Category Archives: bread

Damson Jam Doughnuts..

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A bit of a flying visit this week, but what it lacks in-depth it makes up for in sugar-coated, lip-smackingly filthy, jam down your chin, anti diet glory!

A month or so ago I received a parcel from the nice people at www.theartisankitchen.co.uk addressed to a Mr. Plumsandcustard! Now that’s a first I can assure you. Inside revealed a small jar, within which was stored a dark ruby-red jam labelled ‘Damson and Raspberry’. Now the first thing I did like all good food lovers would, was to pop the lid off, stick my finger in and taste the contents! Now I like raspberries as much as the next cook but find it difficult to get too excited about them. Damsons on the other hand are worth getting out of bed for and the combination of the two together was really very good, the texture was also reassuringly on the soft side, most unlike the mass-produced pectin heavy ones that are available.

Now all I needed to do was to come up with a recipe that would do it justice. There are a great many things one can do with jams and marmalade beyond merely spreading it on toast. Sponge puddings, roly-polys, tarts, top a pannacotta with it or creamy rice pudding. In fact if this one had omitted the raspberries altogether I think it might have been tart enough to stir a bit into a gravy for venison or duck!

“Stick it in a doughnut” I hear you cry! So that’s exactly what I did.

The recipe is quite simple and is essentially the same as my quick bread recipe, but with additional sugar.

  • 500g strong bread flour
  • 10g butter
  • 7g dried yeast
  • 75g sugar
  • 5g salt
  • 1/2-3/4 pint of tepid water
  1. Put all the dry ingredients in a mixer.

    dough proving

  2. Turn mixer on low.
  3. gradually add the water, we’re looking for the dough to eventually come away from the sides of the bowl.
  4. let the machine knead the dough for 10-15 mins.
  5. when the dough has ‘cleaned’ the mixing bowl for you, it’s nearly ready to prove.  Last tip now is to add a tiny bit more water to slacken the dough a little which will assist proving and improve texture.
  6. prove the dough on a flour sprinkled baking tray (somewhere warm, loosely covered in cling film for 1 1/2hrs or until doubled in volume).
  7. Knock back the dough, divide the mix in 10 equal portions and roll into a slightly flattened ball shape.
  8. Reprove until double the volume again.
  9. Heat a pan (or fryer) of oil to 180c, it will gently sizzle if you drop a bit of flour into it. (Obviously very dangerous, beware!) keep the oil simmering at that temp.
  10. Fry the doughnuts for about 45secs-1min on each side, any longer and they become a bit chewy! I did mine individually.
  11. Drain on kitchen paper or tea towel until cool enough to handle and roll in caster sugar.
  12. Fill a disposable piping bag with the jam. Put a small hole in the side of your doughnut with a little knife or scissors and squeeze as much jam in as you dare! (potentially very messy, good luck).

A few pointers, make sure your doughnuts have cooled fully before you put them in a tin or the sugar will dissolve! Also if your jam is on the thick side, warm it a little and stir in a tiny amount of water until it behaves. Enjoy.

The good people of www.theartisankitchen.co.uk make an array of amazing sounding chutneys, jams and even give the GF’s father a run for his money in the marmalade department! (sorry Colin) so go take a look if you have a moment and they are also on twitter @artisan_kitchen. Follow away.

Soda bread…

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Being a decent lad from an Irish mother, I feel it only right to include something from the Emerald Isle at this time, Paddy’s day has just passed us by and, with a distinct lack of Guinness consumed (due to work excesses/mothers day), we’ll have to plug the gap left with something equally traditional from the Irish cooking repertoire!

Bring forth an old recipe that was originally used to use up sour milk! sounds tasty.

We’ve moved on a bit from then, thankfully, so have now replaced the soured milk with butter milk, which in the olden days was the liquid left over from producing butter, but now is made from low-fat milk with added lactic acid bacteria and is more akin to yoghurt than milk. Still sounds tasty?.. It is, bear with me!

The great thing about soda bread is its simplicity, no yeast to worry about and even better, no kneading or proving. Just mix the ingredients together, place it in the oven, cook it, eat it. simple. It goes with anything, Irish stews (in fact any stews!), soups, toasted with jam, buttered and dipped into Guinness (!) however you fancy…

Recipe: Irish Soda Bread.   Makes 1 smallish loaf.

  • 220g wholemeal flour (plain).
  • 80g plain white flour.
  • 280ml butter milk.
  • 1 egg yolk.
  • 10g butter.
  • 1/2 tsp salt.
  • 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
  • 1 tsp soft brown sugar (black treacle or honey can be used to substitute).
  • 50g porridge oats.
  1. Mix all ingredients together.
  2. Place in lightly greased loaf or cake tin.
  3. It needs to be quite wet, not sloppy, but pretty tacky, and really only just hold its shape in a tin. this will produce a nice crumbly texture that we’re after without being too dense and heavy.
  4. Cook at 175c (fan oven) for about 45mins or until nicely coloured and hollow sounding when tapped on the underneath.

Buttermilk can vary a little in consistency, so if the dough is too dry add a bit more, or a bit of normal milk until corrected.

Quick bread recipe…

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My good friend Chuckles recently asked me for a fool-proof bread recipe so here it is..

  • 500g strong bread flour
  • 10g butter
  • 7g dried yeast
  • 10g sugar
  • 5g salt
  • 1/2-3/4 pint of tepid water
  1. Put all the dry ingredients in a mixer.
  2. Turn mixer on low.
  3. gradually add the water, we’re looking for the dough to eventually come away from the sides of the bowl.
  4. let the machine knead the dough for 10-15 mins.
  5. when the dough has ‘cleaned’ the mixing bowl for you, it’s nearly ready to prove.  Last tip now is to add a tiny bit more water to slacken the dough a little which will assist proving and improve texture.
  6. prove the dough on a flour sprinkled baking tray (somewhere warm, loosely covered in cling film for 1 1/2hrs or until doubled in volume).
  7. Knock back the dough by folding it back on itself and effectively turning it inside out, this will knock any of the large air bubbles out and give the bread a nice rustic look on the outside.
  8. Prove again until doubled in volume.

Bake in pre heated oven 175c (fan assisted) for 20-25 mins.

My preference is to make bread in a mixer as opposed to a bread machine as I think the texture is vastly superior, ideally if you have time and are of an organised nature, then proving overnight at room temperature will add a great deal of flavour and character to your loaf and great results can be had from this simplest of recipes. Happy baking…