With the bakery so busy at this time of year, we have to prepare ahead with as much we can before Christmas. Today has been a big baking day, tray upon tray of mince pies, several panforte and snowy drifts of ricciarelli adorn the worktops. Sausage rolls must wait until Christmas Eve - a baking ritual here at the White Cottage. I’d be in big trouble with the family if I dared to bake them beforehand. Christmas doesn’t start until that first sausage roll is baked and eaten. I am, however, allowed to prep the stuffing for the turkey and tuck it in the freezer until its needed. Our stuffing this year will feature fennel seeds - I adore the combination of pork and fennel - with juicy prunes for their dark, fruity stickiness and the crunch of toasted pistachios. We have a ready supply of old scraps of sourdough here, but don’t buy some especially. However, do use good quality bread - even better, make your own! It’s so easy to make the stuffing ahead of time, taking only minutes to prepare, and beats a packet of Sage & Onion every time. Ingredients Good quality, free range pork sausage meat 1kg Sourdough breadcrumbs 150g Soft prunes, chopped 200g Pistachios, roughly chopped 100g Dried pink peppercorns 2 heaped tbsp Fennel seeds 1 tbsp 1 egg, beaten Zest of 1 orange 1/2 bunch fresh parsley, chopped Salt and black pepper Method
A great use of any old bits of sourdough you might have lying around (or in the freezer). Don’t use fresh - best at a week old. If the bread is still quite soft, slice and leave it out for a few hours (or overnight) before blitzing into crumbs. Simply combine all the above ingredients, excluding the meat and egg. When evenly mixed, add the final ingredients and mix thoroughly with your hands. Will keep for several days in the fridge, or freeze until ready to use.
Bake at 180°C for about 30 minutes. If you have a digital thermometer, look for a brownie core temperature of 90-92°C. This will ensure your bake is crunchy on the outside and beautifully squidgy on the inside. If you don’t have a thermometer, check the edges of your brownies are shrinking away from the sides of the tin.
Allow to cool in the tin. When cold, cut and transfer to an airtight container where they will keep for as long as you’re able to resist them. Everybody is looking for something different in their perfect brownie. For me, these are Brownie Nirvana. My work here is done. It's that time of year again! Ghosts are wailing, witches are wicked-ing, and we're baking up a storm. Read on for our Halloween inspired, (not-so) spooky recipe for pumpkin seed & pine nut bread...
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Our workshops are run by award-winning sourdough baker Helen Underwood.
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