Original subtitles

Mike, we get to bake today.

And I'm pretty excited about this because you're making a sourdough,

and in all of my years of cooking and baking

I've never touched sourdough.

So, I personally have a lot to learn.

Wow, I can't believe you've never done a sourdough bake.

I know!

Well, I'm gonna show you

what I think is a very achievable recipe for home.

Well, I'm gonna make a chai spice pear muffin

with lots of nuts and seeds,

so, there's not traditional flours in it,

but there's lots of flavour, there's lots of good, healthy fats

and it's a great little sweet treat, pick-me-up

for when you're on the go.

Can't wait to taste.

(THEME MUSIC PLAYS)

Sourdough bread.

It is 100% one of my favourite things to bake.

I've never made it,

and I'm looking at these ingredients

and they're all familiar because they're all so simple,

but now I get to actually learn the science of bread

because it is a bit of a science,

isn't it? It is.

So, this is basically stage one.

Smell that.

(SNIFFS) Ooh!

It's got some funk to it. It's got...

Exact word. It's got the funk that you associate with sourdough.

So, this is basically what we're gonna make today.

And with your starter, or your leaven, as they call it in France,

you've got to feed it.

Traditionally, you should feed it every day.

You can get away with every two days.

The way I build the recipe

is what's left over goes all into your sourdough.

OK. OK?

So, we start with 50g of that beautiful...

Look at that. Look at it all bubbling too.

That beautiful leaven.

And I bake almost every day.

I can do this little bit by eye.

OK, so, we start off with 50g

of the leaven,

and the rest of this will go into the dough in a minute.

To add to this

we add 100 mil of water.

And is that just a room-temp water as well?

Room temp absolutely fine.

70g of strong bread flour.

Mm-hm.

And the bread-flour aspect is really important, isn't it?

Yeah. You can't do it with, like, a normal, plain flour.

It doesn't have high enough protein, basically, in it. Right.

You need something a lot stronger.

And then 30g

of wholemeal.

And with a combination of the two flours

you get the best of both worlds.

You do!

And then we just mix it.

Why do we do it in a little jar? Like, what's the...

Less washing up. Oh! OK!

So, basically you can see that the structure of it now

is really quite dense and heavy.

It is.

So, once you do this,

this goes straight in your fridge

and it will start to slowly ferment.

And then the night before you bake

you take it out of the fridge...

Yeah.

..leave it at room temperature all night

and then your leaven's ready to bake with.

OK, so, this heavy, dense-looking starter

becomes this

just with time, just with the natural fermentation process.

It's quite the difference, though, isn't it?

It's amazing. And that's the science element of it, you know?

So, this we're gonna keep now and we're gonna make the dough.

Oh, yes! Let's do it.

Alright. You've never made sourdough before.

It's your turn. Get me involved.

So, all the leaven, or the starter...

Yeah. ..into the bowl first.

And I'm doing this straight into a mixing bowl

'cause I'm gonna use a machine to knead it.

OK? If you don't have one at home, no problem at all.

Just do it into a large mixing bowl and do it by hand, basically.

OK, once all the leaven's in

you're going in with 490 water.

It's precision even in the water component.

Bucket of salt?

(LAUGHS) 10 grams.

OK. Again, weigh this at home, guys.

And then we just need to whisk it.

So, your sourdough whisker.

Also a specific whisker needed as well.

Yeah. You want to basically break up that starter into the water

so it all becomes one.

And then we're gonna leave that to set for one hour.

How's it looking?

Nice. Looks good.

But you do the test.

So, those bubbles are your friend.

And you can use a normal whisk. You don't need a bread whisker.

It's just easier to clean. Right.

It really is because there's less places for it to stick.

So, that's it for this stage.

We now leave that to rest for one hour

and then we come back to add the flours.

Alright, that's been sitting there for an hour now,

and now it's as simple as adding in our flours.

I'm adding in 560g of the strong bread flour.

OK. This is obviously pre-measured.

No, I'm doing it... That's how good...

Yeah, it's pre-measured. Chefs know.

(LAUGHS)

And now we're going 140 of the wholemeal.

And literally I'm gonna put it on to knead,

like, to mix together, leave it to knead for 12 minutes,

I'm gonna leave it to proof for an hour and a half

and then come back to stretch and fold.

So, we're doing the final stretch and fold now.

So, we've done this process already two times before,

and you basically want to do it three times

with an hour and a half in between.

This is where I think I'd be worried, right?

Because if I forget to set a timer

or if someone takes off with something...

Do you know what? It's OK. I've over-proofed it many times,

like, in between the stretch and folds.

Yeah.

It's not that bad as long as it proofs.

It's the most important part.

So, now to do the stretch and fold,

it's literally exactly that.

Look how elastic it is.

Yeah.

And with each one it gets more and more pliable.

But you, basically,

as far out as you can stretch it is what you want to do.

And that's what gives you those layers and aeration

in your bread later.

You get to understand

how far you can work the dough before you get those rips.

And, like, if you get a couple, it's OK

'cause you're about to fold it back in anyway.

And then you're gonna fold it in.

And reshape it.

So, you can see you've still got all those beautiful bubbles in there.

And I just spin it and tuck it.

So, you do a spin and tuck.

Honestly,

I laugh, I make a joke, but it really is my mindfulness when I'm baking

'cause you just have to focus on the bread.

OK, so, this is basically now gonna do its very final proof

in our basket.

So, I'm gonna dust this with semolina.

And the reason I use semolina flour for this

is it won't get incorporated into the dough.

And we just lift it into our hand.

And that's the nice side,

so, that's what goes into the basket first.

There I've got some pre-prepared parchment paper to sit on top

'cause that's gonna rise up now

as we slowly proof that in the fridge overnight.

We cover it with our cloth and you can pop it in your fridge.

You can leave it overnight.

You can leave it up to about 48 hours in the fridge.

Not long now we're gonna bake it...

Alright. ..and you get to taste.

So, moment of truth.

You can see already how much that's risen in the fridge.

Do you know what I mean?

And what we should have...

Oh!

Look at that.

Is a beautifully aerated bread

and those gorgeous little bubbles

that is synonymous with a sourdough.

You can see them already coming through all the way.

So, in the oven.

I've got the Dutch oven,

which is preheated now at high temperature - 250.

Our oven goes to 240. It's fine.

So, 250 in the oven to preheat.

And then this we're just gonna

slowly make sure it's not stuck at all to the basket.

So, I'm just gonna edge it away.

And you can see it's still a little sticky, but not too much.

And then baking parchment.

I've just cut it into the same sort of shape.

So, like this.

Turn it upside down.

And then you just want to ease it away

about a gentle touch.

So, if you don't have patience

then this is not your recipe.

She's looking good.

She's looking good.

Oh, wow!

So, we get our hot Dutch oven.

And heating the Dutch oven is an important part of this as well,

isn't it?

If you want that lovely crusty bottom, absolutely.

So, we just drop that down.

Next bit of gentleness...

(LAUGHS)

..is you've just got to now drop this in like that.

Like a glove!

And then pop a lid on.

Now, to bake -

20 minutes, highest temperature, lid on,

10 minutes at that same high temperature, lid off.

OK.

And then drop it to 230 for the last 20 minutes of baking.

Jac, is there any better smell than freshly baked bread out of the oven?

Absolutely not.

Ohh! This is a thing of beauty.

So, be careful at this stage.

You can let it cool down,

but it never, ever happens in my household.

Like, the family absolutely attack it when it's still hot.

Moment of truth.

Look at that.

Oh! So soft!

Got that gorgeous crust.

That's perfection!

Light, fluffy.

You get the nice holes.

That is just a beautiful bread.

You've got holes in all the right places

and the knife just glides through.

I mean...

..it IS a labour of love,

but some things in life are just worth it.

See the steam coming off there? I'm very...

I'm keen. You've heard my stomach rumbling

the whole time we've been together today.

Alright.

Now I very generously poured the extra-virgin olive oil.

(LAUGHS)

And it can't be without some good sea salt.

That's it. Ladies first.

I know you've been waiting. Cheers.

Cheers. (BOTH LAUGH)

You can see that beautiful aeration all the way through the bread,

which is exactly what you want.

Oh, wow.

Convinced you? Worth the effort?

Absolutely worth the effort.

I promise you, once you start baking,

you will fall in love.

It is my kind of mindfulness.

Guys, my sourdough bread. Give it a try.

Mike, we're gonna make my chai spice pear muffins,

which is probably a good thing because my tummy's rumbling

and I evidently need a snack.

So, to make them I'm gonna start with our wet ingredients in the bowl,

some extra-virgin olive oil,

which I love using in baking because it's versatile and easy to use.

You could also use melted butter if that's your thing.

But, while I get the wet ingredients together,

I'd love for you to...

Read my mind! Oh!

I'm pretty sure the pears were gonna come into play pretty quickly.

Drain one and a half cups of the pears.

These are a ready prepped pear, which I absolutely love,

and then we can chop them up

or, if you like something a little bit more chunky,

then you can actually leave them as whole pieces

into the muffin as well

and just look at them coming out

and being, like, big juicy pieces of pear in there.

I love how you bake. It's all in one bowl.

It's delicious, but it's simple. It's really achievable.

I want it to be a really simple for people to actually achieve

so that they can maintain it

and they can sustain their health and their longevity.

I've sweetened with some honey.

We're gonna get our eggs in.

I've got three eggs in this recipe to help bind it

because I'm not using a traditional wheat flour.

Our flour as such is our almond meal today.

So, I need other ingredients

to help bind all the foods together.

And some vanilla extract.

Can I ask why almond meal for this one?

I like gluten-free options for muffins.

I love being able to find, especially with baked goods and sweet treats,

healthier ways to still make them very similar to the original

but with more nutritious ingredients in them.

So, the combination of the almond meal

as well as the nuts and seeds in this recipe

ensures that there's lovely healthy fats in there.

And I love healthy fats.

It's actually what's going to help keep you fuller for longer.

I have some spices here.

It's a chai spice pear muffin.

So, we've got our cinnamon, our ginger and our cardamon

and also some baking powder to help it rise.

The aroma is a 100% chai. Like, it just...

Yeah! It's one of my favourite smells.

I love a chai tea and I always make my own

because it's pretty expensive to buy the chai tea packets.

Yeah!

And it's so easy to make at home.

I mean, you've basically given everyone a quick recipe.

That's right. I'm here for it.

Alright, so, we've got our wet ingredients all whisked together.

We will...

What do you think? Should we leave it so they're chunky?

Up to you. Or should we cut them up a bit? Do you want me to cut them up a bit?

Maybe we'll just cut them up ever so slightly.

She wants me to do extra work. What a surprise.

(BOTH LAUGH)

And I've also got the fresh dates in there as well.

You noticed I only used about a quarter of a cup of honey,

so, we're going to bring sweetness through fruit,

which is something I also love to do in healthier baked treats

because if we can find a way to sweeten through the fruit

that also contains the fibre and other vitamins and minerals

then that's a really fun little hack for you.

Pretty generous cup of chopped-up dates is a good one.

So, as you're getting the dates in,

just separate them a little bit so they don't all clump together.

Alright.

We have some sunflower seeds,

which I love for those healthy fats and fibre.

Also some walnuts, which we're going to crush some in.

And I'll get your help with that too, Mike.

Walnuts are also lovely and rich in omega-3 fats,

so, let's get some omega-3 fats

through a handful of walnuts and some other raw nuts and seeds

each day as a snack.

We'll get our almond meal in as well.

I love that the almond meal and other things like hazelnut meal

are so readily available these days too as well, right?

Like, when all the gluten-free ingredients first came out,

it was sort of you had to, like,

hunt through to find things. Had to go to the health-food shops

to find them or buy them online. That's right!

And now it's just everywhere.

Almond is a great flavour booster as well.

It is.

OK, that's pretty good to go.

Now we'll fold through some of our pears and reserve some for the top.

So, Mike, do you want to get a little spoon

so that we've got some to pop on the top as well?

And depending on the size of your muffin tin as well, right,

this is a real...

..cafe-style muffin tin, I would say.

(LAUGHS) It's quite... It's quite deep,

so, we'll see how many we get out of here.

Thanking you.

And then if you come in after I've scooped

and get some of those extra pears onto the top.

No problem.

We'll fill our muffin cases about three-quarters full

so that there's that room for rising.

They look amazing. You know they're wholesome

when they've got lots of chunky fruits and nuts and things

in there as well.

That's when you know it's gonna eat well as well

'cause it will keep it moist as it cooks, it will flavour it.

You know, like, let's be honest -

best bit of the muffin is usually the top.

Yes! The muffin top. 100%. The muffin top.

But, when you do it like this,

it should eat better the whole way through.

It should be juicy

and moist and delicious.

So, we'll scoop the rest of these into their little cases,

and then pop them into the oven at 165 degrees.

You'll notice that it's a lower heat

because, the nature of almond meal,

you don't want to have it at a high heat or it can burn.

And we're going to cook them for around 30 minutes.

Mike, these have cooled down a little bit.

I made you a cuppa

'cause I figured a muffin without a cuppa is just not a muffin at all.

It's not a muffin at all.

And this is probably one of the most beautiful cuppas you've made me.

Oh, look, I do my best to impress.

(CHUCKLES) Here we go.

You can see there's lots of juicy bits of the fruit.

The pears you can see on top.

Beautiful.

Very wholesome, if I may say so myself.

Nothing like a cake in a dress.

Yeah! (LAUGHS)

Alright, let's open it up and have a try.

I feel it's going to be juicy

from all of the delicious pear on the inside.

Look at that! There we go!

Now that's what I'm after in a muffin.

Lots of chunky bits of fruit.

Great with a cup of tea.

All those delicious chai spices in there.

So, really warming and flavoursome.

Teamed beautifully with the pear.

Mmm. That is stunning.

Mmm!

Stunning, moist, juicy, delicious.

The pears are prominent in flavour.

They've still got a bit of texture to them.

The dates and the sweetness that you...

Honestly gobsmacked.

Aw!

That makes me very excited.

But, really, this is a recipe that I cook probably weekly in our house.

Really wholesome, really delicious

and a lovely way to pack more nutrition into a muffin.

I'm gonna nick this one.

Take your roast pumpkin to the next level

just by adding a few ingredients.

First we've got some butternut pumpkin

that we've just cubed, large cubes,

and I've kept the skin on.

You don't have to take the skin off.

There's so much great flavour in the skin.

Then we've got some dried Italian herbs straight on to our pumpkin.

And then some ground cumin that can go into the bowl.

And then the real hero of this roast pumpkin -

some golden syrup.

I love a bit of sweetness on my pumpkin.

So, we've got about four cups of pumpkin here

to about a third of a cup of golden syrup.

Love it.

Then a bit of pepper.

The golden syrup will really help to caramelise our pumpkin.

And a good pinch of salt.

Some olive oil.

A good glug of olive oil.

A couple of tablespoons.

Alright.

And that is all.

I'm just gonna get in with my hands and give that a good mix around.

So quick, so simple.

But the flavours that you get out of this roast pumpkin

are out of this world.

Alright. Baking tray.

Tip our pumpkin out onto the tray.

And just spread that out.

Easy. Job done.

Oven - 200 degrees for about half an hour or so

until the pumpkin is soft and caramelised and mouthwatering.

Look how caramelised and amazing this pumpkin has turned out.

Let's get a good pile into our bowl.

That golden syrup has given it that beautiful caramelisation.

I love using golden syrup in my savoury dishes

when I want that hit of sweetness.

There you go.

Finish with a little bit of salt on top.

This will be a ripper with your roast lamb,

roast beef, roast anything.

My next-level roast pumpkin.

Give it a crack.

Captions by Red Bee Media