World Baking Day is on May 17th and is a great way to celebrate and make deliciously unforgettable treats, states General Manager Sean Granger of Granny Mouse Country House & Spa.
Even if you don’t bake, you can surprise your co-workers, family, friends or neighbours with a treat to commemorate this fun day, he adds.
Baking is a skill that forms part of our lives, especially that of bread which is so common and important in our day to day lives.
According to history archives, the first bread was made in Neolithic times, nearly 15,000 years ago. At that time stone was used as a tool to dig up the ground for farming, cutting crops and then grinding the grain to make rough bread flour. It was then mixed with water, and shaped into a round flat cake and cooked on another large flat stone over a fire. That was the start of it, and is still used around the world today to make flatbreads. All this learnt by experience in time.
By 600 BC, in Greece, enclosed bread ovens were built and allowed for baking of bread in batches. The flour used was mostly unrefined as wheat was quite expensive and rare during that time.
Later, history was made with the discovery of wheat, which has gluten content that improved bread texture, and then the discovery of yeast, which is also used to make beer.
A sustainable supply of yeast, to produce consistent bread, created a baking industry, albeit local to a village or town. Bread making was a respected profession, as homes did not have their own ovens, and a baker would often cook foods for the villagers in the dying heat of the oven, for a small fee.
In the middle ages, finer baking was developed by the bakers, and they started to buy the flours from mills, rather than milling the grains themselves.
Honey and dried fruits were added to produce sweet bread, and cakes were baked for religious holy days celebrations. This is the origin of the dense, rich, Christmas cake, wedding cake and Easter cakes too.
Then along came sugar. This was easily grown in the Caribbean islands and created finer baking.
By the 19th century, recipes were being developed and shared, and the modern cookbook was born. Cooks from private houses set up small bakeries and pastry shops, and ordinary people began to have stoves in their homes. This allowed for the control of temperatures, up to a point, and was a big step forward from open fire baking.
The 20th century brought us the fridge and the ability to store ingredients, preserve food and with all of this education, travelling got people wanting to taste foreign foods and share recipes. Today we just have to click on the internet and find all the wonderful baking recipes that are out there.
Granny Mouse culinary artists are experts in the making of baked goods, and have shared their Pecan Nut Pie recipe!
Pecan Nut Pie with Chantilly Cream (serves 8)
Ingredients
Pie pasty:
- 260g cake flour
- A pinch of salt
- 180g butter
- 1 large egg yolk
- 4 Tbsp ice cold water
Pie filling:
- 3 large eggs
- 200g maple syrup
- 4 Tbsp melted butter
- 100g brown sugar
- 2 tsp cake flour
- 250g pecan nuts
Chantilly Cream:
- 300ml double thick cream
- 50g castor sugar
- ½ tsp vanilla essence
Method
- Sift flour into a mixing bowl and add salt.
- Rub butter into flour mix until it resembles sea sand.
- Add egg and cold water and form a dough (be careful not to overwork the dough as it will lead to a tough product and shrinkage when baking).
- Clingwrap the dough and allow it to rest in the fridge for 15 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 180°
- In a mixing bowl, add all pie filling ingredients and mix until incorporated and the sugar has dissolved.
- Add roughly chopped pecan nuts to the mixture.
- Roll out pastry on a floured surface to about 5mm thick and carefully place in a greased pie dish.
- Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
- Once refrigerated dock pastry and place pie filling inside.
- Bake for 40-45 minutes.
- Allow to cool and set for ± 2 hours.
For Chantilly cream:
- Place all ingredients together and whisk until a stiff peak is formed.
- Place in the fridge until the pecan pie is ready to be served.
