Here it is, the first successful sourdough of my baking career. I vaguely followed a recipe from exceptional breads, written by Dan Lepard and Richard Whittington for Baker & Spice, a fantastic bakery that happens to have a shop down the road from me in Maida Vale. The method follows that of a traditional San Francisco starter, which uses yoghurt, apple juice and raisins to help the starter ferment, and means it can be used after only a couple of days, rather than the usual week or so it takes just flour and water to get the right amount of stink to it, however I used the simple rye and water starter I had, giving it an overnight ferment. 

I think my starter may have a slightly higher water to flour ratio than is needed as the dough turned out rather too sticky to handle, and not having an electronic mixer, this was problematic when it came to kneading. I decided to leave it be, as I know that a watery dough can produce nice big bubbles in the bread, and used a loaf tin instead of shaping it into a baton, to stop it from spreading too much. 

Although it’s not as rustic as a lumpy baton would be, it’s gorgeously light and extremely sour. I’m thinking of ways to incorporate it into as many dinners as possible. Mushrooms… panzanella… I will dream of it tonight I am sure.

Edit: Genius idea from Sam Clark at Moro, if you’re baking a sourdough in a loaf tin, as I did, you should take it out of the tin once it’s taken shape so that the sides and bottom can properly crisp up. Thank you! 

My Norwegian grandparents’ neighbour had a cherry tree in their garden and once (only once) they let me sit in it for a whole day and eat as many as I wanted. Naturally I ate so many I made myself sick. I have retained similar levels of self-control and if I ever buy a box of frozen cherries I tend to eat them all in one sitting, still frozen, grimacing through the pain in my teeth. This time I managed to put them to good use in a really tasty cake, inspired by the twin flavours of those fistfuls of scrumped cherries and the (probably imagined) smell my grandmother’s cardamom buns wafting through the window. I also put white chocolate in because, well why the hell not?

Recipe

• 180g self-raising flour
• 2 tsp ground cardamom
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp grated orange zest
• 180g softened butter
• 160g caster sugar
• 3 eggs
• 120g cherries, quartered.
• 75g white chocolate, chopped into small pieces.

Line a 23cm diameter cake tin with baking parchment and heat the oven to 180 degrees. Sift the flour, spices and baking powder into a bowl. Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy then beat the eggs in one at a time. Gently fold in the flour and add half a cup of water to make a slightly runny, smooth batter. Add the cherries and white chocolate, leaving behind a handful of each to sprinkle on the top. Don’t be alarmed if it turns a horrible grey colour, it will be transformed when it gets in the oven! Spoon into the tin and bake for 20-25 minutes.

I’ve finally got down to making my first sourdough - it really needed a whole day for rising and TLC. I used Dan Lepard’s nice simple recipe on the Guardian and I’m very pleased with the result! It looks absolutely gorgeous. Could probably have let it rise for longer - I recommend that when you think it’s risen enough, leave it even longer! This means hours and hours. The taste is fantastic, however and I think the older it gets the yummier it’ll be. Sadly I used up all of my starter… Will need to buy a bigger jar!