Peach Patterns

No-knead bread

The recipe for this no-knead bread has been floating around the blog world for quite some time now. It was created by a baker called Jim Lahey from Sullivan Street Bakery in New York and Simply So Good blog has helped to spread the word around the online world.

I've made it three or four times now (with plain flour, spelt flour and with seeds added in) and it's tasted great each time.  The only criticism I had of my bread was that the rise was adequate but not great and it was a little bit too yeasty.

So, this time around I cut down on the water (I used 1 and a quarter cups instead of 1 and a half) and cut back on the yeast by a smidge.  And, voila, this is by far the best loaf of all:

 

It tastes amazing eaten warm out of the oven and if you intend to take some photos you've got to do that pretty quickly because it doesn't last long.....

Lemon & blueberry cakes (a low sugar recipe)

2012 has been the year of me cutting down on sugar.  It hasn't been all that hard as I don't have a naturally sweet tooth but still found that I was doing my fair share of mindless sugar-snacking through the day.  

The only thing I really miss on my new regime is homebaked goodies and so was really happy to find a low sugar recipe for little muffin-style cakes.

(The eagle-eyed amongst you will notice that the berries here are raspberries rather than blueberries but, really, you can make them with whichever berries you like.)

The lemon juice and rind in this recipe give the cakes zing and are really, I think, what makes them such a hit.

The other great thing about these cakes is that the girls love them too (and love to help me bake them). And even though I've found kicking the sugar habit easy for myself, getting the kiddies on the same page is a whole different ballgame...

You can find the recipe here at taste.com.au