wholemeal

Wholemeal Lemon Drizzle Cake

2 Comments / The Ordinary Cook /

This is the cake I made to take with me to feed the people who came along to listen to me talk about the difference that fresh milling your flour can make to your bread and cakes at Ludlow Food Festival a couple of weeks ago. I took my KOMO table top mill with me along with a selection of grains grown organically at Green Acres Farm just up the road from me in Shifnal, Shropshire and some that you can buy from Bakerybits. It is getting easier to buy grain from a farmer not too far away from you, so if you fancy buying a flour mill there are more and more options for sourcing a wide variety of grain. Take a look at UK Grain Lab’s page for a list of farmers that want to sell direct to you.

You don’t need to mill your flour just before using it though. I have used spelt grain this time but it works well with any wheat grain that you have and it will also work great with any wholemeal flour that you can get your hands on. Spelt is a lovely flour to bake with and I have been using it in place of plain flour in recipes for a few years now. You can get Doves Farm wholemeal spelt from most supermarkets these days. There are also lots of opportunities to buy it online.

If you want to learn more about freshly milling your flour you can read about it here on my Veg Patch Kitchen page or come along to one of my classes.

This cake is beautifully light and gorgeously lemony.

225g soft unsalted butter,
225g caster sugar
Zest of 1 lemon
4 eggs,
225g spelt or plain wholemeal flour
1 tsp baking powder

For the drizzle:
Zest of 1 lemon
Juice of 2 lemons
85g caster sugar

Method
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees centigrade or Gas Mark 6, or use the baking oven of the 4 oven Aga. Grease or line a 2lb loaf tin.

Place the butter, sugar and lemon zest in a mixing bowl and whisk until fluffy and light. Add the eggs, one at a time, and beat well between each addition. Sieve the flour and the baking powder over the mixture, making sure you add any bran left in the sieve. Use a large spoon to carefully fold the flour into the mixture.

Place the batter into the tin and bake in the centre of the oven for 45-60 minutes until a skewer comes out clean. Whilst the cake is cooking mix the ingredients for the drizzle together. As soon as the cake comes out of the oven make holes all over the cake and spoon the drizzle mixture all over. Leave in the tin for ten minutes and then turn out and cool on a wire rack.

Wholemeal Lemon Drizzle Cake Read More »

Wholemeal, nut and apple loaf

14 Comments / bread /

I make three or four loaves a week these days.  It is usually a white loaf or a spelt loaf.  Sometimes , if time is short, then it’s soda bread.  I felt like making something a bit different this week.  I had cashews loitering and apple juice open in the fridge and so this loaf was born.  You could make it with normal wholemeal flour and omit the yeast and make a soda bread if you are short of time.

I liked it so much that I have made it twice, once with the addition of ground almonds, replacing some of the flour, which makes it really lovely and nutty.

It’s a tasty and easy loaf to make.  It’s good with cheese (grilled or not, it’s up to you), with strawberry jam and with honey, or dipped into soup. It’s a substantial loaf that you can really get your teeth into.

400g strong wholemeal flour (or 300g flour and 100g ground almonds)
100g porridge oats
50g cashew nuts, bashed in a food bag with a rolling pin until nubbly
2 tsp fine sea salt
2 tsp easy bake yeast
1 tsp runny honey
150ml apple juice
150ml water

Method

Butter a 2lb loaf tin.

Place the flour, ground almonds (if using), oats and cashews in a large bowl or freestanding mixer.  Add the yeast, the salt and the honey. Warm the apple juice and water until hand hot. Pour into the flour and mix well until combined.  You may need a spot more water, as it will depend on the flour you are using.  The dough wants to be slightly sticky. Roughly shape into the size of the tin and place in the tin.  Cover with a large plastic bag, making a tent shape so that the loaf has room to rise.  Leave in a warm place for about an hour until the loaf has risen almost to the top of the tin. Wholemeal loaves do not rise as much as white loaves.

Place in a preheated oven at 200°c, gas mark 6 or on the floor of the roasting oven of the Aga for about 35-40 minutes until the loaf is well browned and sounds hollow when tapped on the bottom.  You may want to return it to the oven for another five minutes out of its tin to let the base crisp up. When cooked place it on a wire rack to cool completely.

 

Wholemeal, nut and apple loaf Read More »

Chocolate chip cookies

6 Comments / biscuits, chocolate /

chocolate chip cookies

Inspired by Choclette on her Chocolate Log Blog, I thought I would try to adapt the recipe I often use for chocolate chip cookies.  The original recipe has lots of sugar in and makes a very sweet biscuit.  By cutting down the amount of sugar from 175g to 125g and using 100g wholemeal flour with 50g of plain flour, instead of the original 150g plain flour, it makes a much more interesting biscuit.  It is still sweet, but not cloying and the wholemeal flour gives it a much more interesting texture.  The bonus of course is that it also makes a healthier cookie and as I get asked at least once a week if we can make a batch of cookies this is a big bonus.

Makes about 12 large cookies

125g (5oz) butter
125g (5oz) light brown soft unrefined sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
100g (4oz) wholemeal flour
50g (2oz) plain white flour
½ tsp baking powder
100g 70% cocoa chocolate, chopped into chunks

Method

Melt the butter in a small saucepan over a gentle heat.  Put the sugar into a bowl and pour the butter over and mix well. Add the egg and the vanilla extract and mix well.  Fold in the flours and the baking powder.  Add the chocolate and mix until combined.  Place spoonfuls of the mixture onto baking sheets lined with baking parchment.  Place in the preheated oven at 180°c (350°f, gas mark 4) for 8-10 minutes until golden.  Leave on the tray for five minutes and then place onto a rack to cool.

These are very nice when they are still warm and the chocolate is still melted, but they are also very nice the next day.

Get printable version

Chocolate chip cookies Read More »