The Bread Making / Recipe Thread

[harpy]

Re how long it keeps, I make a medium size loaf (probably about 500g) and put half in the freezer and the other half in a sealed bag in the fridge. The fridge half keeps for several days, no problem.

The recipe includes a couple of tbsp oil and that makes it keep better I believe.

[vava]

Back space you could try chapattis? Quick and easy and tasty.
http://allrecipes.com//Recipe/indian-chapati-bread/Detail.aspx

just one of many recipes on google....

[khadagan]

Back space you could try chapattis? Quick and easy and tasty.
http://allrecipes.com//Recipe/indian-chapati-bread/Detail.aspx

just one of many recipes on google....

Oh I've never made chapattis before, should try those next time I'll make a curry. Thanks!

[Back-Space]

I might try that today actually :) Depends if anything comes up, but if I get around to it, I'll take pictures so everyone can see how they turn out :p

[vava]

I think as well as cooking them in the pan you can make them balloon by putting them directly over a flame when they have finished cooking. So if you have a gas cooker just hold them horizontally over the lighted burner for a few seconds after normal cooking and they should puff up! :D

[Back-Space]

I've got an electric burner :p I was never the best at baking anyhow. The cooking I could do for some reason, but the baking... Lol, we'll have to see how this turns out. I've never baked bread before, not even in school :p

[harpy]

Making bread isn't really very hard, so let's hope you're pleasantly surprised. I usually use a mixture of half wholemeal (spelt) and half white (wheat) flour as a completely wholemeal loaf tends to be a bit heavy (and indigestible IMO). If you're using barley flour though who knows what will happen? Do report back if you live to tell the tale ;)

[Back-Space]

Okay, lets do this :) I've got everything I need, I hope :p Gonna go for that Chapatis recipe. So, start time will be about 10 after 12

http://i1135.photobucket.com/albums/m628/Back-Space/P2020675.jpg

[Back-Space]

Pfft.. Figures... I forgot to buy tablespoons. Oh well, I kind of remember how much is in one.

http://i1135.photobucket.com/albums/m628/Back-Space/P2020676.jpg

They might have turned out better if I actually measured everything out properly. I was just kind of adding what I saw fit :p

http://i1135.photobucket.com/albums/m628/Back-Space/P2020677.jpg

[Back-Space]

Okay... Finished shaping them, gonna let the pan heat up a bit and throw the first one on, see what happens :p Here's hoping they turn out okay. If I screw up something this simple I wont be trying again :p

http://i1135.photobucket.com/albums/m628/Back-Space/P2020679.jpg

[Back-Space]

Lol, they look terrible, but they don't taste too bad actually. It's got a familiar taste bu I can't quite put my finger on it.

http://i1135.photobucket.com/albums/m628/Back-Space/P2020682.jpg

[harpy]

They look very interesting BS - hope you didn't suffer any after-effects? ;) What's your next project?

[khadagan]

lol, they don't look terrible at all back-space! They look great! As long as the taste is there and they're cooked that's all that matters. Looks like a succes to me! I haven't tried the chapati's myself yet, want to try them soon though :)

[Back-Space]

They tasted pretty good. I ate them all yesterday which probably wasn't the healthiest idea, but.... :p

[harpy]

That's proof of success!

[Back-Space]

Lol :p I'm thinking cookies aswell, but I'm not sure if I could cook them on the pan. You think they'd stick to the bottom?

[harpy]

You could try making Welsh cakes, which aren't exactly cookies but are quite nice

http://www.earth.li/~kake/cookery/recipes/welshcakes.html

[Back-Space]

What exactly is baking powder? Trying to make things as natural as possible, but I've never known what baking powder is even made from. It's a chemical leavening agent isn't it? I was thinking of flour, margarine(Shhh :p), oatmeal, sugar, and raisins would be good, if they turn out. They'd probably be a little dense if they don't rise, but... :p

[khadagan]

baking powder is bicarb of soda(alkaline), a starch (corn starch for instance) and cream of tartar(acidic). When it's heated the alkaline and acids react to eachother making air bubbles.

You can also just use one of the ingredients that you'll find in baking powder: bicarb of soda or baking soda, that will give some air in the mixture. Not as much as if you were to use baking powder, but the mixture itself will be slightly lighter and have more air in it, so a bit less dense. Bicarb of soda gives cold things more air and baking powder gives heated more air.

[Back-Space]

Oh okay. Couldn't it be possible to make cookies with yeast then? I mean, the ingredients are basically the same. Just a little more sugar :p

[harpy]

I think the baking powder in that recipe may be to replace an egg which is in traditional Welshcakes. I would imagine you could do it without if you prefer - as you say they just wouldn't rise, but as far as I can remember they're pretty flat anyway.

[khadagan]

Cookies with yeast sounds like sweet bread to me :)

[Risker]

eww... sweetbread

[Back-Space]

Lol :p I'll have to try a cookie recipe one day aswell... Then I can just add more of whatever I see fit to make them the way I want them. I'm hoping for a really soft chocolate chip cookie, but you'd probably need a lot of oil for that, right? We used to make cookies a long time ago, but 20 minutes after taking them out of the oven you could chip a tooth on the things :p

[khadagan]

Lol :p I'll have to try a cookie recipe one day aswell... Then I can just add more of whatever I see fit to make them the way I want them. I'm hoping for a really soft chocolate chip cookie, but you'd probably need a lot of oil for that, right? We used to make cookies a long time ago, but 20 minutes after taking them out of the oven you could chip a tooth on the things :p

I don't know how soft you are looking for exactly. But if you're just looking for a soft biscuit what I do is make sure the cookies are just cooked in the oven. The longer you cook them the crunchier they'll become. Then as soon as they've cooled down I'll keep them in an airtight container, they stay nice and soft then. I love soft cookies! :)