Easy Sponge Cake - with citrus, rosemary and thyme

this week  is the FWDR Blog Birthday week! it's been an whole entire year since the first post 52 weeks ago, and how far we've come. the year has been a good one, with lots of sun (and rain) and great home grown food. when FWDR first posted the Homegrown Bloody Mary post, it was also THE Julia Child's Birthday, and what a day to begin a food blog! So, in honour of Julia and the big birthday, I've taken from Julia's, Baking with Julia Cookbook, a cake recipe I've used time and time again with great results. I tweaked it a little to give it an FWDR spin, by adding lime zest, rosemary and thyme. its a perfect sponge recipe made even better with freshly whipped cream and homemade jam.

 

I've added a lot of pictures of the sponge making process, as I feel many people are afraid of making sponge cake. it really is easy, though. the one trick is to use a light touch, and not to be scared! the only leavening to this cake is the air you whip into the eggs, so an aggressive hand will knock out vital air and lend to a dense, lifeless cake. this is a traditional French genoise recipe, using the cold technique. don't skimp on whipping time, you need to whip the eggs and sugar until a ribbon sits on top of the mixture for 10 seconds, so beat those eggs for at least 5 minutes.

 

 

Gooseberry Elderflower Pie

 

Last week was a glorious week of balmy summer weather. the gooseberry bush (that we adopted with the house) was heaving with bright green fruits. screaming: "hey, pick me! don't forget about me like last year!" the big question was: what do you do with all those gooseberries? gooseberry fool pops into everyone's mind but, what else? after browsing my Bookshelf, I came across recipes for savoury uses like, a sauce for pork or mackerel, and sweet ones like: a pie, jam or chutney. the pie recipe jumped out at me, as well as a seasonal pairing of elderflowers. its that time of year too! bring on the elderflower champagne! 

Garden Chive Fiesta Muffins

looks like i spoke too soon about the beautiful spring weather! the past two weeks have been sub zero and snowing! again! oh well, i guess we have to wait a bit longer. the snow has slowly evolced into more rain and flooding. my garden looks a bit like a swamp at the moment and the hens are hiding under the hen house. i can't blame them one bit.

to lift some spirits i wanted to pep up easter sunday with these warming Garden Chive Fiesta Muffins. they'll transport you straight to that sunny mexican beach holiday you're dreaming of. i also posted them as chives seem to be the only crop in the garden at the moment, along with the purple sprouting brocolli. but i decided that maybe 3 back-to-back posts on PSB would be too much.

these muffins look impressive, taste impressive and whip up in impressively no time at all. 15 minutes in the oven is all they take to double in size and cook through. i love the kick that the pickled pepperoncinis give to the muffins and married with chives, cheddar, and sour cream makes for one big fiesta of fun. their texture is airy and moist, almost popver-like. they bake perfect everytime.

Cookbook Review: Flour Water Salt Yeast: the Fundamentals of Artisan Bread and Pizza

it's taken me awhile to write this post. mainly because of all the research and baking i've done with while reading this book! im well on my way to my fourth bread recipe, and i can't wait for the next baking day at home.

i bought Flour, Water, Salt, Yeast: the fundamentals of artisan bread and pizza, after searching for new baking books to read. the name instantly jumped out at me, for obvious reasons! it seems we (the authour and I) were on the same wavelength, as far as titling our projects go! after a a little detective work,  i realized i've actually been to the bakery this book hails from and indulged in their lovely breads. it was serendipty. i bought the book immediately, with baking and a book review in mind. i'm so glad i did.

the concept: 'flour water salt yeast' is highly apt for the art of bread baking, taking a few simple good ingredents with the help of invisible microrganisms and fermentation creates- bread! the alchemy of bread never ceases to amaze. in this book, the recipes rarely stray from the above 4 ingredients, except for the 'Pan au Bacon,' but who can leave out bacon?

Sweet Potato and Pear Pizza

Ken's Artisan Bakery is run by Ken Forkish, who studied at the San Francisco Baking Institute, he also apprenticed with renowned bread baker, Chad Robertson, of Tartine Bakery (san francisco).  Ken opened his doors in 2001, in Portland, Oregon. the bakery specializes in long fermented breads with high hydration content and well rounded flavour. these breads have been adored since they were first baked in the bakery 11 years ago. since then, Ken has opened a pizza spot, there are 4 different pizza base recipes in the book to choose from, and are equally as delicious as the bread recipes.

bread recipes in ths book are wetter than most and require folding, rather than kneading

since getting the book i've read it front to cover and baked three bread recipes - two with commercial yeast  and the other sourdough. being a long time baker myself, i went for a sourdough recipe (Country Brown), and since then, i've been short on time, tried out the simpler recipes (the Saturday White Bread and White Bread with Poolish). every recipe has been memorable and highly addictive.

i love Ken's in-depth writing style and way his book is meant to bring newcomers to the joys of bread baking. by starting small (with one day recipies) and working up to intermediate, then advanced recipes - some taking days to prepare, this book is for everyone wanting to bake bread. the chapters and recipes are written in a timeline from easy to advanced, so you can work your way through the book, like a bread cookery course. after which you should be a bread baking master, there's 19 recipes in all! most of the bread recipes provide handy timelines for the working person to go by, so you don't have to be home the whole day waiting for your bread to rise, like the 'saturday white bread', (which im getting ready to take out the oven as we speak), this bread was developed for days when you need bread fresh bread in a few hours, begining at 9:30 am and finishing the bread at 5:00pm in the evening.

shaping the wet doughs into loaves

the book itself is broken down into four parts. Part 1 being an introduction to bread baking and the tools needed. Part 2 is a collection of 'Basic Bread' recipes, like straight doughs, and breads made with pre-ferments. following onto the more the advanced Part 3: levain bread recipes, with understanding the levain (sourdough) method in hybrid and pure levain breads, as well as making your own sourdough from scratch. Part 4, contains 3 chapters dedicated to the art of pizza and focaccia making, favouring homebaked pizzas baked with a super high heat and pizza stones.

baking with a cast iron dutch oven

when attempting the bread recipes in this book do try and seek out a cast iron dutch oven to bake in. this is a much celebrated method of home bread baking, and is essential to creating a crust with crispy caramel colouring. breads such as these rely on steam captured in ovens to allow the loaf to rise thouroughly in the oven, and gelatinize starches in the crust. it may sound complicated, but in practice the bread does all the work for you! this method has been adopted by many professional bakers and written about in books like, The Bread Builders, and Tartine Bread. everyone should do it! look at the bread you could end up with! it's amazing.

Saturday White Bread

 

the final conclusion is: i'm totally inspired by this book. f you're interested n everything there is to know about bread or want to learn how to make better bread, this is the book for you. the recipes may take some time to finish, but really only involve minutes of actual active time, wth stunning results!

Stuffed Dumpling Squash with Chorizo and Rocket Salad

 

on one of my seed buying frenzies i grabbed a packet of Sweet Dumpling Squash seeds. not knowing really what they would turn out like, i figured they were a winter squash, all the packet said was "unsual light and dark striped skin with flesh of creamy orange. perfect for stuffing or cooking whole." so i guessed i couldn't go too wrong. once they were in the poly tunnel - happily growing away, i did some research. i read they were actually summer squash, but then i read they were winter squash. so i was confused, once harvested they seemed to be a bit of both. they have stored really well since i harvested them in september, and that puts them more in the winter squash genre, in my mind. i was worried i'd end up with too many squash going off all at once, like some of my courgettes (summer squash). this wasn't the case, as im staring at three plump firm specimens as i write this. after cooking their flesh turns soft and creamy, i look forward to growing more of these next year!

 

 

 

after eyeing up recipes for stuffed squash i decided to stuff my lil' dumplings with my new favourite ingredient from the bakery/deli. its a fresh chorizo iberico, which means the black iberian pigs were fed on acorns from oak trees for a period and also that it requires cooking before eating, unlike cured chorizos. its pretty rich and requires no oil for sauteing, the internal oils do all the work, yum! i also grabbed some st. tola organic goats cheese, creme fraiche. the rocket (or arugula) i got from my weekly C.S.A box from Kinsale Green Growers. the flavours melded together wonderfully, and one sweet dumpling squash happily fed two people, it would be perfect for 6-8 as a side dish too.