St Pierre - Croissant Loaf - Toasted Croissants at Home [@NLi10]

 I've been a big fan of pastries ever since I was young - to the extent that when I got bored of the same old bread sandwiches at school every day I swapped to taking in a croissants and jam every day.

Britain has become less 'white loaf' obsessed as time has gone on and now instead of bread for every meal of the day (including bread pudding) there are exciting options.  St Pierre has added to that with this pastry loaf creation. 

It's essentially fat, sweet bread, but combined in such a way that it layers up and has a very different texture.  It's shelf life is also two weeks which is much better than our usual loaves.

It also has the trademark croissant swirl, which kind of hints that they made a giant one and dropped it in a loaf tin.

And it works with chocolate spread and strawberries?  Result.

All I have is upside down Welsh jam and vegan butter.

I toasted it a little more than it suggested

And pilled on the goodies.

And it's fantastic.  Child me would absolutely have accepted this in his tiny yellow lunchbox, although I'd still want to add the jam etc on site to prevent sogginess.

It has the right texture, the right smells and tastes, and it's so much easier than trying to toast a pre bough croissant (or the bake at home ones that while fantastic take ages).

I can't wait to get back from my holidays to have more of this - and I hope it's not a short term product and that I can get other similar things in the future.  Loaf od Pan Au Chocolate? Yes please!

7Days - Oreo filled Crossaint [@NLi10]

 My 'corner shop' often has some interesting imports because the owners like crazy stuff as much as I do.  Case in point is the large range of 7Days pastries.  These are essentially buns masquerading as croissants but close enough that they aren't disappointing - and occasionally are amazing.

This one is the standard model - bun is filled with brand-name - this time Oreo!

As ever thats a lot of ingredients that no-one will ever read.

And it looks like a disappointing bun, but they are always pleasingly soft and light and fluffy.

And this one is genuinely gooey in the middle, unlike some which have gone hard on the trip here.  And - much to my amazement it actually tastes of oreo creme. The biscuit adds a dirty grain to the paste, but not in a negative way.  The sauce itself adds a needed sweetness to the (lets face it) bread that surrounds it.

Overall as a little treat its filling enough that I'm happy to keep trying these as long as the owner is happy to keep buying the odd ones.

Krambals Bruschetta Slices - Garden Grill (B&M) [@NLi10]

 I was gifted some snacks and only recently got around to trying them - with the apologies that they were a B&M special offer - but these are ace.

Essentially they are crisps made from bread instead of potato - and very European.

Slow fermentation etc all sound a bit technically - but it boils down to this - we sliced up a tube of bread dough and added exciting things

They look great, and would work well as a side to a sandwich or similar 

The flavour we got is herby and fresh tasting - with just enough salt as to be exciting.  Great dipped in balsamic, great solo while watching a film - and apparently there are other flavours to try too.

Yum!

Banana Maple Peanut Butter - M&S UK [@NLi10]

I got lots of snacks for Xmas as usual, and this one is exciting - Maple Peanut Butter!

Oh wait - Banana Maple Peanut Butter - that'd riskier - that's a lot of flavours...

Very few ingredients though - and the banana is just flavour - probably less risky.  96% peanuts is a little lower than my usual brands, but for the variety I'll allow it.

It's very spreadable too - and the smells and flavours are not too strong. 

Overall then - a hit! It looks fairly standard, but there are a lot of different flavours and a little more texture than the super smooth peanut butter.

The maple smokiness isn't strong, and the cavendish banana adds a little to the balance.  I'll eat this one slowly, and maybe even blend it with the chocolate spreads for a Snickers toastie.

A nice change.

Green on Toast? I Siciliani Pistachio Crunchy Cream [@NLi10]

 My sister got me some Pistachio themed birthday presents - including this green spread!

As it's a variation on nut butter (I have almond and others at home to go with peanut butter) I figured I'd pop it on some muffins

The fact they are calling it a nut cream instead of butter should have been a give away! This is for spreading on cakes and deserts.

It does look interesting... but the smell is fantastic - this would be great on baklava

And yeah - this would be perfect on a chocolate muffin, but a bread muffin is the wrong place to put it.

It worked though - a bit fragrant, and a strange texture when warmed, but really tasty and certainly a novel experience.

 

Dylan's Handmade Welsh Crumpets - Luxury Baking! [@NLi10]

 Fresh bread is great, and easy to get - so why not fresh crumpets!

Wales has you covered with Dylan's baking these on Anglesey

It's all good healthy ingredients - and needs to be opened then eaten - which was a shame, we had to feed the last one to the gulls because it went off.

Super luxury - almost to thick for the toaster in the caravan.  Spot the Welsh Tea hiding there too.

It's a squeeze!

Worth it though - like eating fresh in a café - probably after a long walk in the rain.

I'd have these again, but plan ahead and bring jam, a big toaster, and an appetite to eat all 4 between us in one lunchtime sitting.

 

BBC Maestro Bread Making Course (And #Competition) By @Cinabar

The lovely folks at BBC Maestro asked me if I wanted to try out one of the online BBC Maestro cooking courses and run a giveaway so that one of you could also win a course. There are quite a few to choose from, all presented by experts in their field:

• Modern Indian cooking with Vineet Bhatia 
• Classic French Bistro Cooking with Pierre Koffmann 
• Delicious vegetarian cooking with Marco Pierre White
• Delicious food cooked simply with Marco Pierre White
• Bread making with Richard Bertinet

As much as I was intrigued by Modern Indian cooking with Vineet Bhatia, I love baking and couldn’t resist Bread Making with Richard Bertinet, and I signed up.

The lessons are well-presented and comprehensive, and you can watch and re-watch as needed. The pace was right for me; I chose to do one lesson a week as a weekend treat. I have never used fresh yeast before and can only hope to develop my kneading skills to the level of Richard Bertinet. I enjoyed watching to the videos and learned a lot about bread too. For example, breads like Fougasse (see the photo for my effort) start with "fo" as they are derived from the word "fire" where they are baked quickly in high heat. Also, having fresh bread each weekend is an absolute treat. There was even a bonus lesson for making mince pies at Christmas.

Would you like to enter the competition to win a course for yourself? Which course would you pick?

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Competition Ends 21/1/23

UK entries only

Winner selected at random

St Pierre, Chocolate Chip Brioche Roll & Hunter's Shortbread (@NLi10)

 When on holiday it's nice to pick up new things, especially if they are individually wrapped and easy to take on hikes.

Here we have a little brioche which is similar to the ones I have at home, yet also different!

Here it is by a rock.  Apparently this was an important battle which the English lost so doesn't get talked about much.

Nice views though.  The brioche was as you'd expect - a bit light for replenishing energy on the hike, but very welcome nonetheless. Nice flavours and a great balance of chocolate to bread. Perfect for office lunchboxes.

You can even see this chalk horse after a while, but it's much better seen from above as demonstrated by the notice board.

You have to (can?) walk up from the carpark below - and it's very steep - or you could just go the way we went back which was virtually flat and well paved.

And the views are spectacular - that's a pretty steep drop a few meters in front!

To the extent that a gliding club is set up at the top to take advantage of the thermals.

I chose to take advantage of the thermals in the wonderful little cafe by the information office.

On the way back we stopped in Helmsley which has a little hidden castle

And a lovely little food shop called Hunters of Helmsley which sold all kinds of wonderful things but I settled on this super deluxe shortbread to save for a special feast.

Baked In Bagel Baking Kit (Ocado) By @Cinabar

I felt like a bit of baking and I liked the idea of trying to make something new. I have used the Bake In kits a fair bit and they always seem to work quite well and have pre-measured packs for ease. There isn’t anything pre-prepared for you, just measured dried ingredients and the recipe.

I followed the instructions and added the flour to a bowl, as well as the yeast and sugar and salt, mixing all of that together. I then added some warm water a bit at a time until it formed a dough. I kneaded it and left it to rise. This took nearly 90 minutes, if you aren’t used to making bread you need to include rising time.

After the dough has doubled in size you split it into six equal pieces, roll them into a ball, then put the end of a wooded spoon though the ball and spin the dough on the handle to create the bagel shape. I have to say this was not easy and my bagels didn’t look particularly even afterwards, but I did my best. Once shaped, set them aside for 10 minutes while you boil some water in a pan. The bagel dough balls each need soaking in the boiling water before being dried off and baked.

Mine was baked exactly to time and looked nice and brown, but still not equal in shape. Oh well, add some cream cheese and smoked salmon and the uneven shapes no longer mattered, they were a lovely treat.

Warburton’s Fruit Loaf With Orange (Asda) By @Cinabar

One of my favourite simple things for lunch is toast. This might make me sound like an eternal student with my eating habits, but working from home it is quick and easy and tasty. Add in a chocolate spread and it is a winner. Today I thought I would try a different twist on it, and I picked up this Warburton’s Fruit Loaf With Orange, which I hadn’t seen before.

Now I think this bread is made for the toaster. The slices are small so you get a full toasting without any bits sticking out. Why do regular toasters insist on being smaller than some slices of bread? Who makes them like that? I hate having a raw edge. Anyway, no such problem here. The whole piece was submerged.

I added a decent layer of butter to the toast and gave it a try. I loved the sticky fruit in the toast, it was sweet and pleasing and it meant I wasn’t reaching for the jam. The bread toasted well, crispy on the edges, soft inside. The flavour was gently fruity from the raisins, but the taste from the orange was very mild, just a light citrus hint in the background. I would still buy this Warburton’s Fruit Loaf With Orange again, just the fuel I needed before the afternoon of work from home meetings kicked in.

Belated Indian Pancake Day - Shana Onion Paratha by @NLi10

 Seeing as I've missed pancake day review slot this year (and Chiquito banana Wednesday) I decided to talk about these that we've been enjoying recently.  While pancake-like they aren't exactly the same thing - and come pre-frozen unlike they shakers of pancake mix you can buy.

Noticeably they are savoury too - previously we looked at the plain ones but here we have onion.  Shana have recently started targeting me with YouTube adverts suggesting my adopted child will be reminded of her homeland if I use their ingredients.  My cat does really enjoy naan, maybe they are right.

Flour, water, marge, salt, baking powder, onion & herbs. Done.

Each of the paratha has two bits of film separating them - guess that's easier to use but it does feel like overpackaging - thankfully the co-op will recycle film now.

A better view of the uncooked disk

then boom!

A few minutes later it's all puffed up and cooking nicely.

And they still taste great.  I didn't use butter to fry them this time which I think worked better - and it meant that the savoury onion flavour was there more strongly.  I think they do garlic ones too which I'd love to try - we had these as an accompaniment to a nice meal of leftovers!  Just like in the proper spirit of pancake day.