Baguettes

Flavours of France

From buttery pastries to bouncy white bread and delicate desserts, no one bakes with as much gusto as the French. Give your kitchen the buzz of a first rate boulangerie.

Baguettes

This long stick of bread is the epitome of French baking – a crisp golden crust, soft, springy white dough, and traditionally seven cuts along the top, The cuts let the expanding gas in the loaf escape, and give the baguette its signature look.

Fresh baguettes combined with good ham and a smudge of grainy mustard is the perfect recipe for lunch.

Baguettes recipe,

This recipe, a version of the French classic, is made with ferment. There are different types of ferment, but this one use fermented dough, where the ingredients for the ferment are mixed together into dough and then left for min 6 hours (better overnight) before being added to the rest of ingredients. This process of slow fermentation gives flavour filled bread.

Recipe for ferment,

10g fresh yeast

500g strong white bread flour

10g salt

350ml water

Rub the yeast into the flour using your fingertips, add the salt and the water and mix well until the dough begins to come together. Turn out onto a un floured work surface and work the dough for 10 min.

Return to a lightly floured mixing bowl. Cover with a baking cloth and leave to rest at room temperature for 6 hours or overnight. Until it has doubled in size. This will make around 900g dough. You only need 600g, so leave the rest in the fridge to use another time.

Recipe for baguettes,

950g strong white bread flour

50g dark rye flour

720 water

600g fermented white dough

20g salt

Mix the two flours in a large mixing bowl, and then stir in the water. Mix well until the dough comes together. Cover with a baking cloth and leave to rest for 30 min.

Add the fermented dough and mix well. When it comes together, use dough scraper to help you turn dough out onto an un floured work surface.

Work the dough until it becomes smooth and elastic. Sprinkle on the salt and work for 2-3 minutes more.

Lightly flour your work surface, and then fold the dough into a ball. Put back into your mixing bowl, cover with a baking cloth and leave to rest for 1 1/2 hours.

Lightly flour your surface, turn out the dough, fold and put back into the bowl. Leave to rest for another hour.

Lightly flour your work surface again, and turn the dough. Divide it into 12x185g pieces and cover with a baking cloth to stop then from drying out while you’re shaping them.

Preheat oven to 250C. Bake for 12 -15 minutes until golden brown.

Almond cookies with a cherry on top

Ingredients

-200g butter

-90g caster sugar

-1/2 tsp almond extract

-280 self raising flour

-25g ground almonds

-125g glace cherries

Preparation

1. Preheat the oven to 180C.

2. Place the butter in a large saucepan and heat gently until melted. Remove from the heat. Add the sugar and almond extract to the pan and stir together. add the flour and ground almonds and mix to form a smooth dough.

3. Roll small pieces of the dough between your hands into smooth balls to makes 25in total. Place on the baking sheets, spaced well apart, and flatten slightly with your hands, then press cherry gently into the centre of each cookie.

4. Bake in the preheated oven for 10-15 minutes, or until golden brown.

5. Leave to cool for 2-3 minutes on the baking sheets.

Sun-dried tomato & olive focaccia

Focaccia is a popular in Italy and is usually seasoned with olive and salt, and sometimes herbs.

Iingredients:

450g strong plain white flour

1 tsp salt

2 tsp easy - blend yeast

55g sun-dried tomatoes in oil

55g pitted black olives

3 tbsp olive oil

250ml warm water

Preparation:

Grease or flour a baking sheet and set aside. Sift the flour and salt into a large bowl, and then stir in the yeast. Stir in the tomatoes and olives. Make a well in the centre, then add the 3 tbs oil and enough water, mixing to form soft dough.

Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic. Shape the dough into a round, then place it in a lightly oiled bowl, cover and leave to rise in a warm place until doubled in size.

Knock back the dough on a lightly floured surface, and then roll out to form a flat oval about 2,5cm thick. Place the dough on the baking sheet, cover and leave to rise again until doubled in size.

Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 200C. Using your fingertips, make deep dimples all over the surface of the dough. Drizzle with oil. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until cooked and golden.

Brean Down

Brean Down is one of the most dramatic landmarks of the Somerset coastline. Like a long finger, the peninsula points out into Bristol Channel. From end to end, the down is 2.4 km long and 100 meters above sea level at its highest point.

Brean beach

How Brean Down was formed.

Brean Down is the last part of the great chain of the Mendip Hills, before the dip into the Bristol channel. It is made of carboniferous limestone, formed about 300 millions years ago. Great movements of the earth’s crust later folded the rocks into crests and troughs, giving Brean Down the shape it has today.

Steep Holm island view from Brean Down

Brean has the second Largest tidal movement in the word – the distance between high water and low water can be as much as 1.2km. The current at the tip is incredibly strong (4knots)- in strong wind, watch for the spectacular `standing waves`.

strong wind

Brean Fort

The fort was built in 1870 to protect against French invasion. It is open to visitors for free.

Brean Fort

In 1865, a series of forts was commissioned around the country to protect the approaches to major harbours and ports from French invasion. Brean Fort was one of these, becoming operational in about 1870. It had seven rifled muzzle loader guns and was manned by 20 men in peacetime.

clif

Durning the Second word War, the fort was re-armed with anti-shipping guns. It was part of a chain of forts across the Bristol channel which defended Barry, Cadriff and Bristol.

Barrack Room

Gun emplacement

Gun emplacement

Brean down lies between Weston-Super-Mare and Burnham-on-Sea.

After your walk, why not pop into the National Trust café for fish&chips and a cup of tea, or cool down with an ice cream and cold drink. There is also an National Trust shop selling gifts, souvenirs and local crafts.

Spring

The air is crisp and smells of wet earth.

I can heart the snap of breaking wood behind the window - someone is stealing the cherry blossom branches.

Spring is a time of thaw, of a forest slowly coming to life.

of the first spring vegetables and the first longing for summer.

of a vase of tulips that has fallen over on an oak table.

(Eliza Morawska / White Plate)

Raspberry butter sweet rolls

This is an ideal, easy to prepare yeast cake. It also goes perfectly with other types of fruit for example, apples or plums.

Ingredients:

370 g flour

50g caster sugar 

7 g instant dried yeast

1 tsp salt

100 ml milk 

3 eggs 

170 g butter

Filling:

fresh raspberry or strawberry

Preparation:

Sift the flour into a bowl, add sugar, yeast, salt, milk and eggs. 

Mix the ingredients together. Knead by hand for 10 minutes. Then add the soft butter and knead until you achieve an elastic dough that does not stick to your hands.

Form the dough into a bal land place it In a bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and leave to rise for abort 1 – 1,5hours. The dough should double In size.

Form the dough into buns (abort 9 – 12 buns). Place them on the baking tray lined with parchment paper. Flatten each one and put on the filling and form buns.

Set aside to rise for 30 minutes. Put into preheated oven (180 degrees) and bake for 20-25 minutes (until golden). Leave to cool.