So last week we promised you the recipe for our focaccia we made during the holidays, and here it is! Slightly delayed, but we have been working on some other areas recently which are progressing really well, so not been able to blog for a few days. We will be letting you know soon what we have been up to though!

So the holidays are here and we like many others have been busy baking. Baking bread is great, but sometimes its also nice to try out new recipes and different types of breads as well, which is the main subject of this weeks blog. 

Nice to meet you!
Bob is a sourdough starter and although Bob might not look like much, inside that jar is a microscopic community of billions of wild yeast and bacteria living in harmony. But how did Bob come to existence? 

So in case you didn't know its National Doughnut Week next month! This is the week where bakeries and cafe's can get involved in raising money for the Children's Trust in the UK, by donating money for each doughnut or pack of doughnuts sold. Customers can also get involved when they buy doughnuts, knowing that some of the money will be going to a great charity! We couldnt think of a better excuse to have a doughnut! 

What is it and why is it important to be aware of it?
We often have questions about how to achieve a good amount of burst during baking. Although this can be contributed to by a number of different points such as recipe and process, one of the most significant areas that affects burst during baking is dough tension. 

Not convinced? Well we decided to do an experiment to demonstrate the effects of dough tension on the dough. In our experience, achieving the correct amount of dough tension during moulding is critical to achieve good volume and crumb structure in the final loaf.

So has anybody heard about the new innovative slicing technology recently causing a stir in the baking industry? It is a new type of bread knife that actually sticks bread back together. Ours arrived in the post this morning so we thought we would give it a go on some nice crusty bread and it actually worked! We had to take a video of it as proof!