Pancakes

… worthy of a scene out of a Kerouac mountain climbing novel. Care of Ms Mckenzie. Belated thanks!

Oh, and a biiig loaf.

Fruited sourdough boule

500g strong white

280g water

1 tsp freshly ground cinnamon and clove mix

150g starter

10g salt

soaker (150g mixed dried fruit soaked overnight in 100g white wine. Discard surplus wine before mixing in to the dough)

Poilane

Friends in the North

Santa came early this week. Jax sent me some Fothergill bacon (r.i.p Mr Pig), the best I've ever tasted (and look at the size of it), and fellow bread-head Davy over the border in snowy Scotland sent me some Backferment.

Thank you, kind people.

Receiving such niche items in the post 'could only happen to Matt' as my colleague says.

"Vaters Brot"

Our daughter has grown up eating this bread and I bake it most weeks. Its an everyday sourdough that is also happy to carry off the occasional tweak: a spike of rye or wholemeal flour, a handful of apricots, etc.

1020g strong white

300g white starter @ 100% hydration

560g water

18g salt

These loaves are affectionally known in our house as 'daddy's bread', or 'vaters brot' if you are inclined to lark about with pidgin german.

Snow covered morning

Bethesdabakers' Multigrain**

It just about made it up to zero °C today and snow is forecast, so I wanted a hearty loaf included in the bake. The new book from Bethesdabakers arrived this week, so I took the multigrain formula for a spin. It tastes fantastic.

Nils' 60/40 rye/wheat* and some white batons

Rye couronne* with soaker, and a basic white sourdough

Oven ready

For the complete photo diary of the building, see our thread at the UK wood fired oven forum