Skip to content

REAL SIMPLE FOOD

Daydreaming about food, one dish at a time

Search Real Simple Food

Search for:

Social

View srealsimplefood’s profile on Twitter
View srealsimplefood’s profile on Instagram
View sophiareal’s profile on Pinterest

Recent Posts

Mahleb and Poppy Seed Braid – Version 2
Miso: a love letter
Sunshine Brioche
How to set up a successful supperclub – tips and tricks
Cardamom, Mahleb and Saffron Stollen with Apricots, Figs and Pistachios – Version 2

Top Posts & Pages

Dark Chocolate Brownies with Medjool Dates and Almond Butter
Seedy Buckwheat Bread (gf)
Baking your own sourdough bread – tips and tricks and common mistakes to avoid
Cinnamon and Walnut Babka

INSTANT FOOD

Strawberries macerated with sumac and some sugar. An early start on tonight’s dessert: Tiramisu-ish with Labneh and these Sumac Strawberries. I might even change out of my sweatpants come dinner time - it is Saturday after all!

Pistachio and Orange Blossom Bostocks to be. Because how else can we tell the difference between a weekday and the weekend these days if not by the sudden appearance of something a little special for breakfast? These four slices are the remnants of the Brioche I baked earlier this week. It doesn’t happen often that I make Bostock using homemade Brioche - provided there is a jar of Nutella lying around, homemade Brioche just doesn’t last long enough to leave a few dry-ish slices to turn into Bostock. So whatever sweet loaf, Brioche or even Pain de Mie or Sandwich Bread your local bakery or supermarket has will do the trick, although the richer and buttery-er the better in my opinion. Some sugar syrup for moisture and a thick layer of frangipane, almond is a classic, but other nuts work well too. You can also add a layer of jam or fruit compote beneath the frangipane. I am partial to raspberry jam but use whatever you have and fancy. A short blast in the oven and tadaaa you got yourself a super tasty, easy weekend treat. Like an almond croissant but better if you ask me.

Crumb shot of the last loaf as I am waiting for the starter to be ready to bake the next loaf. That moment of first cutting into a new load will never not be so nervewrecking and exciting at the same time. Baking sourdough bread takes patience but it is so worth it. Also, the satisfaction of learning to make a staple food item yourself in times like these is hard to put into words. While I am still supporting our locap neighbourhood bakery, it feels really nice knowing that we can have fresh bread on the table every day without having to leave the flat.

‘tis the small things. Like discovering a new-to-us pizza place a short walk from our apartment that not only does proper Neapolitan style pizza but that is also staying open for deliveries during the lockdown. So we skipped a homemade dinner tonight in favour of a couple of these super delicious pizzas - no doubt not the last time we will do so! And if you want to do the same, you can order on takeaway.com !

Easter Baking plans are now sorted now that I managed to stock up on flour and yeast. There will be a batch of Hot Cross Buns (maybe these Chinese Five Spice and Prune ones from the blog or the Saffron, Mahleb and Cardamom ones I baked a few years ago, also on the blog) to enjoy for breakfast next week and then for Easter itself I am planning on baking Tsoureki, a Greek sweet spiced Easter bread not unlike brioche. What are you planning on making for Easter?

And the next lockdown loaf. Followed some pointers from @fullproofbaking for a more open crumb - longer autolyse without starter, lamination and coil folds to build strength in a higher hydration loaf (this one had 80% for 10pc wholemeal flour). And wow, this was one of the best loaves ever and reminded me so much of the bread I had at Tartine in San Francisco in 2018. Super crunchy thin crust, beautifully soft and chewy crumb and this wonderful pain de campagne type flavour thanks to adding 5% buckwheat out of total flour weight. Still so much to learn but this gives me so much motivation to try again and again and again.

Archives

Archives

Sign-up with your Email to follow Real Simple Food

Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 729 other followers

Search Real Simple Food

Search for:

Top Posts & Pages

Dark Chocolate Brownies with Medjool Dates and Almond Butter
Seedy Buckwheat Bread (gf)
Baking your own sourdough bread – tips and tricks and common mistakes to avoid
Cinnamon and Walnut Babka

Archives

Archives

Home
About Me & Contact
Elsewhere & FAQ
Recipes
Supperclubs & Cooking Classes
Goes Well With Coffee

mince pie project

Read more

Christmas, holidays, Recipes 19 Comments

November 23, 2013November 24, 2013

Quince and Saffron Mince Pies

While I still struggle to understand how my dad can eat almost an entire christmas pudding by himself each year

read more Quince and Saffron Mince Pies

Blog at WordPress.com.