Sourdough

For the past week I've busily been feeding my first ever sourdough starter.

I have a breadmaker which I often use when I need bread however, I tend to stick with the basic french loaf recipe provided in the instruction booklet. About a week ago I decided I would branch out and try sourdough, which I have always wanted to make, but is very labour-intensive.

I started by mixing strong bread flour and warm water together to form a runny paste. After leaving it for 24 hours, I noticed the natural yeasts in the air had started to form bubbles on the surface. From then onwards, I fed the mixture with fresh flour and water everyday (discarding some of the original paste each time).  After a week it looked like this:

Not the most appertising thing but it meant that I could start making my bread. I measured out 100ml of the starter with 250g plain flour and 300ml warm water.

 
Once all the ingredients were together in a large bowl, I slowly mixed it together with my hand. I wanted to get as much air in as possible, and for the sponge (this stage of the dough) to be as smooth as possible.

Once I'd achieved a soft, liquid batter, I covered the bowl with cling film and left it to ferment overnight...

Crafting

I've been a little lazy in regards to making things recently. One extremely difficult knitting project has been taking up both my time and drained my enthusiasm for crafting. Last week I decided it was time to get back into the swing of things by making some easy, but delicious store cupboard staples. Behold my pots of lavender and vanilla sugar!

   
                                          Lavender

                                       
                                           Vanilla


They were both super easy and quick to make. I'm hoping to use the lavender why I try the recipe for the lavender earl grey and chocolate cake that I read about on She Dressed in Black.