Rethinking Bread and Butter Pudding

Bread and butter pudding is a dessert my mum used to make for us regularly when I was a kid. She layered bread that was spread with butter and jam into a casserole dish, scattered through with sultanas, poured a milky eggy mixture over it all, sprinkled it with coconut and baked it until the top layer of bread was crispy. It seemed quite effortless. She would then serve it with cold milk and a sprinkle of sugar. I loved the contrast of crunchy and soft, hot and cold.

I have fond memories but so many recipes I see have lots of eggs in them which isn’t my sort of thing. However the past year or so of blogging has given me hope. I have come across many versions of this dessert that have piqued my interest. I have been particularly attracted to ones filled with fruit and chocolate. I like the use of different sorts of breads. And they have very little, if any, eggs. Here is a list of some of the puddings have inspired me to rethink bread and butter pudding.

- Sweet bread puddings with condensed milk, peanut butter and plums by Evelin at Bounteous Bites
- Mixed Berry and White Chocolate Bread Pudding by Mansi at Food and Fun
-Banana Choc Bread Pudding from Isa and Terry in Veganomicon (sourced at http://www.veganrecipes.com/)
- Panettone Bread Pudding by Dhivya at Culinary Bazaar
- Raisin Bread Pudding by Gigi from Gigi Cakes
- French Toast Souffle with Summer Berries by Ricki at Dessert, Diet and Dogs

There is quite a variety here. From Gigi’s fairly traditional version to Ricki’s vegan breakfast offering that was not even intended as a pudding. But what they all have in common is baked soggy bread. Doesn’t sound very appetizing when you put it like that, does it?

In fact, thinking about bread and butter pudding, I got to thinking about soggy bread and wondering why people started eating it in the first place. Was the bread so dry our ancestors almost broke their teeth? Did they overcook it (too much wood on the fire) or had it just been sitting around for weeks? I can only think they must have been desperate.

I don’t like soggy bread, myself. My mother loves making summer pudding these days – not something she ever made when I was a child. It is a cold pudding of bread and berries packed into a pudding basin to make one berry soggy mess. Ugh! But this Christmas I finally found a summer pudding I liked. It was made with panettone. You know the Italian bread that is light and fluffy with citrus peel through it? My mother always had at least one around the house during Christmas. Well, I have discovered that it tastes so good, it even is quite palatable when soggy.

This year in April mum gave me some of the remnants of a panettone still leftover from Christmas. I decided I would try a bread and butter pudding. I looked over all these wonderful recipes I had collected. Like a magpie, I collected the bits that interested me. I envisaged my panettone being drowned in a warm gooey berry and chocolate sauce rather than a custard. In what I assume is part of the pudding's traditions, I used up berries from the freezer, egg yolks from the fridge and surplus condensed milk.

The pudding was good but didn’t quite match the image in my mind. It was drowned but not quite as gooey as I had hoped. I had mixed feelings about it. It was just a little soggy for my liking when I served it the first night. The second night it was firmer and most delicious. Then it sagged a little again on the third night. Some mouthfuls felt like I was eating hot soggy summer pudding but others were a heavenly combination of tart berries, citrus-infused bread and a touch of white chocolate.

E loved it so I am sure I will try it again. But I am not big on desserts so it might be a while. Maybe next Christmas when panettone is begging to be used once more. Or I might get the recipe from my mum some time. Meanwhile, here is my version. Not the definitive bread and butter pudding but a worthy addition to my jumble of ideas.

Choc-Berry Bread Pudding
Serves 6-8

300g panettone, sliced thickly
250g mixed berries (fresh or frozen)
¼ cup choc chips (I used white)
1-2 cups milk
½ cup condensed milk
2 eggs yolks
½ tsp cinnamon

Grease a 23cm square casserole dish. Place one third the slices of panettone along the bottom. Scatter with half the berries and choc chips. Repeat and top with remaining third of panettone. Mix one cup of milk, the condensed milk, the egg yolks and cinnamon. Pour over the panettone layers and press down to ensure all are soaked in. Add a little more milk if necessary (up to one cup). Baked in 180 C oven for 45-60 minutes. Serve hot with cream.

On the stereo:
Scorpion Wind: Death in June and Boyd Rice

GO café – art student chic

Saturday was a busy day spent visiting family in Geelong (an hour’s drive from Melbourne). We managed to visit Andy (where we had great pancakes), Paul (to watch the new kitten play up in the tree), Susie (where we had sticky bun and a play with her girls) and my mum (who is recovering after illness).

We decided to take time out and have lunch at the quirky GO café. Beforehand we sat with Susie and my dad puzzling over the slim information on the internet about where it was. But with a little bit of advice from dad we managed to find it.

I have only been there once before with Paul and my niece Quin. We had a lovely time in the courtyard with a friendly cat and a stuffed toy which was used to identify our table to staff rather than a table number. This time there was neither cat nor stuffed toy. We arrived half an hour before they shut but the staff were most helpful. Although we were told the kitchen had closed, we were offered a range of focaccia and when I asked if there was any soup, they were only too happy to oblige.

Inside, the cafe is full of character with walls cluttered with artwork, a blue fireplace, an organ, and huge candlesticks on a large communal table. But we sat outside in regal pink chairs in the courtyard. It is covered-in with skylights and feels light and airy with plants and lights of all sorts: candelabra, fairy lights and paper lanterns. An odd assortment of chairs are gathered around wooden and laminex tables. It seems as though someone has a talent for spotting lonely junk and giving it new life in this funky café. E and I surmised that this is the place where the university students of Geelong hang out. The sort who have just discovered Kate Bush's music because they were too young to appreciate it the first time around.

I ordered a minestrone soup and E ordered an egg, bacon and cheese focaccia. Both were very good. My minestrone was a lovely tomato slush filled with orzo pasta, pumpkin, celery, potato, spinach, zucchini and capsicum. The fresh and tasty soup filled me up. My only complaint would be that I would prefer a good dense slice of bread rather than fluffy white bread but I know that is a personal preference. I also liked the old silver soup spoon that I was given to eat it with.

After racing around all morning, it was lovely to relax with some good food and the newspaper. Although the place had a feel of art school chic, it was welcoming rather than intimidating. The staff were friendly and relaxed – maybe just pleased it was almost time to close for the day. When we left one of them was singing and dancing as he cleaned. We walked out the door with a smile on our faces.

GO café
37 Bellerine Street
Cnr Little Malop Street
Geelong VIC 3220

Tel: 03 52294752
Fax: 03 5229 0169

Open: Mon-Fri 0700-1600, Sat 0830-1500

Baked Bean Soup

From a young age, I have loved baked beans out of a tin. They are great with toast for breakfast lunch and dinner. Recently, many cafes have started doing their own ‘homemade’ baked beans which has presented all sort of interesting variations.

But some of the most amusing deviations from tradition that I have come across were in the UK where they certainly love their beans and their prepackaged food. When I lived there, E and I were often tempted by some strange food offering in the supermarkets. Baked bean pizza was one. But even more bizarre was chocolate baked beans (I kept the label because I was so amused by it). It was good for a gimmick but was one of the weirdest taste sensations and one tin was more than enough.

However, a few weeks back Ashley at Eat Me Delicious shared a new take on baked beans – baked bean soup! I made it last week for a quick weeknight meal and it was brilliant. Comparing it with a baked bean recipe that I am fond of, it seemed it had the typical flavours of baked beans – mustard, molasses, tomato, vinegar – but it was a lot quicker because it didn’t have to develop a rich thick sauce. Everything is just cooked through. While it is nice to let flavours stew and deepen, it is helpful to have an alternative for dinner in a hurry.

Ashley suggests adjusting the ingredients to taste. I increased the molasses, mustard and garlic, but downplayed the chilli, which is all reflected in my adaption of the recipe below. This intensely flavoured soup is great with homemade bread and is excellent for lunch the next day.

Baked Bean Soup
(Adapted from Moosewood Restaurant Daily Special via Eat Me Delicious)
Serves 4 to 6

1 tsp olive oil
2 large onions, chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 stalk of celery diced
2 large carrots, diced
½ tsp chili paste
2 cups water
1 x 400g tin (14oz) diced tomatoes
1 x 425g tin (15oz) white beans
2 tbsp molasses
4 tsp seeded french mustard
1 tbsp tomato paste
1 tbsp soy sauce
2 tsp cider vinegar
salt & pepper to taste

In a large saucepan, saute the onions in oil for about 10 minutes on medium heat, stirring frequently, until the onions are translucent. Add the garlic, celery, carrots, and chili paste. Continue to cook for about 5 minutes or until the vegetables are tender. Stir in the water, tomatoes, beans, mustard, tomato paste, vinegar, molasses, and soy sauce. Cover and bring to the boil. Lower the heat and gently simmer for about 15 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste.

On the stereo:
Colin Meloy sings live: Colin Meloy

Promoting Promite

Recently I wrote that vegemite was one of the spreads of choice for toast for breakfasts in my youth. Bizarrely, even though I ate a lot of vegemite as a child, my clearest memory of it doesn’t involve any real vegemite. But I thought I would share it anyway. When I was young, we had a season ticket to the local swimming pool in summer and there was a well trodden path between our house and the pool around the corner. On the road en route was a smooth patch of tar that melted on very hot days. I was fascinated by it because it reminded me of vegemite.

Like the tar, vegemite begs for you to dip a finger in its soft black depths. Or maybe it is just me! I grew up on vegemite but as an adult, I discovered promite which is similar. I have always understood that vegemite is yeast extract whereas promite is yeast and vegetable extract. Hence the extra flavour and sweetness in promite. But I was quite surprised recently when Kathryn wrote about the health benefits (or lack of) of vegemite and, comparing notes, I found that promite had more salt. But, as Kathryn said, it is eaten in such small quantities that it is not a big issue.

Vegemite became well-known overseas when Men at Work had the 1982 hit song, ‘Down Under’ with the memorable line ‘I said, do you speaka my language / he just smiled and gave me a vegemite sandwich.’ Australians who know and love vegemite laugh at foreigners who spread their toast thickly with vegemite and splutter at the saltiness. Because we know that it must be used sparingly. A thin scrape will suffice on a piece of toast.

When I was growing up my mum often made us vegemite and cheese sandwiches to take to school wrapped in waxed paper in my lunchbox. How I envied those with sandwiches in gladwrap (plastic clingwrap). A bit more of a treat was vegemite and walnut sandwiches. These days, Bakers Delight – a local franchised bakery – sells a popular cheeseymite scroll which brings back the memories. Vegemite also used to come in jars that when finished and cleaned made lovely little drinking glasses and were just the right size for cutting out scones. We always had quite a few vegemite glasses in my mum's kitchen.

When I searched foodblogsearch.com for promite I found there were only about 20 entries and over half were from me. What does that tell you about it? But I was pleased to see it has a Wikipedia entry, and perplexed that someone was selling a jar of it on eBay. I even found a discussion thread discussing if promite has meat products in it which includes a letter from the manufacturer claiming that it doesn’t. Phew! For a moment I feared I was going to have to face a horrible ethical choice!

I love promite on fresh bread or toast with tomato slices, cheese, mashed potato or leftover dahl. I also regularly use it in cooking in the same way you might use any vegetable extract such as vecon. It is always in my kitchen so it is a convenient seasoning. And delicious. I love it so much I will lick the remainder off the spoon.

But I know that it is not so popular as vegemite, so when looking for history and recipes, I have also searched for vegemite, which I will eat if there is no promite on offer. I know there are strong opinions about yeast extract spreads. When Pixie recently posted about marmite, the responses were a mix of love, distaste and bemusement.

Vegemite was launched in 1923 by chemist C P Callister for the Fred Walker Company to use the leftover brewers yeast from Carlton and United Breweries (CUB). From 1928 - 1935 it was known as Parwill in response to the British equivalent of Marmite (if Ma might then Pa will). During World War II it was part of the Aussie soldier's ration kit. There were popular advertisements with the jingle about ‘happy little vegemites as bright as bright can be (we all enjoy our vegemite for breakfast, lunch and tea).’ But despite many claims of B vitamins, added intelligence and 'a rose in every cheek', there doesn't seem to be a lot of health benefits in the stuff. However, finding out that Promite wasn't invented until the 1950s, suggests that it is not a fair competition because vegemite had a headstart on capturing the hearts of Australians. Neither of these national spreads are owned by Australian businesses any more. (See the Old Foodie for more information about vegemite.)

A search for recipes featuring vegemite brings up some interesting ideas (be very afraid):
- Scrambled eggs with vegemite by Grab Your Fork
- Mini meat pies by Cakelaw
- Hotch potch beef stew by Cakelaw
- Lentil and marmite roast by old aussie recipes
- Vegemite risotto by Esurientes -
- Vegemite gelato reported in the Sydney Morning Herald
- and I love using promite in nut roasts, dahl, gravy and stews.

But today I thought I would share one of my favourite childhood side dishes featuring vegemite. My mum used to mix mashed potato, mashed pumpkin and peas with some vegemite. I have to mix it with promite these days as it is all I have on hand but it brings back memories of meat and three veg. Mum usually served it with chops or sausages. These were the vegetables that we had regularly with many meals but they alway seemed better when mashed up together and looking slightly darker with the vegetmite. The creaminess of the mashed potato blended well with the wateriness of the pumpkin. As an adult, I now understand that it also added flavour.

I made this mash tonight and served it with vegie sausages with plenty of tomato sauce. It was almost like when I was a child. This meal was loved as much by E as by me so it may become a regular easy meal in our house. I have written it out as a recipe but quantities can be easily altered to suit tastes.

I am sending it to Sarah of Homemade: experiences in the kitchen who is hosting Tastes to Remember which asks us to make dishes that remind us of childhood.

Mashed Vegetables with Promite
Serves 2

2-3 fist sized potatoes, peeled
200g pumpkin, trimmed and peeled
1 cup frozen peas
1 knob of butter
1 generous splash of milk
2 tsp promite (or vegemite), or more to taste

- Cut potato into chunks and cook for about 15-20 minutes or until soft and falling apart when prodded with a fork or knife.
- While potato cooks, cut pumpkin into chunks and microwave for about 3 minutes on high in a plastic bag or in a plastic container with the lid not quite on. NB Pumpkin is quite watery so you may need to drain some water off once it is cooked. I cooked it separately because it cooks quicker than potatoes and I wanted the mash to have a little variation in colour.
- Microwave the peas for 2-3 minutes in a plastic container or plastic bag. You may have to drain some water off the cooked peas.
- When potato is cooked mash it with butter and milk. Stir with a spoon to get some air into it.
- Mash pumpkin and stir with a spoon.
- Mix potato, pumpkin, peas and promite with a spoon til just combined. Serve hot.

On the Stereo:
y’all get scared now ya hear: The Reindeer Selection

Condensed Milk: Heirloom Comfort Food

Condensed milk is such a comfort food in my family that I was curious recently when I came across a mention of it in my current reading matter (One Continuous Picnic by Michael Symons). He writes about the railways’ impact on the Australian diet in the 19th Century by keeping the population dependent upon the factory and alienated from fresh farm produce. Transport “provided the raw materials for utterly typical ‘Aussie’ white bread, camp pie, condensed milk, tinned apricots, tomato sauce and lollies.”

I grew up loving sweet and gooey condensed milk. Sometimes we were allowed to lick the spoon but we never went as far as a friend once claimed. She said her mother lined up the kids and squirted condensed milk in their mouths from a tube. Sounds good to me. I still take delight in how the sticky cream oozes out of the tin once you make the first cut with the can opener. Many of my treasured childhood recipes have condensed milk in them: grubs, caramel slice, coconut ice, caramel tart, cheesecake. In adulthood I have discovered many new favourite recipes: walnut fudge cake, fudge sauce and mock turtle slice are but a few.

But I have often wondered why it was named ‘condensed milk’. Now I have found that when sweetened it was called condensed milk and when unsweetened it was called evaporated milk. The history of the stuff is fascinating because it reflects on how hard it was to find fresh food in the 19th Century. Where modern children might think milk comes from a carton in the refrigerator, our ancestors might well have thought milk came from a can in the pantry. It also explains why our foremothers have given us many ‘heirloom comfort recipes’ sticky with condensed milk.

Condensed milk was invented by Mr Gail Borden in the USA in the mid-19th Century to preserve surplus milk. Milk condensers were first installed in Melbourne in 1882. In 1914 Nestle promoted it as ‘the best substitute for the mother’s milk’. How times have changed! Although I did notice the claim on my modern Nestle tin that it is made from ‘fresh milk’ which made me laugh because, by the time you get it out of the tin, it is most definitely not fresh.

About.com says that condensed milk was used more than fresh milk at the turn of last century because it was long lasting and posed less of a health risk in the days before refridgeration. The idea came to Mr Borden during a transatlantic crossing where the cows became too seasick to be milked. He was either concerned about calves or babies lacking their milk supply depending on if you read About.com or The Old Foodie. He received a patent for it in 1852 and added sugar to inhibit the growth of bacteria. Unsweetened canned milk (known as ‘evaporated’) was not patented until 1885.

Mr Borden’s company became Eagle Brand. The Eagle Brand website credits condensed milk with feeding the army and lowering the child mortality rate in America. Winning wars and saving babies sounds like marketing hype but may have a grain of truth. More credible is the notes on a competition for condensed milk recipes in 1931 that produced over 80,000 recipes. If you go to Lidian’s Kitchen Retro you will find a post on a 1952 Eagle Brand book of 70 magic recipes with a recipe reproduced for ‘cookies that almost make themselves’.

The Old Foodie has a few old condensed milk recipes – a 1896 recipe from the Manual for Army Cooks has a Christmas Pudding made with milk or condensed milk, a recipe for ice- cream from 1942, and a recipe called All That from 1970s which sounds a bit like a baked versions of my grubs. Most fascinating were a couple of recipes from Alice Bradley’s For Luncheon and Supper Guests from 1923. One recipe was for salad dressing and the other for Cocoanut Cakes. The two recipes used a tin of condensed milk between them to avoid the cook taking furtive spoonfuls of the leftovers.

I don’t fancy condensed milk in salad dressing but I was fascinated by the ‘cocoanut cakes’. Mainly consisting of coconut, condensed milk and egg whites, they were similar to condensed milk macaroons that I made on the weekend. Like Alice Bradley, I was using up leftover condensed milk. I had made a favourite Mock Turtle slice. One of my former housemates, Yarrow used to make it because his mum had made it for him when he was young. The name always sounded very Lewis Carroll but I have since discovered that there is such a thing as a turtle bars but I am still not exactly sure what they are.

Nevertheless, Mock Turtle is most excellent. It has a chewy buttery oaty base that reminds me of Anzac Biscuits. The topping is a gooey concoction of condensed milk, cocoa and coconut. Not the healthiest of treats but guaranteed to delight small children and big children alike. I took them into work for morning tea this week and was berated by E when he discovered I had only left a few at home.

With the leftover condensed milk I made macaroons which were both gluten free and egg free. We have a few gluten free people at work and I thought they might appreciate some condensed milk treats, given that mock turtle is out of bounds. (I tried some apricot balls which were not a success but you can also see them pictured above.) I was pleased to substitute condensed milk for eggs – a fine exchange in my books! These macaroons were warm and soft when straight out of the oven. When they cooled, I initially worried they were too hard. The next day they were delightfully chewy, but not popular with E.

Both macaroons and mock turtle disappeared quickly at work. I can’t imagine anyone not loving anything with condensed milk in it. It tastes of old-fashioned childhood comforts, it pairs perfectly with chocolate and it makes anything taste absolutely delicious. No wonder it has stood the test of time.

Mock Turtle
(from Yarrow’s mum)

Base:
1 egg
1 cup rolled oats
1 cup sugar
1 cup self raising flour
1 cup (100g) desiccated coconut
1 tbsp golden syrup
125g (4oz) butter

Topping:
½ cup condensed milk
60g (2oz) butter
1 cup icing sugar (confectioner’s sugar)
1 cup desiccated coconut
1 tbsp cocoa

To make the base: Mix all dry ingredients in a medium to large bowl. Melt golden syrup and butter in a small saucepan. Remove from heat and stir in lightly beaten egg. Pour butter mixture into dry ingredients and mix well. Spread into a greased lamington tin (9x 13 inch). Bake at 150 C for 15-20 minutes until golden brown. (I used a skewer to check it was cooked when just turning golden.)

Make the topping about 10 minutes after the base has gone into the oven. Combine butter and condensed milk in a small saucepan over low heat til the butter has melted and the ingredients are combined. Remove from the heat and mix in icing sugar, coconut and cocoa.

Spread topping over the base using the back of a spoon or a knife. This is easiest when both base and topping are warm. It always seems like it will never be enough topping but it should cover all the base if you dont get carried away eating it out of the saucepan. (I never have but it tastes so good it is very tempting.) Allow to cool to room temperature and cut into bars or squares.

Condensed Milk Macaroons
(From Best Gluten Free Recipes)
Makes about 30 bite size macaroons

1 cup shredded coconut
1 cup desiccated coconut
½ tin (200g) condensed milk
125 choc chips (I used white) OR chopped dried apricots

Mix all ingredients together. Drop in teaspoonfuls on a greased or lined baking tray. Baked at 150 C for about 15-20 minutes or til just turning golden brown. (Don’t let them get too well cooked – I once threw out a batch that I gave a few more minutes in the oven.) I found the mixture seemed to fall apart a bit and made an effort to shape it into balls but when baked it held together easily.

On the Stereo:
Worker’s Playtime: Billy Bragg

Entertaining with Fritters and Smoothies

A holiday in the country, a new-found love of pomegranate juice, and leftover salad were my sources of inspiration when my sister Francesca and her husband Steve came for brunch on the weekend.

Blogging has made me relish the challenge of making interesting brunches on weekends. So I was delighted when Fran suggested brunch rather than dinner. I decided I would do a modern take on a fry-up. My fry-ups are really just distant cousins to the fatty plate of bacon, sausages and eggs to be found in greasy spoon cafes across the UK. Mine are healthier as I love my vegies but wouldn’t eat meat or fried eggs. Sunday’s ‘fry-up’ had what you might call traditional elements such as toasted bread, fried eggy fritters, beans and vegetables.

The zucchini fritters have been on my radar ever since we went to Beechworth last year and I found the recipe in a Donna Hay Magazine. I fancied trying a gluten-free version of fritters and these piqued my interest. The only drawback (apart from not having any rice flour) was the egg whites. I had using half an egg and then trying to think what to do with the other half. I managed to use one to glaze the bread but I have three yolks threatening to become smelly monsters in the back of my fridge unless I get some brilliant ideas. Despite the egg whites (or maybe because of), the fritters were wonderful. They were light and fluffy and very tasty with the parmesan.

Ashley’s recent smoothie had put me in a mind to use pomegranate juice in a smoothie. It is only recently that I have found the right jug to make smoothies with my hand held blender and one of my favourites is berry and banana. I have made it before with strawberries and apple juice but found mixed berries and pomegranate juice made it much darker, but still creamy with the banana.

I have been buying pomegranate juice occasionally from our local shops. Last weekend when I sought out some rye flour for my Russian bread, I wished I lived south of the river where the Eastern Europeans settled. But when it comes to buying pomegranate juice, I feel fortunate to live in the north in the midst of many Middle Eastern migrants. I bought 1 litre of pomegranate juice a few weeks back and it cost about $5. I started in horror at the price before remembering that it costs about that for a 250ml bottle of the stuff. Then this weekend I saw a litre being sold for $28. Not in my neighbourhood! I know it was organic but I was still staggered and felt my local deli’s pomegranate juice is a bargain.

The smoothie was a great gap filler. Fran and Steve walked in the door just as I was blending it. I felt like the hostess with the mostess being able to hand out smoothies, rather than having everyone starving while I got the fry up ready. Fran and I enjoyed the smoothie while the guys found a glassful was a bit much. It is a great way to get more fruit in your diet, especially if, like me, you don’t think to eat bananas and berries much by themselves.

We were all full after breakfast and relaxed on the sofa for a bit before Fran and Steve had to go on to lunch with some friends. They expected it would be a light one after that brunch. I was only too glad to stay at home to relax with some blogging, some baking and a bit of sudoku. I wished I still had some smoothie to slurp on but at least if I was hungry there was always plenty of the Oatmeal and Treacle Bread to enjoy.

Berry and Banana Smoothie
Serves 4

Blend:
1½ cups pomegranate juice or apple juice
2 bananas, peeled and in chunks
250g berries (fresh or frozen)

Zucchini and cheese fritters
From Donna Hay Magazine
Serves 4

4 eggs whites
1 cup zucchini grated
1 cup parmesan, grated
2 tbsp soy flour (or rice flour)
Salt and pepper
Oil for frying

Whisk the egg whites til frothy. Fold in zucchini, parmesan and soy flour. Season (I don’t think it needed much salt as the parmesan is quite salty). It is quite a thick mixture. Heat a little oil in a large non stick frypan. Drop and spread a couple of spoonfuls in frypan to create a 10cm diameter fritter and repeat to make another 2 or three. Fry for a couple of minutes each side or until golden brown. Serve hot.

On the stereo:
Legend and Lore: Dark Folklore and European Myths – Various Artists

BBD 10: Oatmeal and Treacle Bread

The weekend started with not a crust of bread to be found in our house and ended with an abundance. It was a rainy weekend that was perfect for baking bread. A weekend to stay in doors by the heater with bread dough rising. The sort of weekend when it is too wet to hang the washing outside, when the cars turn on their headlights in the middle of the day, and when it was inevitable that I couldn’t find the car keys as I stood in the supermarket carpark in the rain.

Yes, I headed out in the car in search of bread for lunch (and groceries) before starting baking. I finally spotted O’Hea’s Bakery in Coburg that Yaz recommended to me many months ago but there were too many roadworks and too few parking spots to make my way there in that rain. Next I headed to Smith Street in Fitzroy and found that one of my favourite bakeries (the one next to Gluttony) had a two for the price of one offer on their bread. When I got home with two loaves and flour for two more, I found that E had gone out. Knowing he would be thinking about lunch, I phoned his mobile and fortunately intercepted him en route to a local bakery.

Back at home I baked a Treacle and Oatmeal Bread from Entertaining with Cranks. This book is from the 1980s but feels older than that – it has pen and ink drawings and a sort of fusty wholesome goodness about it. As did the bread. It had quite a firm crumbly texture which reminded me a bit of the wholemeal loaves my mother makes. The treacle and milk mixture was quite sweet but once mixed with the flour the dough is quite savoury. It was a little moist when fresh (see above photo) but fine when cooled. As with last week’s Russian Vegetable Bread, I have made notes below on how I baked it which varied slightly from the recipe.

It took a bit longer to rise than Cranks thought it might. It literally came out of the oven just as we were leaving for dinner at Will’s. He was delighted with the bread. It paired well with the thick creamy zucchini, potato and ricotta soup. Both bread and soup offered the hearty comfort we needed when coming in from the cold wet night. Will and E kept eating it with his amazing panir steaks which you can see served with my salad.

For sweets we had golden syrup dumplings with a surprise filling of melted chocolate in them – a most excellent addition to the dumplings. One of the most amusing moments of the evening was when Will’s boss rang him for the ingredients of a recipe and it happened she was making the same dessert as him. We did ponder if this was a condition of employment, but he explained that he had borrowed her cookbook and made a dessert that she had impressed him with before.

Will hosts a fine dinner party. I was happy to sit and talk with him about what he was cooking (eagerly eyeing his technique with the panir steaks) while E browsed the CD collection. When Will and I were housemates he could clear the kitchen with his collection of Prog Rock music. Now my dear partner has made me more appreciative of it but I still don’t share the enthusiasm of these two for discussing bands such as Tangerine Dream for hours on end. Unfortunately for them, I had to get home at a reasonable hour so we were up the next morning to enjoy the bread again with brunch.

After baking the bread, I saw that Melissa at A Sweet Life is hosting this month’s Bread Baking Day which is all about breakfast breads (deadline is 1 June). She is interested to hear about what our breakfast bread traditions are. When I was young I would have had vegemite, peanut butter, jam or honey on toasted bread quite like this one, so I am sending it her way.

I have taken a picture of the sorts of spreads we have in our house today (with promite now replacing vegemite in my affections). I did notice later that there is no butter in the picture and reflected that these days I am less likely to butter my bread first but it would have been mandatory when I was young. As you will see when I post about my brunch from this weekend, although I often still have toast (because I like a savoury breakfast), the toppings can be all manner of dips, cheeses, beans and vegetables. But the spreads pictured here still often feature on my toast in a quick weekday breakfast. This bread makes great toast so is very pleasing for breakfast with a scrape of promite or jam.

Oatmeal and Treacle Bread
(from Entertaining with Cranks)
Makes 2 large loaves

- 900ml (1½ pints) milk
- 50g butter or margarine
- 4 tbsp treacle
- 25g (1oz) fresh yeast (I used 11g dried yeast)
- 1 tsp raw sugar
- ¼ cup (60ml) lukewarm water
- 1.4 kg (3lb) wholemeal flour (I used 1kg wholemeal and 400g white flour)
- 175g (6oz) oatmeal
- 1 tbsp salt
- Lightly beaten egg, milk or water to glaze
- Extra oatmeal or poppyseed to sprinkle

Combine the milk, treacle and butter in a medium saucepan over low heat until the butter has melted. Set aside to cool to lukewarm. (Mine took quite a while to cool down.)

Mix the yeast and sugar in a small bowl. Add the lukewarm water and mix. Leave it in a warm place until it becomes frothy. It suggests 10-20 minutes but I left mine 30 minutes because I was waiting for the milk mixture to cool. (The yeast mixture just kept growing which amazed me.)

Place flour, oats and salt in a large bowl. Add the lukewarm milk mixture and the yeast mixture. Stir to combine. (My milk mixture took so long that after about 20 minutes I stirred it through the flour mixture and it cooled down quickly so I could add the yeast without it being threatened by too much heat. The liquid on top of the dry ingredients filled my largest mixing bowl to the top so use a large bowl. I used a knife to stir it through because I think I have seen my mum do this – it doesn’t create so many waves that might spill over the edge.) The recipe suggests that if the dough is a little dry you should add more milk, but I didn’t.

After stirring with a knife, use your hands to mix to a coherent dough and knead on a lightly floured board for a few minutes til it is smooth. Return to an oiled bowl and cover with clingwrap. Rest in a warm place for 10 minutes. (I mean the dough but by all means take this opportunity to read the weekend paper, fit in some blogging or collapse on the couch.)

Knead on a lightly floured board for about 10 minutes or til smooth and elastic. Divide the dough into two halves with a sharp knife. Divide in half again and knead each ball til just smooth. Place two balls each in a greased loaf tin. (The recipe says a 900g tin - I thought my tin was smaller but the dough didn’t reach the top of the tin so am confused about sizes. I placed one of my loaves on a baking tray because I don’t have two largish tins.) Lightly brush tops with oil and cover with clingwrap.

Leave in a warm place to rise til doubled. (The recipe says til dough touches the tops of the tin which is not helpful if your dough is on a tray or you are not sure of the size of the tins. It says it should need about 40 minutes. I let mine rise for 60 minutes because it didn’t seem to have risen enough after 40 minutes.)

Brush the tops with egg, milk or water and sprinkle with oats or poppyseeds. Bake in the oven at 200 C for approximately 40 minutes or til it sounds hollow when tapped. Cool on a wire rack. (Or if you are heading out the door, wrap in a couple of teatowels and don’t be surprised if it is so soft it breaks in half.)

On the stereo:
Epsilon in Malaysian Pale: Edgar Froese