Fireworks

We're really lucky as where we live we have a bonfire and fireworks in two different weekends as we live between villages. Tomorrow night is our more local firework night. It has a torch light procession like our other one but it is much smaller and has more of a village feel about it. We've invited some friends over to share the evening with us which I'm really looking forward to. The plan is to make soup and bread followed by chocolate brownies which should keep everyone happy. To try and get ahead of myself, I've made the dough for the focaccia tonight. It's a really simple recipe but I've added a little twist to it following our visit to our vegan friends today.

The plan was for us all to go swimming in their pool but the water was really cold. I decided that it wasn't worth getting changed for however my ds and dd decided to just go for it and they had a lovely freezing cold swim (or more like a play) in the pool. This was followed by a lovely lunch of homemade falafel and focaccia. As I was planning to make this tomorrow anyway I cheekily asked how my hostess had managed to get it so fluffy. She said the secret ingredient was soya milk. As I had nearly a litre left over from making the glaze for the vegan cake, I decided to give it a go. It seems to have worked and this is how the dough is looking at the moment.

Rising focaccia

I've covered the bowls with a tea towel to help the dough rise. The recipe I used comes from the Bread book by Eric Treuille and Ursula Ferrigno. This is a book filled with the easiest bread recipes. Here is the focaccia one which I made in my Kenwood chef, the best bit of kitchen equipment I own. Put 500g of strongly in flour in the mixing bowl and add 1 7g sachet of fast action dried yeast and 1.5tsp of salt. Mix together and then add 3tbsp of olive oil. You will need to use the dough hook for this recipe but you can also make this by hand. Add 300ml of warm water while the mixer is on (at this stage I replaced the water with warm soya milk). Mix the dough until it is smooth, silky and elastic. Put into a bowl and cover with a tea towel so that the dough can rise. This should take 1-2 hours depending on the temperature of the room. I made three times the recipe hence the three bowls as I'm feeding quite a few people tomorrow. In the morning, I'll knock the dough back and put onto a baking sheet in the morning for it to prove again. As I won't need the bread until the evening and I want to have it fresh, I'll leave it somewhere cool during the day. I'll let you know how it tastes. When it has doubled in size again, bake in the oven at 200 degrees centigrade for 30-45 minutes until golden brown. You can add different flavourings before you bake the bread - crushed salt, rosemary, olive oil. Whatever takes your fancy.

By the way, the vegan chocolate cake I made yesterday went down a storm, it was really light and fluffy. The glaze needed a bit more cooking as the sugar was still a but granular but practice makes perfect. I'll certainly be making it again. Before I went out this morning, I finished off two more Leah Makes bunnies, this time in red felt. Here's one of them with green embroidery. What do you think?

I'll make the rest of the food tomorrow (two soups and the chocolate brownies). I think it's now time for a rest and some dinner. I hope you all have a lovely evening.