Brighton Bakery B&B

Since Melissa and I moved down to Brighton our friends and family have been taking advantage of a visit to the seaside most weekends and we've been very happy to oblige.  Although the Brighton marathon was last Sunday, we paid it tribute this weekend with a hatrick of couples that came down to visit. 

When we came back from our travels, Melissa and I made a pact that we're not going to buy any bread from the shops and we're going to make it all ourselves.  Unfortunately we managed to allow another sourdough starter to die through neglect (yes it really does need to be fed every day, and until we manage to do this Melissa's not allowed to get a cat).  For some reason we didn't take a picture of the wholemeal loaf that could double as a doorstop as Melissa got impatient and forgot to let it rise once the loaf had been shaped.  But we've learned from experience now and the last loaf was a big improvement.  What's slightly annoying about our new pact is that it takes a quite a long time to make fresh bread the regular way.  So when we've had guests down they've mostly been treated to soda bread for breakfast as you can make a delicious loaf in 45 minutes from start to finish.

Having made quite a few regular soda breads we fancied a change, and for Melissa's parents we tried out the River Cottage Everyday 6 seeded soda bread (although we didn't have any linseeds so it was actually only 5 seeded soda bread):

The unusual addition of fennel seeds gives the bread a lovely flavour that goes really well with a slice of strong cheddar for a picnic lunch.

Today Melissa's sister and her boyfriend were treated to some zesty citrus shortbread alongside some homemade lemon ice cream.  I was especially happy as the recipe made plenty of biscuits for me to enjoy with a cup of tea when I was hungover after Karrie and Jon's visit on Friday night:

It's really lovely having people down to visit and the bonus for me is that there's always plenty of leftover treats for us to enjoy after our guests have gone!

Soda bread breakfast scones

We had planned to have some homemade sourdough bread for breakfast on Sunday morning, but when Melissa went to begin the recipe, she discovered that our homemade starter had died from neglect.  After a period of mourning we decided to learn the lesson that it definitely needs feeding every day, and said goodbye as Sarah the starter was resigned to the bin. 

Still we picked ourselves up and decided to start(er) again, and this time we have a bright pink postit reminder on the starter bowl:

We've decided that before we can get a pet (Melissa has been trying to persuade me to get a cat) we have to prove that we can look after the new starter and remember to feed it.  Updates to follow.

As the sourdough starter takes 7-10 days before we can use it to bake bread I needed a new plan. I decided I would get up before the others and bake a batch of soda bread, but instead of a large loaf I thought it would be cute to make individual scones and our guests could wake up to the aroma of freshly baked bread in the morning.

Adapted from a River Cottage soda bread recipe, here's how I made them:

Emily's soda bread breakfast scones recipe

250g plain wholemeal flour
250g plain white flour
2 teaspoons bicarbonate of soda
1 teaspoon fine salt
400ml natural yoghurt
A little milk, if necessary

Preheat the oven to 200C.
Mix the flours, bicarbonate of soda and salt together in a big bowl. 
Make a well in the centre and stir in the yoghurt until combined.  If the mixture needs it, add a tablespoon or two of milk to bring it together to a soft dough that's not too sticky.  You'll need to get your hands in at this point and bring the dough together into a loose ball.
Turn out onto a floured surface and divide into 8 even pieces. 
Roll gently into balls and place on a floured baking tray, leaving room around each one for them to rise.
Then with a sharp serrated knife cute a deep cross in each scone to let the fairies out (so the Irish legend goes).
Bake for about 22 minutes or until golden brown and when the biggest scone sounds hollow when tapped underneath.

Perfect with proper butter and homemade jam or marmalade and a strong cup of tea to cure a hangover.

A little more Irish inspiration

While I was at work on Tuesday, little did I know that there was a wee leprechaun beavering away in the kitchen cooking up a home-baked batch of Irish Soda Bread to go with some freshly made carrot and coriander soup for dinner.   Such a treat to be greeted with after a hard day's work I'll forgive Melissa for trying to steal my thunder!