My boys love to bake. Who could blame them, especially when there are always treats at the end?
Today we outdid ourselves - we made dough, people! This takes time to rise, knead (read: waiting) - something I didn't think my boys would tolerate. But there you have it, they're full of surprises.
Determined to use the grapes slowly getting softer in the fridge, today we made Schiaccata, using Ian Parmenter's original recipe from his book L Plates. It's like a sweet grape sandwich pizza. But this doesn't sound very appetising, does it? Probably better to just look at the pictures, really.
This was pretty simple to make, but we would adjust some of the ingredients next time. Interestingly, Ian has since appeared on a number of ABC programs, radio and telly, and has altered the recipe . I think these changes (increasing ratio of grape to dough, increasing flour in the dough), are fairly much in line with our experience.
Our dough at first was more like goo, and required a LOT of extra flour to be added in the kneading stage. Thankfully my dad assured The Gherkin over the phone that all was not lost, or I may have just chalked this one up to a sensory experience for the boys, and an important life lesson about baking...
But in the end, our resulting schiaccata was a hit, scoring a five out of five on The Gherkin's scale (where 1 = this is terrible, and 5 = this is the best thing I have ever eaten). Little Pickle was also impressed, but just as happy with the honey mixed through natural yoghurt. Not sure if there was more in his mouth or on his clothes, bless him!
I feel like I may be slowly getting toward one of my new years resolutions - to bake bread without a breadmaker. One success with yeast under my belt, and the year only young, I may bake a loaf of bread yet...
Chat soon xx
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