The Accidental Smallholder Forum

Food & crafts => Recipes => Topic started by: Wendy@blueborage on November 06, 2012, 07:39:09 pm

Title: Local/Regional Breads starting with the Essex Huffer
Post by: Wendy@blueborage on November 06, 2012, 07:39:09 pm

I've become interested in local/regional breads and I'm now searching for UK recipes.

My interest started after I created a recipe for the Essex Huffer for my blog.  The huffer is a large, wedge-shaped bap served with a filling of choice.  Although huffers have been available in a couple of pubs in the county there are no recipes for this bread in local cookbooks and little information online.

So I took ideas for my recipe from the Kentish Huffkin, because it seems to me there is real a similarity between the two breads. I like baking bread by hand and I now have itchy, bread-making fingers keen to try other regional/local varieties. (For example, I've read of some breads with local ale or cider, and I'm interested to know what the texture would be like).

Wendy@blueborage

blueborage.blogspot.com

Title: Re: Local/Regional Breads starting with the Essex Huffer
Post by: Ina on November 10, 2012, 09:11:40 pm
Can't really contribute anything - although the Aberdeen rowies - or butteries (which don't always contain butter!) would be worth trying... Have never made them myself, though.

However, today I found the box which contains quite a few food related books of mine (hooray!), and there's a couple that might be interesting for you in your search:

Elizabeth David - English Bread and Yeast Cookery. This one doesn't actually have an awful lot of recipes, but tells you more than you ever suspected there is to know about the subject!

Dorothy Hartley - Food in England. This one has a section on bread, and covers a lot of history, with original recipes from way back when - the only problem, some of the mediaeval recipes are given in "old" English, and could have done with a translation...

Neither of them is very new - the first one published in 1977, the second 1954.

Title: Re: Local/Regional Breads starting with the Essex Huffer
Post by: Wendy@blueborage on November 12, 2012, 10:25:09 am

Thanks for this.  I'm guessing many of these regional/local recipes are probably found in the older books.  Perhaps they disappeared when international cooking (and a range of new recipes) became increasingly more popular.

I've done a bit of research and found breads from Scotland, Devon, Derbyshire, Newcastle and Suffolk.  I'll remain on the case!

Wendy@blueborage

blueborage.blogspot.com
Title: Re: Local/Regional Breads starting with the Essex Huffer
Post by: benkt on November 12, 2012, 08:06:41 pm
I've got a few old books of Cornish recipes which include a few bread-like recipes such as Cornish Splits and Saffron buns if you'd like them I'll type them out...
Title: Re: Local/Regional Breads starting with the Essex Huffer
Post by: Wendy@blueborage on November 13, 2012, 10:02:58 am
Thanks - that would be great, if it's not too time-consuming.  Otherwise would be delighted if you could point me in the direction of those books.

Wendy@blueborage



blueborage.blogspot.com
Title: Re: Local/Regional Breads starting with the Essex Huffer
Post by: benkt on November 13, 2012, 11:18:08 am
Cornish Splits


2 ozs lard
1lb white flour
1tsp salt
1oz yeast
1tsp castor sugar
1/2 pt milk


Warm the milk. Cream the sugar and yeast together and mix with the milk, Sieve together the flour and salt, rub in the lard and add all this to the liquid mixture to form a soft dough. Knead thoroughly  leave in a warm place to rise, knead again and then shape into round buns. Lightly flour a baking tray, leave to prove once more, then bake for about 15mins at 400F.
splits can be served hot, cut open and buttered or cold with clotted cream and jam.


Saffron cake


1/2 dram saffron
2lbs flour
1lb butter
2ozs candied peal
pinch of salt
4ozs sugar
1lb currents
1oz yeast
warm milk


Cut up the saffron and soak overnight by adding a little boiling water, which it will flavour and stain a bright orange. Rub the butter in the flour, add the salt, sugar, finely chopped peal and currants. Warm a little milk and pour it over the yeast and one teaspoonful of sugar in a basin. When the yeast rises, pour it into a well in the centre of the flour. Cover it with a sprinkling of the flour and when the yeast rises through this and breaks it, mix the whole by hand into a dough, adding milk as needed as well as the saffron water. Leave in a warm place to rise for a little while. Bake in a cake tin for about one hour at 350F.
Title: Re: Local/Regional Breads starting with the Essex Huffer
Post by: Wendy@blueborage on November 13, 2012, 11:50:01 am
Wonderful!  Thank you.

Wendy@blueborage


blueborage.blogspot.com