Dear LPG readers,

In my head, this recipe should have been so easy to do. I must admit that when choosing what to showcase this month, I thought a little something sweet to usher the summer in would be a perfect idea, but you will have guessed that it all went a little bit wrong.

As ever, I amassed all my ingredients, including the thermometer, but I should have known something was wrong when I put the yeast in with the milk, and the frothing described in the recipe’s method did not materialise. It was very specific about the milk temperature before the yeast was added, and I was meticulous in measuring that, or so I thought.

Undaunted, I carried on, and it was good that all the ingredient measurements were stated in cups rather than imperial or metric measurements because it was while the milk and yeast were supposed to be frothing that I came across another problem. My scales had run out of batteries.

I used the same cup for every measurement, and while the dough looked like dough, it was a bit soggy, so I put a bit more flour in. I waited for the hour that the recipe mentioned, and I think I forced my eyes to see the promised dough doubling process. Now I think back; perhaps there was not that much more than in the first place when I returned. I now wonder if I mixed up my reading of the temperature measuring units I used.

Once the icing was on the top, they looked acceptable even though mine were not heart-shaped, but while they tasted pretty good, my testers had a little trouble appreciating any lightness or fluffiness when it came to chewing them.

The final verdict has to be visually acceptable with an enjoyable taste, although when it came to texture and chewiness, all my taste testers rated it an epic FAIL!

But upwards and onwards…

Georgia celebrates her Independence Day on May 26th, and they happen to have an interesting national dish called Khachapuri. From what I have learned so far, this is cheese bread, meaning more yeast will be involved. I refuse to be beaten by temperature!

CB, Lewisham

CB researches something Georgian for next month…

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