I’ve been making bread daily for my boys in our breadmaker for the past couple of years, but you’ve all seen me making sourdough bread recently, and thoroughly enjoying myself, so now Ben demands sourdough EVERYDAY and the breadmaker has been collecting dust…but my husband doesn’t like sourdough fresh, he only likes it toasted, so I’ve decided it’s only fair to make sourdough alternate days and standard loaves inbetween, and with all the sourdough bread I’ve been making by hand, I wanted to now make non sourdough loaves by hand too. You know me, always liking a challenge, I decided it’s time to try out using fresh yeast too.
This month, Delicious magazine included a recipe for a lovely looking handmade loaf…
…which I decided to try out. At this point I only had dried yeast…
…but it still worked perfectly…I even replicated the photo in the magazine as I egg washed the dough… …and the slashes…
The loaf came out perfectly and as the recipe includes milk and egg, it makes a lovely rich loaf, almost like brioche minus the sweetness.
Then it was time to try out fresh yeast.
You can get fresh yeast from your local supermarket if they have an internal bakery – at Tesco they don’t charge you, they just give you a ‘cake’ of yeast 🙂 I split it into 15g portions and froze what I didn’t use as it only keeps for a couple of days in the fridge. I can then defrost the portions as I need them.
Note: the rule of thumb that I’ve read is that whatever weight of dried yeast a recipe asks for, you double it for fresh yeast. So replace 7g dried yeast with 14 – 15g fresh yeast.
This was cake of yeast I was given, it almost looked like a cake of soap!
I made the magazine loaf again and it doubled in size with the inclusion of the fresh yeast, it was great to watch it grow! However, I do not have any photos for you, it got eaten too quickly!!! I decided to try the fresh yeast again and finally make some focaccia, I’ve seen so many of you make wonderful looking loaves of focaccia and after reading Sally’s post the other day, I decided yesterday was the day. I know that Ben likes rosemary and sea salt so decided to use those flavours in my first attempt.
Once again, the dough grew really well and really quickly – I’m loving the fresh yeast!!! What great stuff!
My Focaccia
Ingredients
500g strong white bread flour, plus extra for kneading
300ml warm water
1 tsp fine salt
15g fresh yeast or 7g sachet fast-action dried yeast
2 tbsp olive oil, plus extra for greasing
1 tbsp dried rosemary & chunky sea salt
Method
1. Crumble the yeast into a small bowl and mix with 50ml of the warm water. Stir to melt the yeast and create a milky solution.
2. Sift the flour and salt into a large bowl. Make a well in the centre, pour in the yeast solution and gradually mix in the remaining warm water plus the oil until the dough comes together – add a dash more water if it seems dry.
3. Tip out onto a lightly floured surface and knead the dough for 5 minutes, until smooth. (The dough was quite sloppy and moist so I needed to keep adding some more flour to the table but it didn’t affect the texture of the bread.)
4. Put into a large oiled bowl, cover with cling film and prove for 1 & 1/2 hours at room temperature.
5. Knock out the air, shape into a large circle/oval depending on the shape and size of your tray, and put on an oiled/silicone paper lined baking sheet. Cover with oiled cling film and prove for 45 minutes.
6. Press fingertips into the dough all over, stretching the dough out slightly as you do, drizzle with oil, scatter with sea salt and rosemary, then bake for 25 minutes.
7. Drizzle with oil and serve warm.
Note: when ‘oiled cling film’ is required, I use spray olive oil or Lurpaks Cooks Range Cooking Mist – I use this a lot, it’s a light butter spray. I use it to ‘oil’ the bowl too. Selma reviewed the new Lurpaks Cooks Range recently and I’ve used it ever since, it works well for frying eggs too.
The verdict was thumbs up all round! Ben and Graham tucked into it last night and loved it. I rarely eat the bread I make, but today I decided to try some of my creation and made a focaccia sandwich with goats cheese and some baby plum toasties that I had roasted yesterday with garlic and olive oil…absolutely heavenly!! Definitely worth the bloated belly I am now sporting! Bring on the bread making 🙂
I’m sure I’ll be experimenting with even more bread recipes this week, I just love making my own bread and watching it develop, the sense of achievement is massive, and I have such appreciative taste testers, it’s a joy to make it, so if you’ve got any recipes you think I’d like, do send me your links, or share them in the comments section for everyone to see.
I hope you are all having a good weekend 🙂 x
PS There has of course continued to be endless sourdough making too, this was today’s loaf….
I see you love making bread as much as I do. So satisfying!
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I do! It is!!
After being somewhat scared of even trying, I am now loving it!!
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WOW, WOW, WOW! Triple wow indeed! this is an amazing post, I love your brioche-like loaf, what superb scoring that was, just like the magazine!
glad my focaccia inspired you, I now want to bake some bread – my sourdough is frozen so I must resort to commercial yeast instead…
now I have a suggestion for you, using a poolish – this was such a great bread, I probably should re-visit it too
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I remember reading your post about the poolish…is this my next challenge?!
Thank you so much, lovely Sally 🙂 xxx
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Very inspiring post. Definitely makes me want to venture into bread making, which I have yet to explore!
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Yay! Have a go 🙂
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Reblogged this on Toward the within… and commented:
Yummy treats, especially if you’re not in Italy. 🙂
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You are ON FIRE with the bread making, Gorgeous bread making. The last time I tried to get yeast from the Tesco inshore bakery, no one was there. I waited and waited. If I had got some I would have been baking bread for my recent Live Below The Line challenge. Instead it was a week of roti! You bread is looking very pro these days. I am reading while hungry. Not a good call…
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Thank you so much honey, I’m loving it!!!
I had to wait around in my tesco yesterday, but it was worth it 🙂
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I love focaccia, I don’t think I can ever get enough of it 😀
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🙂
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They both look so delicious!! 🙂
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Thank you 🙂
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This beautiful bread just makes me want to jump into my kitchen and start kneading even though I just made some yesterday! I’ve never used live yeast before. I’ll have to try it!
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Cool, let me know how you get on 🙂
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wow I need to work on my bread skills!
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🙂
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Breadmaking is WUNDERBAR ! 🙂 I love reading your stories, MSPF … But I’m sticking with the sourdough (which isn’t in the slightest way sour), as I’m all set up for it, and I enjoy the whole procedure. I have yet to see if Celia has a spin-off for panini-type buns …
Tell me of that kind of coating on your sourdough – what makes that ?
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What coating??
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There’s a kind of whiteish splashmarking …
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Apparently that’s a much coveted blistered crust…so I’m told…;)
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And it must be right, because it’s you who made it – and your bread is WONDERFUL !!!!
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Thank you 🙂
It’s what Celia said, so it must be right!
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Exactly ! – we are singing from the same songsheet.
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Always xxx
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Your focaccia is beautiful, just like your breads! Focaccia is our daily bread, the goblins love it and I make it very often. My favorite is cherry tomatoes, fresh basil and sliced fresh onions….! In Tuscany we like it also very thin and crunchy, we call it schiacciata (flat)…bravissima Elaine! xxx
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Thank you 🙂
I want to play with some different toppings now, and thin and crunchy sounds good – Ben likes anything crunchy 🙂
Do you use the same dough but stretch it thinner?
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Yes, same dough but I stretch it thinner!! Sometimes we even put sugar on it, on the crunchy one, together with olive oil….;) I know you don’t like sweets and cakes, but it’s delicious…xxx
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Oh wow, how interesting…my sister in law, Mercedes, is Spanish and she introduced us to having toast with olive oil and salt, but she also said that they often had olive oil and sugar on toast for their breakfast as children 🙂 maybe it’s a mainland European thing?
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I think it’s a very mediterranean “thing”. I still remember when (a very long time ago) we were doing this kind of sweet schiacciata in our wood oven, in the country house. Oh what a lovely smell…when just out of the oven it’s almost like caramel..And yes I eat toasts with olive oil and salt (and also balsamic vinegar…). It’s called bruschetta, and you usually add fresh garlic, scratching a clove on the toast (don’t know the Spanish name, a sorto of tapa.. maybe?). My tea time at my grandmother’s was bread salt oil and vinegar or bread water and sugar… Simple but delicious! 😉
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Wow! What amazing memories! And so much more inviting than my memories of jam and leftover pastry from my Grandmother!!
Although my other Grandmother used to cut open bread rolls, crumble Cadburys flake over the top and grill it…that was pretty good!!!
I’m much rather choose the olive oil and salt option these days 🙂 x
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So do I! My other grandmother loved to bake though and she was doing a delicious but “chocking” ring shaped cake or even sablé cookies! I still have her cookie cutters.. 🙂 We don’t have cadburys flakes here nor in Italy but sounds pretty good as tea time!! 😉 xxx
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I want to be a Granny that bakes!!!
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We should do a club, one day : The Granny Bakers! 😉 xxx
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Yes!!! Good plan 🙂
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😘😘
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I only have one condition: we have to be cuddly Grannies! I don’t want to be a skinny Granny 🙂
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Elaine those photos take me to bread heaven, if only I didn’t save it for the odd treat. And free fresh yeast from Tesco – how lucky you are!
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Thank you 🙂
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Wow, Elaine! What a gorgeous display of bread! I love fresh yeast and haven’t seen it for years in our grocery stores. There’s just something about it that seems more yeasty to me!
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Thank you so much 🙂
I know, I just like the whole fresh version far more than the dried. I responds so well as well!! I know some people have a fear of yeast but I don’t understand why…
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I miss bread. Focaccia was one of my favorites. There is something sublime about garlic, olive oil, and rosemary all mixed together.
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There is 🙂
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I’ve pinned Sally’s poolish and would like to add the Hungarian Egg Twist. http://hostessatheart.com/hungarian-egg-twist-breadbakers/
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Perfect, thank you xx
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I’ve never tried making focaccia before! You’ve inspired me!
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Yay! 😀
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You are the most amazing woman and the most amazing cook. Looks fantastic!! Xxx
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Oh wow, thank you so much xxxxx
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Foccacia looks amazing Elaine!! And the two loaves of bread- oh my Goodness!! I don’t know how you do it, all this looks so good. Hopefully one day I’ll get to try all of this 🙂 xx
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Thank you so much sweetie x x x x
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What temperature do you bake the focaccia?
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I didn’t realise I had forgotten to include the temperature! Sorry! I think it was around 200C fan..
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