnamon Buns, but with the bits sifted out of the malted flour.

Bake with Jack Book - It has arrived.

I've been following this young inspirational baker from when he first started.  My friend Marie-Claire introduced me to him, I've tried many of the techniques and also many of Jack's recipes, of which here is a link..  It is going to be a quiet afternoon, as I put my feet up and read through, deciding which recipe to try first!.

 

It is worth visiting his website and also following his many generous YouTube videos.   

Poppy Seed and Rye Bread

 Late yesterday evening, these three beauties came out of the oven.  I was inspired to try these when I read a post by another member of Bake with Jack Home Baker's Club, who had posted on the forum about trying these loaves again.  I haven't yet tried all the special recipes that Jack had videoed, and as a relatively new member of the club, one is able to access all the breads since this club and forum was launched.  

I didn't have shop bought poppy seeds, but I did have a large bowl of the seed heads from last year's poppies in a bowl on the sideboard and these were emptied.  The seeds are a little finer that the commercially available seeds, but fine.  In the absence of J Cloths for the dampening of the bread prior to rolling them in more poppy seeds, I dampened a piece of muslin and this did the trick beautifully.  The smell is divine, and two are in the freezer and we shall be tasting the other at our tapas style lunch today.  Mr S is going in for his '252'  at his archery club this morning!  

First time semolina sub rolls

 I often seem to end up taking out  bread late in the evening...

The recipe and technique is given in Bake with Jack in his home baker's club.  And it is the touch of semolina on the outside before slashing and leaving to rise that make them a super little bun.  The recipe division of dough would give a very large sub, probably for sharing so I went for 140g of dough which is still on the very generous size for me.  I must put down chicken thighs and get on and try to follow Jack's technique for making a delicious sandwich filling. 

Hot Cross Buns

Bake with Jack Hot Cross Buns..the only tricky thing is getting all the fruit below the surface of the dough! 

 

Lemon and Ginger Teacakes

Friday bun day has been a tradition for quite a few years now.  It used to be some afternoon tea time treat, but these days it has migrated to a breakfast treat instead.  I usually make a batch of enriched buns and freeze most of the batch to use on the following Fridays.

Lemon and ginger teacakes

It can't be far off the twentieth time I have baked these tea cakes, the recipe is still on its Waitrose paper, cut out and stapled in my Bread Baking note book.  Although I can easily access the recipe on line, I am holding onto the paper copy, as one can never tell if it will fall off the listing on line!

As there were no buns for Friday Bun Breakfast tomorrow, this morning a nice batch was made.  This time I used some fresh yeast which I picked up yesterday morning from the baker at Morrison's fresh bread counter, and many of  the techniques I have learnt from Bake with Jack, and they came up as the best batch ever.  

PS Having eaten them for Friday breakfast I realised I forgot the mixed spice, they are OK without this but they are definitely a lesser bun! 

PPS No the linked page in 2025 has disappeared, so it was quite correct of me to have kept the original paper cut out copy of the recipe. I spent ages looking for it and found it pinned to a page in the red hardbacked note book in which I used to write up recipes.  I have folders, other binders, plastic folders and whilst looking through these came across recipes that I ought to try again.

Seeded Sourdough Loaf from Homebaker's club and the art of breadbaking

 I've been practicing 'The Art of Breadmaking' for some time, in fact years, and there is always something for the home baker to learn.  For a few months now I have been a member of The Homebaker's club following all the detailed on line classes from my bread hero Jack Sturgess. Recently I attempted the Seeded Sourdough Loaf.

Without watching the class, without reading the recipe properly, without working the timings correctly and not putting the dough to rise overnight in the fridge, I hadn't grasped some of the finer points.  Let alone not having a Dutch oven to use, with the ratios mixed up giving a much higher amount of wholemeal flour, we still ended up enjoying a very good loaf. 

Take two: I watched the lesson from start to finish, and because of my having made the loaf albeit not understanding the finer points, the second attempt took account of all of these and most probably these have sunk into my mind and can also be transferred to other sourdough bread making sessions.

I learnt that by rising the dough overnight in the fridge, it makes it possible to bake good bread in the morning, and the Dutch Oven technique although rather good, I am satisfied with the good round shape from baking on a pre heated Silverwood baking tray.  I was not waiting up late to bake the bread, or having to leave the bread to cool overnight.  There was no tearing or any weak points, and the dough opened up nicely along the score lines.

The only thing I did differently was that I did not add the seeds to the outside, as with the poppy seed rye loaves I have made, I wanted to spare all the bits on the worktop and floor from the bits that fall off as the bread is cut.  There are of course plenty of delicious seeds in the dough.

Bread making tools came to my drawing class, again lots of lessons learnt during my first drawing class. As with bread making lots of practice and attempts will be required to get any better.