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Low Effort Sourdough Bread

Making artisan sourdough bread is not simple and I recognise it. It took me years to experiment, learn,  note, understand and progress. The pandemic time made sourdough a star... it became so popular that everybody wanted to do it. Many made their own starter, others borrowed starter. Many launched themself into baking, some got the sourdough "virus" and continued to bake, and others slowly slowly dropped making it due to less time or they were not very satisfied with the results and finally, their starter died somewhere in the fridge.

But there is a huge mass of people hearing about sourdough who never tried or, tried once, failed and easily gave up. Do you recognise yourself in one of the categories above?

I find myself in the category of people starting to bake bread with sourdough years before the pandemic, intensifying and learning much more during those 2 years and continuing to experiment nowadays. Learning about sourdough is a subject that I'll probably do my whole life as you never feel you know enough.

But for those newbies and for those busy persons who never have time to make 15 steps to put a loaf on the table I made a recipe that simplifies the entire process:

Simplifying is a complex process in itself when you talk about sourdough. You can take out a step if you know what is the impact. Would you be able to still get an acceptable result? I've run maybe a dozen of bakes for this recipe to get it right. But I've learned even more about the importance of each step.

This recipe is for busy people and for newbies. But even for an experienced baker, there are times in our lives when other priorities take over our time and we still want to put sourdough bread on the table. It happened to me too. Did I miss my fancy chewy crumb? I definitely did but I used my time for more urgent or important things and still enjoyed sourdough.
In the video, I compare bread made in a simple way with one made in a complex way. When time and experience are not at stake, I know the winner recipe. But if you do not have time, to buy bread with 22 ingredients inside that were industrially risen in an hour, compared to putting 15-20 minutes of effort to make this bread, I would personally advise trying the second option. It is much healthy and at least you know what you are eating.
Needless to say that this is not my favourite bread recipe but becomes my favourite one when I am absorbed by other activities.

What about you? What do you think? Would you like to try it?

Stuffed or Mimosa Eggs

This is another childhood memory that I keep with me. My mother used to make "oua umplute" or staffed eggs with the New Year's celebration with regularity. Although I loved them, being probably my favourite dish for the New Year, I did not make them since moving to Belgium.

This holiday season was the perfect occasion to make them again. I was excited for my daughter to taste them for the first time. At least this is what I thought. When she saw them she said... mommy, you made the Mimosa Eggs! I had no clue that they were called like that as I always knew them as staffed eggs. But we learn every day something new, as well as I learned that my daughter also prepared them when being in a scouts camp.

That creamy yolk-mustard-mayonnaise combination is dropped from heaven. Some like to add herbs to this cream but I like them better without. It is such a simple and delicious aperitive for the New Year's celebration!

Happy New Year!

2023 New Year's Cake


Happy New Year! and welcome to 2023!

I was so not in the mood of baking a cake yesterday but my daughter asked for one and I simply couldn't refuse her. Being tired, I didn't want to go for a super fancy recipe so I picked a combination of my previous cakes that I was sure would work and be quick. Festive cakes usually take a lot of time to prepare and decorate, I love to launch myself into discovering them but when my mood is not there I pick something simple.

This cake although looks fancy is not difficult to make. It is a classic sponge cake (takes max 30 mins of preparation) with white chocolate ganache (takes 10mins to melt and 5mins to whisk) and covered in whipped cream (30 min to assemble and decorate).

I made the sponge cake and the ganache in the morning and late evening I assembled the New Year's cake with my daughter's assistance.

Here it is...