Knead, roll, rise: Homemade comfort baking for winters

The winter months bring a slower pace to life, creating the ideal environment for baking. With cooler weather, that’s perfect for dough handling, it’s the most bakeable time of the year.

Here’s how you can embrace the season with a lineup of delicious breads and pastries.

Rustic sourdough loaves

With its crunchy crust and soft crumb, this loaf offers the ideal combination, making it a bake you’ll want to revisit time and time again.

Tips for success

• Master the Sourdough starter: An active starter is the foundation of great sourdough. Feed it consistently to keep it healthy and ready to use.
• Maintain the right hydration levels: Achieving the ideal balance of water and flour is essential for perfect dough consistency.
• Achieve a perfect crust: Introduce steam during baking to develop a crunchy, golden crust.

Ideas for serving
Pair sourdough loaves with hearty soups for a cozy meal or toast slices with butter for a simple, delicious snack.

French Baguette

There is nothing like a freshly baked French baguette on a Sunday morning. Or any morning for that matter. Crusty and beautifully coloured on the outside, buttery soft and chewy on the inside, the French Baguette is an iconic bread that brings a touch of elegance to any table.

Tips for Success:

• Developing Gluten: Kneading plays a crucial role in making baguette dough, as it helps develop gluten — a protein network essential for bread structure.
• Proper shaping: Master bakers dedicate their lives to crafting the perfectly shaped baguette. The ideal baguette is uniformly round in the middle and tapers gracefully at each end. To achieve this shape, handle the dough with both strength and care.
• Creating steam in the oven: Professional bread ovens are equipped with a steam function, which is crucial for perfecting baguettes. During the first 10 to 15 minutes of baking, steam keeps the crust soft, allowing the dough to achieve its final rise before forming a golden, crisp exterior.

Ideas for serving
Use baguettes for gourmet sandwiches, pair them with charcuterie boards or display them as a stunning centrepiece at your dinner table.

Buttery croissants

Few things compare to the decadence of freshly baked croissants, with their flaky layers and rich, buttery flavour.

Tips for success

• Room temperature: Maintain a room temperature of around 20°C for optimal dough rolling.
• Proofing: Croissants proof more quickly, but there’s a risk of the butter melting out before baking. In cooler conditions, proofing will take longer.
• Refrigeration: Chill the pastry between folds to keep the butter from blending into the dough.

Ideas for serving
Enjoy plain croissants, filled with chocolate or enriched with almond cream for a delightful treat.

Rich Brioche

A soft, slightly sweet bread with a rich, buttery flavour.

Tips for success

• Use room temperature butter: Cold butter can make the dough difficult to knead, so let it come to room temperature before using.
• Test your yeast
  To ensure your yeast is active, dissolve it in warm water or milk. If it doesn’t bubble within a few minutes, it may have expired.
• Give the dough time to rise
  Yeast needs time to ferment the flour before the dough rises. Ingredients like butter, sugar or eggs can slow down the process, so be patient and allow extra time for the dough to rise.

Ideas for serving
Serve brioche as a breakfast treat, use it for sandwiches or transform it into a festive bread pudding.

Which bread will you be baking this winter? Tell us in the comment section.