Guest Baker Post #8

It’s delightful to see the budding baker Armaan with his first cake, which is such a visual treat and surely must be delicious. Shweta and her bakes are our baking family’s super hot favorites, especially her ‘slow rise breads’!

Shweta’s story which we were waiting to read and savour, in her own words:

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Having studied at the Sacred Heart Convent in Chandigarh and with a Masters in Sociology and a PG Diploma in Computer Applications, teaching has always been my first love. Whether at the Presentation Convent in Jammu, where I got my students to not just excel in academics but also put up a full professionally produced show on climate change or at the G.D. Goenka World School, where I, a part of the content development and academic committees, and a strong link between the parents and the institutions as an Organizational Psychologist, have striven to deliver the best, wherever I am.  

I am also a self taught artist. My art works have even been selected for several international exhibitions. I prefer experimenting with colours and a fusion of various styles of tribal or native art as also terracotta artifacts.

My baking journey started in 2015 in J&K which is my husband’s cadre. We did not have access to healthy breads and baked stuff and that is why I started by experimenting with healthy baking for my family. I have always loved the aroma of fresh bakes from mum’s kitchen but never ever had the confidence of baking a complete bread by myself. 

My first bake was hard stone bread with lots of bread enhancer (improviser) which I had procured from INA market, New Delhi. It was a horrible experience and was really demotivating. 

Sometime later during our posting in Delhi, my friend Dr. Padma Namgyal introduced me to Renu ma’am. And lo and behold! That was a renaissance in my bread baking journey. There was no looking back. Renu ma’am is an amazing guru. Hats off to her passion towards baking and teaching others how to bake. Today, I am confident of baking not only breads and cakes but also focaccia, quiches and cookies and all credit goes to dear ma’am. She has given me the confidence to experiment with breads — from flax egg wash and no yeast breads to healthy multigrains and sour doughs. Most surprisingly, I have never met her in person. 

Although I bake a slow rise bread every four days but my favorite bread is the garlic flower bread, which is what I shall be sharing with you all today!

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Recipe: Garlic Flower Bread

Ingredients

Bread

• 3 cups flour
• 2&¼ tsp yeast
• 1 tbsp sugar
• ½ cup warm milk
• 2 tbsp powder milk
• ½ cup warm water as needed
• 4 tbsp butter
• 1 tsp salt
• ¼ tsp baking soda
• ⅓ cup curd
• 1 tsp lemon juice
• Olive oil for brushing

Stuffing

• ¾ cup cheese
• ½ cup green onions
• 1 cup freshly chopped parsley
• 1 tsp salt
• 1&½ tsp garlic paste

Method

1. Prepare the bread dough by mixing the ‘Bread’ ingredients and kneading for 15 minutes. Set aside the dough to rise for 2 hours.

2. Prepare the stuffing mixing all the ‘Stuffing’ ingredients and chilling for 30 minutes.

3. Divide the dough into 16 parts after flattening. Flatten each dough ball, fill it with the stuffing and shape into a petal.

4. Arrange it in a greased tray in the shape of a flower. Cover with a dry cloth and rest for 30 minutes.

5. Brush with milk and bake for 30 minutes at 190℃ in a preheated oven. After baking, brush it with olive oil.

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 Apart from this, these are some of my other recent bakes:

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Closing Thoughts

Thanks for the wonderful bread Shweta! We are looking forward to more such bakes! See you all in the next post. Till then!