1001 Kitchen Tips #54 - Why does the top fall off my cottage bread? Why does my cottage loaf fall apart?

Sunday, November 08, 2009
2009 has been the year of baking. I have just collected some bread photos with links to the relavant blog post/ recipe on the facebook page - there was much more than I remembered.

I made these thyme cottage bread rolls late at night a couple of weeks ago. I first made cottage loaves when I was 12 - a school open evening, it looked good to prospective parents as they looked round. When I made them last year though the tops rolled off as they baked and I ended up having to make something else.

I had forgotten the number 1 tip with cottage loaves - you need to make a hole in the top to make sure the two pieces of dough stick together.

This time I made the hole in the middle of the larger piece at the bottom then popped the smaller piece of dough on top and pressed the two together gently. This stops the top falling off.
You can also put the two together, and push your fingers or a wooden spoon through the top to weld the two together as shown on recipetips.com.




PS

The 1001 Kitchen tips got a mention in The Hindu 8 days ago - thanks for the article. Hope the tips are useful! At the current rate they should be finished by 2047.....

4 comments

Maggie said...

That's a great tip - I always wondered how you can secure the top to a cottage loaf. I must look at the site you recommend.

Anonymous said...

Excellent tip! Thanks for sharing.

Jan said...

Great tip James!

Julie said...

Wow, you were making bread when you were 12? Awesome. I don't think I could even make my own toast :)