Today we were very excited to launch the first Whispered Workshop.
Anneli, Tobi, Renee and Diana all spent the morning at Anneli's house to make bread. The idea was to make sourdough bread but we decided that given the time that sourdough breadmaking takes, we should also make a really quick bread, so made a loaf of Irish Soda Bread to go with a delicious pot of soup that Anneli cooked up for lunch.
We quickly whipped up the soda bread recipe and got it in the oven to bake while doing the preparations for the sourdough. It was baked on a pizza stone and came out a treat. Although the recipe said to try to resist the temptation to cut straight into it as soon as it was out of the oven, we couldn't and ate it with melting butter! It was delicious, and so simple to make, we were all super-impressed!
Then it was on to the sourdough. We used Tobi's starter to make the dough, and then looked at different recipes and tips for how to make our own. Three of us kneaded the dough by hand, and Diana used her bread-making machine. It will be interesting to see if there is any difference in the outcome, but they all looked quite similar in the end, and it left Diana free to take photos of our hard work!
We all got the dough to the stage that it needs to proof for several hours before we will turn it out later this afternoon for a second proof prior to being baked tonight. (We'll add photos here later of the finished results.)
These are the recipes we used or referred to in the workshop:
- Matthew Evans' "The Real Food Companion" intro to making sourdough starter and his Rye Bread recipe
- Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall's "River Cottage Everyday" directions for making starter and making a loaf, and his soda bread recipe
- A variation on the Convent Bakery White Sourdough recipe
Everyone brought their own mixing bowl, apron and bag of flour along, and we raided the pantry for the other basic ingredients needed. (We did buy some yoghurt too for the soda bread, although then discovered that Anneli makes her own - perhaps another Whispered Workshop to come to share those skills?!)
Overall we had a lovely morning sharing skills and knowledge, learning new things and meeting new friends, and had a delicious lunch at the end of it! We look forward to seeing what everyone does for their follow-up sessions, and how the individual loaves come out!
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| Soda Bread ready for the oven |
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First stage of Sourdough Bread - everything mixed together
before resting for 20mins |
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| Lots of kneading... |
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Smooth dough ready for proofing for the next 4-6 hours
before turning it out, proofing for 1 more hour, then baking tonight! |
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| The delicious Soda Bread |
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| sourdough 1 |
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| sourdough 2 |
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| Sourdough 3 - made a few days later! |
