Tag: flour

Yorkshire Puddings

There are two schools of thought on Yorkshire puddings- those who prefer the small individual puff-balls of puddings that blow up to be the size of tennis balls, and the those who prefer the single monster big pudding that you slice up and serve. The big puddings rise just as well in the oven, but fall back flat once they’re out, leaving a fluffy and crisp edge, and a flat and dense middle. The big pudding thinkers prefer the contrast of light and fluffy at the edge, contrasting with the flat and dense in the middle. The small pudding thinkers just like the crisp lightness of the puffballs.

Personally, I sit in the middle- I like both. Although, I can’t stand the pre-made or Frozen yorkshires- they’re all dry, and lose their texture and elasticity. BTW- never use self raising flour to make these- the texture is all wrong. Yorkshire Puddings rise because when they go into a hot oven, a skin forms on the batter, and the middle bit boils up and needs to expand- so you end up with a big hollow space inside a crisp skin.

Rules of the Yorkshire Pudding:

  • Put Yorkshires into the top of the hottest oven you can so they rise
  • Pre-heat the dish, with the oil already in it
  • Don’t pour the batter too thick into the dish- otherwise it all heats up too slowly and won’t puff up
  • Don’t open the oven whilst they’re cooking, or it all goes flat.

The batter recipe:
3 eggs
115g/4oz Plain flour
275ml/½ pint milk
beef dripping if you have it, veg oil if you don’t
salt

Mix it all up so that you have a smooth batter, put into the pre-heated dish and slap into the oven.

Shortbread

Shortbread is a Scottish classic biscuit, perfect with a hot chocolate. The trick is to get the texture right, the more corn flour or rice flour you add, the more it crispy crumbly it becomes. Too much corn/rice flour makes it dry and unpleasant, and too little makes it more like a pastry than a biscuit- it becomes difficult to get crisp and light.

There are a couple of recipes below to experiment with- both make good shortbread, but I haven’t hit the ideal yet!

Shortbread I
225g/8oz unsalted butter
75g/3oz caster sugar
350g/12oz plain flour
15g/0.5oz cornflour/riceflour
Cream butter & sugar
Mix in flours
Roll to 5mm/0.25″
180c/350f/gm4 for 20-25mins

Shortbread II
125g butter
55g caster sugar
140g plain flour
40g rice flour

190c for 20 mins

Wheaten Bread

Wheaten bread is a brown soda bread- This is an Irish recipe, and tastes fantastic. Mary showed me how to make it- she passes the recipe onto anyone who wants it- so I’m doing the same. You need to find a course wholemeal flour. I’ve not seen it in England or Scotland, so when in Ireland, stock up!

3/4lb wholemeal flour(coarse)
1/4lb plain white flour
1tsp salt
1tsp bicarb soda
Handful of pinhead oatmeal (for topping)
Sm handful brown sugar
small pot of Buttermilk

Mix to wet sticky dough, lightly kneed, and slap onto a baking tray
Hot oven to 450f for 30-45min

I love this stuff with a bit of butter, and fresh sliced tomatoes! mmmm.

(recipe 2)
Wheaten bread #2
4 cups brown bread flour
2 cups sr white
1/2 pt butter milk + water
1 tsp salt
1 tsp soda
180c for 1hr

Spelt Rolls

Not made these, but I saw the recipe, and thought it was worth a pop. Let me know how it is. 

1kg wholemeal spelt flour, plus extra for dusting

10g powdered dried yeast 

20g fine salt

600ml warm water

A little sunflower oil



 

Combine the flour, yeast and salt in a large mixing bowl. Add the water and, with one hand, mix to a rough dough. Adjust the consistency if you need to, with a little more flour or water, to make a soft, easily kneadable, sticky dough. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and clean your hands. 


Knead until the dough is smooth, stretchy and no longer sticky – about 10 minutes. Shape the dough into a tight round. Oil the surface of the dough, put it in the wiped-out mixing bowl, cover the bowl with cling film and leave to ferment and rise until doubled in size, which should take about an hour. 


Pre-heat the oven to 250C/500F/Gas Mark 9, or as high as it will go. Deflate the dough by tipping it onto the work surface and pressing all over with your hands. 


Divide the dough into 12 equal pieces. Shape into tight rounds, coat with flour and press flat with the palm of your hand to about 5cm high. Lay them on a lightly-oiled baking tray, so they are just touching each other. Leave to prove for about 30 minutes, or until nearly doubled in size. 


Put the tray in the oven, and close the door as quick as you can. Bake for about 15 minutes, until well browned, then transfer to a wire rack to cool.