While everyone was fighting over toilet rolls, I managed to bag a 16kg sack of flour. That became the next daily staple to disappear off the shelves in Lockdown. Luckily, just as I’m finishing it, supplies are returning.
My sister-in-law knows I love to bake and that I make our bread at home. She passed on this recipe as there is no kneading or proving, so it’s a really easy bread. The contrast of crusty outer with the soft, open, tumbling texture of the coarse grainy inner make for a totally delicious loaf.
Ingredients:
400gms white bread flour
175gms plain yoghurt
150gms Guinness
100gms wholemeal flour
60gms black treacle
50gms oats
40gms unsalted butter (cubed)
2 tsp salt
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
Method:
Preheat oven to 200⁰C
Prepare a baking tray with parchment paper. In a large bowl, incorporate both flours, oats salt and bicarbonate of soda. Add the butter and using your fingertips rub together into the dry ingredients until it resembles breadcrumbs. In a jug, mix the Guinness, yoghurt and treacle until it all comes together.
Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and mix everything until it just comes together, (don’t over work it!) Shape the dough into a ball, place on the prepared tray, dust liberally with flour, press down slightly and then with a sharp knife cut a cross into the top of the dough, (about an inch deep).
Bake for about 50 mins, until golden on top, and if knocked on the bottom, it sounds hollow.
Leave to cool on a wire rack.
Coffee & Walnut Cake
A client friend of mine mentioned one day that his favourite cake was coffee and walnut. My first efforts were sped round to his offices, and he wasn’t disappointed. This is now my birthday cake treat for him each year.
Ingredients:
175gms self raising flour
175gms unsalted butter
175gms sugar
50gms walnuts
3 eggs
4 tbsp instant coffee dissolved in 1 tbsp boiled water (leave to cool)
Frosting
250gms mascarpone cheese
3 tbsp icing sugar
1 tbsp coffee essence (or an espresso shot)
Walnuts to decorate
Method:
Preheat oven to 160⁰C
Grease and line a 2lb cake tin. Beat the eggs and sugar together and then add the eggs - one at a time, beating in between. Then add the flour and coffee and continue to beat. Fold in the walnuts. Transfer to the prepared cake tin and bake for 50-60 mins, until a skewer inserted comes out clean. Take out and leave to cool on a wire rack.
Once the cake has completely cooled, prepare the frosting by beating all the ingredients together. To frost, either spread the frosting over the top of the cake, or chose a piping nozzle and be as creative as you like.
I make these into small loafs as well. If you have silicone moulds, carry out all steps as about, but reduce cooking tome to appx. 13-18 mins depending on their size.
Enjoy.
Gaby Van Clarke
Gaby’s too busy compiling her first book, so she has left this intro to me. Some things retain an aura long past their sell by date. On a 1978 work visit to Vienna I missed a visit to the Hotel Sacher and a chance to savour their famous chocolate cake, the Sacher Torte. It’s more
