Saturday was sourdough day......I gave my daughter a sourdough class for Christmas and I joined her to learn the beautiful craft of bread-making...I had no idea how specialised artisan bread making can be.... the dough can be a contrary beast whose quality is affected by temperature, handling, moisture, shaping etc...the list goes on. Thankfully the loaves made by the class all turned out beautifully...even though they had been man-handled by a group of beginners. I hope that one day I can bake the perfect loaf....apparently it take quite a lot of practice, patience and perseverance...all of which don't come naturally to me !! It will be worth it though.... the bread was delicious and the smell of freshly cooked sourdough was amazing.
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| I'm trying to shape the dough and keep a "gluten skin" on it.... not as easy as it sounds !! |
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| Loaves out of the oven...once cooled they were devoured |
Thankfully the 5 hour class included morning tea and lunch....we were served delicious sourdough pancakes with home-grown stewed plums with mascarpone & yoghurt ... the tastiest pancakes I have ever eaten...so light and fluffy with a hint of cinnamon...Yum
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| Sourdough pancakes |
Lunch was an array of delicacies from "Stella's Pantry" which were perfect accompaniments for our freshly baked sourdough....all washed down with a glass of wine ....very civilised. It was a fabulous experience put together by String & Salt in Warragul and I would highly recommend it to anyone wishing to make their own sourdough..
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| Gourmet lunch ...perfect way to end the day and savour the delicious bread. |
We were offered a few fresh plums and armed with the recipe for the stewed plums and pancakes we repeated the pancake dish for Sunday breakfast..(I should say my daughter did... she paid better attention than I did and thankfully took great notes!!).. Scrumptious....very decadent breaky !!
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| Re-produced the pancakes and plums for breakfast the next day !! |
We were shown how to make our own starter which we took home to get us started.... need to remember to feed .....get some more ingredients and then I will give my first loaves a go....watch this space !
