Hiya!!

So if you read my last post, you know that I recently acquired a large bag of baker’s flour which I found delightful. (If you haven’t read that post, feel free to proceed anyway, or pop along and give it a squiz. I’ll wait.) I promised to share my baking endeavors with you all, so here they are..

I wanted to make a big rustic loaf, but I had a few issues with that.

1: My oven isn’t really hot enough to stop my freeform loaves collapsing
2: My sister wanted me to make focaccia for lunch and it was very time consuming, so I didn’t get around to making my loaf. Soon!

So, I made focaccia instead. I used a recipe from a great book I got a couple of weeks ago, and it was really fun. I generally love making bread anyway, but I had a great time playing with the camera to get decent shots of the process.

My ingredients were so photogenic!

The recipe I made used quite a bit of oil, so it turned out yellow and not white..? And I’m still wondering whether I did it right because it was weird to knead and didn’t make as much as I had hoped. Nevertheless, kneading is still my favourite (and the most strenuous, this is what I call ‘exercise’) part of the whole process.

The best bit

After kneading, I left it to prove for about an hour until it had gotten fat (no offence Focaccia.)

The next bit was dividing, which is where it got weird. It said to divide in four, which I did, and I put half of it in the freezer.. but my other two bits were really little. They’re supposed to be like fat, doughy pizzas, kind of, but honestly, once I flattened them, mine were smaller than any pizza. I don’t know :P

And then, topping time! I didn’t deliberate much on what to put on my two focaccias – I did one with garlic and thyme, and the other with tomato, olives and feta cheese (all with guidance from my olive-loving little sister.) They got a good covering of salt and pepper and sat to prove again.

After that, I baked my focaccias, and they smelled so good! Not as good as they tasted, though.

Ta-da!!

My little sis and I made quick work of them :)

In review, those focaccias were pretty tasty and so much fun to make, and also, Focaccia is a beautiful name for a child.

A special thanks to my older sister, who has asked to be referred to as Beanz, for taking many photos, including the one of me kneading. :)

What do you think?

Xx Loony