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flour tortillas

12/1/2021

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Flour tortillas
 
A quick, easy and versatile flat bread, the tortilla can be used for wraps, dips, quesadillas etc. They can be rustled up for an emergency lunch or supper without planning ahead of time which make them super useful when you feel like you're feeding the five thousand and really can't face another trip to the shops! No need for fancy equipment like a tortilla press - these will be easily rolled with a rolling pin as the wheat flour produces an elastic dough. Tortilla presses are used for traditional corn tortillas which are naturally gluten free and have no such elasticity.
 
Feel free to use all plain flour if you have no wholemeal in the cupboard. 
 
Finally, for best results use lard (or vegetable shortening) but you can use butter if you don't have any to hand.
 
We like to use up old sourdough starter in our bakery recipe, but if you don't keep a starter, replace the starter with 75g of extra water plus 75g of extra white flour. This is an almost instant recipe — ready and baked in little more than half an hour, but you can keep the dough wrapped in the fridge for 2-3 days. It is not strictly unleavened, as we use a little baking powder which supplies a little lift on the griddle, giving a lighter, almost flakier, layered tortilla. 

Ingredients:
(Makes 6 tortillas)
200g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp fine sea salt
15g lard (or vegetable shortening)
160g water
150g liquid starter (unrefreshed, but not too acidic. Ideally, 2-3 days old)*
*or substitute 75g flour + 75g water 
Method:

Sift together the salt, baking powder and flour, then rub in the lard or vegetable shortening until you have breadcrumb-like texture. Add the water and mix into a dough using a dough scraper.

Turn out onto your counter and knead for a few minutes until you have a smooth and elastic dough. (Alternatively throw into a mixer with a dough hook for a few minutes). 
​
Wrap and leave to rest for 20-30 minutes for the gluten to relax before dividing your dough into six equal pieces (approx. 85g), roll into little balls and cover with a cloth whilst you roll individual ones out. 
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The tortilla is ready to turn when you see it blistering all over (about 30-45 seconds), flip and bake on the other side for another 30 seconds or so.  If you over-bake, the dough will begin to crisp.

​Practise will make perfect!

You can stack the tortillas as you bake each one, but cover with a cloth each time, to ensure they keep the steam in and remain soft and pliable as they cool.
 
The cooked tortillas can be wrapped when cool and kept for several days, or you can divide the dough, keep some in the fridge for 2-3 days and cook fresh when needed.
Flour your counter well then, using a floured rolling pin, roll each piece into a thin disc, approximately 25cm in diameter and ensure they are well-floured as you stack them ready for baking. Ideally, make two piles of three, to prevent them sticking together. This dough is very soft so should easily roll, but you may need to be diligent with keeping both your counter and the rolling pin floured. Turning your tortilla over regularly will help keep it from sticking. Once you’ve practised a couple of times, it should only tale a minute or so to roll out each one.

​Before baking, prepare your griddle or heavy skillet by ensuring it is very hot before you start cooking. Have a plate or steam basket ready to stack them as each comes out of the pan and a clean tea towel ready to cover them and keep them soft. Each tortilla should only take about a minute or so in the pan — no need for oil. 
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greengage, almond and vanilla cake

29/8/2020

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This is fast becoming one of my favourite go-to cake recipes. I love the flavour and tender crumb that comes from the addition of sour cream in a cake batter. We can also use a little less butter as a consequence. You can play around with the quantity of ground almonds you use, so don’t panic if you don’t quite have enough – just substitute the missing almonds with more flour. Ground almonds always produce a deliciously moist cake with great keeping qualities.
 
Here, I wanted to use the very last of my greengages, but any firm fruit would do. Try to avoid very soft and ripe fruit or you will find the base of your cake may become a little soggy. If that should happen, you’ll have a very happy accident: just serve warm with some vanilla ice cream or crème fraiche and it becomes a delicious pudding!
Ingredients
Ground almonds                          100g
Plain flour                                       75g
Baking powder                              1 tsp
Bicarb of soda                              ¼ tsp
Vanilla essence                              1 tsp
Sour cream                                  60ml (= 4 tbsp)
Caster sugar                                 150g
Butter, softened                            125g
3 eggs
Approx 10-12 firm greengages or plums
Icing sugar for dusting
 
You will need one 9” (23cm) spring-form cake tin, greased and lined.
 
Preheat your oven to 180°C/160°C fan/350°F
 
 
Method
 
For ease and convenience, you can make this cake batter in your mixer, using the all-in-one method, but I prefer to make the extra effort to separate my eggs and fold in my egg whites.
 
First sieve together your flour, baking powder and bicarb of soda then add your ground almonds and set aside. Next beat together your sugar and softened butter until light and creamy. Add your vanilla essence and sour cream and beat for a few more seconds.
 
Now separate your eggs. Place the yolks in your creamed butter and combine. With a clean whisk, beat the egg whites until you have stiff peaks (ensure both whisk and bowl are completely fat/oil/yolk free).
 
Finally, you can combine the dry ingredients, the egg whites and butter cream. Do this in thirds, folding first a third of the egg whites into the butter cream mixture, then a third of the almonds/flour. Keep alternating and gently folding, trying to retain much of the light airiness provided by the egg whites as you go, until you have incorporated all the ingredients and have a well-combined, light cake batter.
 
Pour/spoon cake mixture into your lined and greased cake tin. On top, arrange your halved, de-stoned fruit (either way up – the fruit will sink lower), and place in the oven and bake for 50-60mins.

Your cake will be cooked when a skewer comes out clean and the cake has shrunk from the sides. Ideally, use a probe thermometer. The cake will be perfectly cooked between 96°C and 99°C. Below, 96°C, the cake will not be quite cooked on the bottom, where it is moistest, and above 100°C, the moisture in the cake will begin to evaporate and your cake will be drier than need be.

​Release from the tin and allow to cool on a rack. When cool, dust with icing sugar.

You can serve warm as a pudding, or cold as tea or coffee cake. Or, equally, you can serve as ‘that was a great workout’ cake or ‘I miss my friends’ cake or ‘great to see you, here’s to friendship’ cake or ‘I wanted to impress my friends, but I’ve just impressed myself’ cake or simply ‘this is just for me, I need impress no one’ cake. Personally, I need no excuse for cake.

 
Store in a cake tin only when completely cooled.

Keep in a cool, dry place.
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and...we're back!

13/7/2020

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Finally, as lockdown regulations began to ease and the government allowed the gradual opening up of the hospitality sector, we have been able to recommence our workshops. Admittedly, just before the Summer recess, but we are thrilled to be back doing what we love.
 
New protocols are in place to keep staff and students safe, and classes are much reduced in size going forward. This will remain the case for the rest of this year and will be reviewed going into next.  Our biggest worry has been one that is common to the hospitality sector in general, but one particularly pertinent to our way of working as we already keep to small class sizes. How would our relaxed atmosphere be affected by reduced numbers and extra ‘procedure’?
 
We encouraged our first post-lockdown class to share their thoughts with us and were delighted to be able to implement a few tweaks to make our students feel more relaxed and comfortable. We’ll be as flexible as we can and will be responsive to any necessary changes going forward, but we hope we now have the right balance: a fun and relaxed working atmosphere paired with with sensible protocols and rigorous hygiene.  We’ve also thrown open our windows and doors and, for as long as we are able, we are enjoying taking breaks and lunches outside, forever grateful for our glorious cottage garden that can accommodate us all.
 
Here is some feedback from 2 students on our most recent workshop. We’re so grateful to them for taking the time to share their thoughts and for their fulsome reviews. We want to share them with you to show how we are embracing our ‘new normal’ and still having fun!
 
Ultimately, we do what we love. We want you to love it too!
 
"I took photos of the bread yesterday evening and couldn't quite believe that I had made them! Your tuition was fantastic...I felt very confident attending White Cottage Bakery; your communication regarding the class size beforehand reassured me that the current public health guidelines were being adhered to. 
On arrival, you and [your staff] were very welcoming and I felt comfortable immediately. There was a lovely relaxed atmosphere. You managed to strike a perfect balance between vigilance with the required sanitation and making us feel at home and relaxed. That's difficult, as being responsible for any kind of gathering in the current climate could make a person anxious!
The practical help and explanations were great; you have an encouraging manner, which made us all believe ourselves capable (this is the battle won in any classroom!!).  Lunch was delicious and the change in format to a single platter each did not impact on the pleasurable experience.  Many thanks again for such a great day. I will be recommending your course!"

 
"What a lovely day we all had, blessed with some great participants and so enjoyed your course.  It was the perfect blend of being well structured and informative as well as fun and relaxing.  I came away feeling confident with what we had learnt and inspired to do more.  We ate the first loaf having a drink in the garden and the second one for breakfast this morning and they were both delicious and so rewarding to have made them by hand.  Thank you and your team so much for looking after us so well, it was such a treat after the lockdown and I couldn't have asked for more.
Please let me have any details of future courses, I will check your website, but also of the Tuscan cookery week which sounds idyllic.  I am sure you will be seeing more [of us]."
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PANGRATTATO

30/6/2020

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Pangrattato - the wonderful Italian name for the most basic of ingredients. With a little effort, it transforms any simple pasta dish into something divine. A great way to use up old breadcrumbs, it is quick and easy to prepare, especially if, like me, you keep a ready-tub of breadcrumbs in your freezer by simply whizzing up any stale old ends of bread you may have as you go along.
 
Pangrattato literally means ‘grated bread’ but when the crumbs are fried in olive oil, together with delicious savoury ingredients such as garlic, herbs, and a few chilli flakes the whole is magical and so much more than the sum of its parts.
 
This particular recipe throws everything you’ve got at it to provide a huge umami hit. Perfect for a simple dish, such as pasta all’aglio, olio e peperoncino (garlic, oil and chilli) or pasta al pomodoro (tomato). However, if your pasta dish is more complex, packing more flavours, you could make a simpler version with just a little garlic, seasoning, some fresh herbs and maybe a hint of lemon zest to finish off the dish.
 
If I have any leftover, I’ll reheat the next day to crisp it up and scatter over something like a simple tomato salad. Not a crumb is wasted!
​Ingredients:
 
​
50g fresh (or frozen) breadcrumbs              2 cloves garlic, sliced or finely chopped      2 tbsp olive oil
Pinch chilli flakes
2-3 anchovy fillets, finely chopped
Generous pinch sea salt flakes
Freshly ground black pepper
Handful chopped parsley
   or mixed soft fresh herbs
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Method:


Heat the olive oil in a skillet and then add the breadcrumbs, coat and fry for 2-3 minutes over a medium high heat. Now add the garlic and fry for another couple of minutes or so – I like to slice mine about 1mm thick, but if you prefer smaller pieces, either chop finely or pass through a garlic press. Now add the rest of the ingredients, stir well and fry for another minute or so until the pangrattato is fragrant and golden. 
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Sprinkle over your final dish at the last minute to maintain its crisp golden texture.

Why not check out our recipes for fresh sourdough pasta and sourdough ravioli with ricotta and foraged herbs...
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White Cottage granola

26/6/2020

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White Cottage Granola

(makes 1 large jar)
 
I’m a huge fan of granola but I'm really quite fussy. I like it to be nutty, have no fruit (I’ll add that fresh) and be not too sweet. It’s hard to find one that’s just right. The great thing about making your own is that you can hone the recipe to suit your own tastes - a little more honey or maple syrup if you have a sweet tooth and you can add your own particular favourite mix of seeds and nuts. Similarly, if you’re a fan of dried fruit, you can add 100g dried fruit such as raisins, apricots, dates or sultanas. And it just couldn't be simpler. You'll wonder why you haven't made it before.
 
Ingredients
 
Mixed rolled grains, eg oats, wheat, barley, spelt or rye*                                  250g
Mixed seeds, eg pumpkin, sunflower, sesame, flax                                            125g
Mixed nuts, eg pecan, brazil, hazelnuts, whole or flaked almonds                  125g
Light brown sugar                                                                                                         30g
Runny honey                                                                                                                  50g
Light vegetable oil,                                                                                                         30g
 
*If you only have oats, it’s fine to use just oats but try to use a jumbo or large flake version.
​

​Method
 
Preheat your oven to 140C.
 
Place the oil, honey and sugar in a large bowl and combine. To this, now add the mixed nuts and seeds and coat well. Now add your rolled grain flakes and combine evenly. The simplest way to do this is to get your hands in and rub the sticky seed/nut mixture through thoroughly.
 
Spread out onto a large baking tray covered in a silicon or greaseproof paper sheet, making sure it  and spread as thin as possible and evenly to the edges. Bake for about 30 minutes, turning your tray halfway through the baking time, if necessary.
 
Allow to cool on the tray, then break it up a little with your hands. When completely cool, lift up the sheet and slide the granola off into a clean storage jar. It will keep for several weeks in an airtight container. It makes a great gift too - bagged up, tied up with string and labelled with your own personal label.
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Traditional gingerbread with lemon sour cream frosting

17/6/2020

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Another in our series of recipes using up old sourdough starter or 'discard'.

This sticky, traditional spiced ginger cake is a delicious teatime treat, redolent of high teas and simpler days gone by. I’ve been asked for the recipe so many times, I thought I’d share it with you. I’ve updated it with a tangy lemon and soured cream frosting to cut through the treacly stickiness of the cake. It’s also a perfect vehicle for using up old starter – plenty of depth of flavour in this cake that is only enhanced by the mild acidity of your old starter – anything from 2-5 days old is perfect. But, if you don’t have any sourdough starter on the go, you can substitute with an additional 75g plain flour and 75g of milk with a teaspoon of lemon juice.*
 
 
Traditional gingerbread with lemon sour cream frosting

(makes 1 large loaf cake in an 800g/2 lb tin, or one tray bake.
Halve recipe for 1 small loaf cake)
 
For the cake:
Plain flour                                              225g
Butter, melted                                       150g
Golden syrup                                         200g
Treacle or blackstrap molasses           200g
Old liquid starter*                                150g
Dark brown sugar                                100g
Milk                                                        175g
Medium eggs                                         2, lightly beaten
Bicarb of soda                                      1 tsp
Fine sea salt                                          ½ tsp
Cinnamon                                             1 tsp
Ginger                                                   4 tsp
Ground cloves                                      ½ tsp
5-6 pieces preserved ginger, chopped (optional)
 
 
For the lemon sour cream frosting:
Unsalted butter, softened                     150g
Icing sugar, sifted                                  300g
Thick sour cream or crème fraiche      100g
Zest of 1 lemon
 
 
Method
 
Preheat your oven to 160°C (140°C Fan)/320°F
 
Firstly, mix together your melted butter, syrup and treacle. Add your brown sugar, milk and old starter to the syrup mixture and combine thoroughly. If the starter is a few days old, the gluten will mostly be broken down and it will bring a delicious tang to this richly flavoured cake. Now you can mix in the lightly beaten egg to the rest of the wet ingredients.
 
In another bowl, sift together your flour, bicarb, spices and salt. If using chopped preserved ginger, you can add this to the dry, sifted mix and coat the little pieces well with the flour. Now pour the wet mixture into your bowl of dry ingredients, gently stirring until combined, and no pockets of flour remain. Pour the batter into your greased and lined loaf tin or tray.
 
Place your tin into the preheated oven. The wet batter mix is going to need long, slow baking - approximately 60 mins. Check the cake after 50-55 minutes. The cake will appear ‘set’ if gently jiggled, will have shrunk away from the sides and a skewer will come out clean. However, it is far easier to use a digital probe thermometer, which takes the guess work out of baking and avoids the disappointment of a soggy middle or bottom. The cake will be ideally cooked in the range of 96°C-99°C. At 100°C, the moisture in the cake will begin to evaporate, leaving your cake a little dry.
 
When cooked, leave to cool for twenty minutes or so in the tin and then turn out to cool completely on a wire rack before icing.
 
 
To prepare the icing:
 
Make sure your butter is very soft before attempting to mix your icing. Use the butter softening mode on your microwave, if necessary. Then, to the softened butter add your sifted icing sugar and gently blend in with a wooden spoon or hand mixer. Once incorporated, you can beat your buttercream until light and airy, then beat in your thick sour cream or crème fraiche and the finely grated lemon zest.
 
When the cake is completely cool, frost and decorate your cake with fine strips of lemon zest.  
 
Store somewhere cool - remember the frosting contains fresh dairy.
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SOURDOUGH RAVIOLI WITH RICOTTA AND FORAGED HERBS

16/5/2020

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During the Spring and early Summer, there are so many wild herbs to be foraged from the hedgerows or our own gardens. I've made this pasta time and time again, varying the mix of greens I've used each time. I often add sorrel from the garden for its citrusy bite, but I will literally use anything green and leafy, including foraged nettle tips, wild garlic or fat hen. Later in the year, you can raid your vegetable patch for the tenderest tips of spinach, kale or rocket, and throw in some favourite leafy herbs.

Click here to watch the video tutorial, or read below!
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(Makes 25-30 medium ravioli)
 
1 batch sourdough pasta dough
(see our sourdough pasta recipe here)
 
For the filling:
Fresh ricotta                   500g
Fresh greens/herbs      100g (approx.)
Pecorino, grated           20g
½ nutmeg, grated
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
 
For the sage butter:
About 24 sage leaves
Butter  (1/2 pack)         125g
 
 
Prepare your filling whilst your dough is resting:
 
Take 500g of ricotta and place in a heavy bottomed, wide pan over a medium heat for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. About ¼ of the overall weight will evaporate during this process, leaving it resembling a soft cottage cheese. Remove from heat, stir in the grated pecorino (or other hard Italian cheese) and season with a good pinch of sea salt, some freshly ground black pepper and about half a freshly grated nutmeg. Taste a little to check seasoning before adding your chopped greens and herbs. Any soft leaved greens/herbs may be used: spinach, wild garlic, sorrel, young nettle tips etc. Whatever you can forage safely from the hedgerows or your own gardens (or fridges!).
Roll out your sourdough pasta, either by hand or machine until it is nice and thin. If using a machine, roll a quarter piece at a time and keep passing through until you are on the thinnest or near thinnest setting. If rolling by hand, roll it as thin as you can reasonably can, trying to keep the thickness even and then divide into 4 long equal-sized strips.
 
Now place a small spoonful (the size of a small walnut) of your filling in a row along your 2 of your pasta sheets, allowing room for each raviolo to be cut out. Using your finger, or a small brush, dampen the area in a square around each mound of filling. This will make the ‘lid’ stick as you carefully place the other 2 sheets over the top of the 2 filled sheets.
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Now, carefully cup your hands around each ravioli mound, sealing each individual one, trying to avoid trapping any air inside. When you have finished, it is time to cut the ravioli out. You can use a square ravioli cutter, a pastry/pasta roller, or simply a knife. If using the latter, make sure you crimp and seal the edges of each one with a fork.
 
If you are not cooking your ravioli straight away, coat in a little semolina or rice flour (not ordinary flour) to prevent sticking together. Place on a tray and cover until needed (in the fridge, if necessary).
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Just before you are ready to eat, prepare the sage butter: Put half a pack of butter in a heavy bottomed pan and place over a medium heat. Let the butter melt, then throw in a dozen or so whole sage leaves. Allow them to crisp but not burn in the butter. Remove and place on a paper towel as they crisp, then turn up the heat a little and watch as your butter first bubbles, then finally foams and becomes glorious-smelling browned butter. Throw in the rest of chopped sage at the last and take off the heat and allow the chopped sage to steep in the hot butter as you bring your largest pot of water to the boil.
 
Now it’s time to cook the pasta. Add salt to the pan, bring to a rolling boil, then place the ravioli in the pan and cook for approx. 3 mins until tender and ‘al dente’. Depending upon the size of your pan, you may need to cook in 2 or 3 batches, but this shouldn’t matter as they are so quick to cook.
 
Drain the cooked pasta well, pour over the sage brown butter and garnish with some of the whole, crispy sage leaves. Serve with a simple dressed green salad of garden leaves and enjoy!
 
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sourdough pasta recipe

16/5/2020

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Pasta is a simple flour and liquid (either egg or water) mixture that is kneaded into a stiff dough – an ideal way to use up starter that is a few days old, rather than discarding before you next refresh. This recipe uses liquid starter. If you are keeping a stiff starter, simply adjust the quantities to accommodate (about 15g less flour and add 15g water). If you are making vegan pasta, replace the egg with 100-110g of water.
 
You can make pasta with fine semolina (from the Southern Italian hard or ‘durum’ wheat) or with fine pasta grade ‘00’ flour. I often make mine with a mix of the two.

Watch our video tutorial on Youtube here or read below.

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Basic sourdough pasta dough
(Makes about 450g)
 
Ingredients:
‘00’ flour                 100g
Semolina                150g
Liquid starter         100g

Medium eggs         2
Dash of olive oil
 
Method:
Mix the semolina and ‘00’ flour in a large bowl. Traditionally, a ‘well’ is made in the middle of the flour into which you can add your liquid starter and eggs. Using a regular knife, dough scraper or simply two fingers, start to mix the dough from the centre, incorporating more of the flour as you stir until you have a stiff dough and all the flour has been absorbed. Add a dash of olive oil and knead in before turning your dough out onto a clean surface. Knead for five or so minutes until you have a smooth and elastic dough. Wrap in cling film and rest for 30 minutes or so.
 
Once rested, dust your counter with semolina before rolling your dough. You can pass through your pasta machine or roll out using a rolling pin. If using a pasta machine, divide into 4 pieces, keeping those you are not yet using wrapped. Pass the first piece through the machine on its thickest setting. Fold the resulting long strip of dough into thirds over itself, turn through 90 degrees and pass through the machine again. You should have a smooth homogeneous strip that you can pass through the machine at successive thicknesses until the desired thickness is reached (usually the thinnest or one above the thinnest setting). Repeat for the 3 other pieces of dough.
 
You will end up with 4 long strips of dough that can be passed through the shaper on your machine to make fettucine, tagliatelle etc. Or you can hand cut as desired. Place the cut and shaped pasta in a bed of semolina or rice flour and give it a fine coating to prevent sticking – if you use regular flour, it will be absorbed and your pasta will stick to itself.  If rolling by hand, try and keep an even thickness throughout – you may find it easier to divide your dough into smaller pieces before rolling, until you are more practiced at this.
 
Depending upon the final pasta shape you have chosen, you can hang your pasta or leave on semolina-coated trays, covered with a cloth, ready for when you want to cook. When ready to cook, bring water to boil in your largest pan (which allow the pasta plenty of space to remain separate and the temperature of such a big pot won’t drop so significantly when you add the pasta), throw in some salt and cook for 3-4 minutes only. A simple sauce with oil or butter, will allow you to appreciate the delicious, fresh pasta to the full. Why not try infusing 1 ½ tablespoons of oil per serving with some sliced garlic and some chilli flakes and toss through the drained pasta. Finish with some coarse sea salt, freshly ground black pepper and a scattering of fresh pecorino. Simple and delicious
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EZVID Wiki - 5 resources for learning to make bread

5/5/2020

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Thank you very much to video-wiki site 'EZVID' for including us in their post on '5 resources for learning to make bread' - you can find the post here!
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Grape and carrot loaf cake

25/4/2020

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You'll know by now how much I hate waste! I spend a lot of time developing recipes to use up those ingredients that got overlooked for just a little too long and are seemingly past their best.

This always happens to grapes in our household. The bunches are attacked when they are plump, luscious and firm. But after a while, they wither and people start to avoid them in the fruit bowl. Past their best, they are overlooked and, invariably, find their way into the compost or bin! It's time to see these wrinkly old grapes for what they are: young raisins! Too moist still to be substituted for raisins without further dehydration, but perfect for a wet batter mix such as carrot cake!

Et voila! Our grape and carrot loaf cake! A delicious variation of an old favourite: sweet, moist and beautifully textured with seeds and nuts, and complemented by a tangy sour cream frosting.

It's an easy all-in-one-bowl batter method. Just take your time preparing all your ingredients before you start, turn your oven on and away you go...


Grape and carrot loaf
(makes 1 large loaf cake)
 
For the batter:
Self raising flour         200g
Vegetable oil               170ml
Grated carrots            200g
‘Old’ black grapes       80g
Pecans                         50g
Pumpkin seeds           30g
Sultanas                      50g
Granulated sugar       90g
Brown sugar               90g
Medium eggs              3
Vanilla extract            1 tsp 
Fine sea salt                ½ tsp
Cinnamon*                1 tsp
Cardamom*              1 tsp
Zest of 1 orange
Freshly grated nutmeg
*(if you don’t have individual spices, substitute with 2 tsp mixed spice overall)
 
For the sour cream frosting:
Unsalted butter, softened        150g
Icing sugar, sifted                     300g
Sour cream or crème fraiche  100g
 
 
Method
 
Preheat your oven to 160°C (140°C Fan)/320°F
 
Firstly sift together your SR flour, spices and salt.
Now, place your oil, sugars and eggs together in a mixing bowl and beat together. Stir in your vanilla extract and grated carrots. Depending on the size of your grapes and how wrinkled they have become, either half or quarter them and add to your bowl. Now throw in your nuts, seeds, orange zest and sultanas and combine. Mix the final batter by gradually stirring in your flour/spice mix. Don’t over beat your batter at this stage (you will develop gluten which will make your cake rubbery); the flour just needs to be evenly incorporated. Pour your batter into a greased and lined tin – I like to use a large loaf tin for this cake.
 
Place your cake into the preheated oven. The wet batter mix is going to need long, slow baking at a cooler than usual temperature - approximately 90 mins at 160°C. Check the cake after 80-85 minutes. The cake will appear ‘set’ if gently jiggled, will have shrunk away from the sides and a skewer will come out clean. However, it is far easier to use a digital probe thermometer, which takes the guess work out of baking and avoids the disappointment of a soggy middle or bottom. The cake will be ideally cooked in the range of 96°C - 98°C. At 100°C, the moisture in the cake will begin to evaporate, leaving your cake dry and overcooked.
 
When cooked, leave to cool for twenty minutes or so in the tin and then turn out to cool completely on a wire rack before icing.
 
 
To prepare the frosting:
 
Make sure your butter is very soft before attempting to mix your icing. Use the butter softening mode on your microwave, if necessary. Then, to the softened butter add your sifted icing sugar and gently blend in. Once incorporated, you can beat your buttercream until light and airy, then beat in your sour cream or crème fraiche. The slight acidity of the cream cuts through the sweetness giving a wonderfully tart edge to your frosting.
 
When the cake is completely cool, frost and decorate your cake with pecans, orange zest or edible flowers.  
 
Store somewhere cool - remember the frosting contains fresh dairy.
 
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    Our workshops are run by award-winning sourdough baker Helen Underwood.

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