NEW BREAD MIXES FROM MATTHEWS COTSWOLD FLOUR

ONE of the reasons I purchased a wood-burner with an oven was because I make my own sourdough bread and energy price hikes meant that using a fan-oven for an hour per loaf was costing more in electricity than I was spending on ingredients.

Of course, with a real sourdough there is only one ingredient apart from filtered water, and that is the flour – and we have news on this front too. South West-based Matthews Cotswold Flour is launching a new range of bread mixes which are ideal for home bakers. Ancient Cotswold Crunch Bread Mix, Heritage Bibury Barley Bread Mix, Cotswold Malted Rye Bread Mix, Sicilian Italian Pizza Mix,

Cotswold Rye & Spelt Bread Mix and Traditional Stoneground Artisan White Bread Mix are available from www.cotswoldflour.com and select retail outlets (RRP £9.48 for 6 x 500g bags).

Bertie Matthews, managing director of Matthews Cotswold Flour, told me: “During lockdown, thousands of Brits became home bakers for the first time. Many enjoyed the process of creating their own loaves, from the relaxation of kneading to the fabulous aromas pervading the house, the delicious and nutritious bakes and the satisfaction of enjoying the end product created by their own hands. However, with lockdown a distant memory, we are all spending less time at home and not everyone has enough hours in the day to bake their own bread from scratch.

“Our customers told us that they were looking for a shortcut in the process, without compromising on the end result, and that is why we developed our new range of bread mixes.”

Each of the new bread mixes comes with full instructions and contains carefully selected flours, including durum from Italy and ancient and malted grains from the UK, each combined with yeast. You simply mix with water and olive oil and leave to rise, before creating your desired loaf or pizza base. The bread mixes are also perfect for using in bread machines.