Short and Tweet 9: Rye crispbread and pumpkin & cider farls
This week’s #shortandtweet challenge from Dan Lepard’s Short & Sweet was for Extra-thin rye crispbreads pg 262 or slightly more opulent winter warmer Pumpkin and cider farls pg 537. I’ve opened with a photograph of Jo of Zeb Bakes’ rye crispbreads because a number of us admired the patterns.
I like both of these recipes because they can be made quickly (and it’s useful to have a fast savoury repertoire) but also because it seemed that the crispbreads in particular were an item that tend to snag interest but rarely attract sufficient motivation to try them out (ironically, perhaps, because so many of us have been disappointed by commercially-available versions). One unexpectedly jolly outcome has been following the reports of just how very extra-thin some bakers have managed to make these crispbreads. There have been mentions of vernier calipers, micrometers and even Mitchdafish’s self-devised measurement scales. 
Nicola of North_19 had a slightly vexed time with her pumpkin and cider farls: it’s safe to say that she might not recommend using tinned pumpkin in the future if other suitable vegetable substitutes are to hand.
The redoubtable Misky of Misk Cooks is such a baking stalwart that she refused to be daunted by her first disappointing attempt and repeated the bake after suggested amendments: Dan Lepard’s Extra-Thin Rye Crispbreads. Go and look at the hints which even include recommended music to roll by: “The clue to success is in its name: Extra-Thin. Not sort-of-thin or is-this-thin-enough. If you’re doubting your concept of ‘thin’, then you’ve not rolled it out thin enough. Keep rolling. Ro-lling, ro-lling, ro-lling out of the crispbread. I’m so tired so humming Christmas carols in my head. A bit of Creedence Clearwater is a nice diversion”.
CarlLegge of Carl Legge teamed his micrometer-measured rye crispbreads with some delightful looking salmon (he had an interesting photograph that shows how he scored the dough but I couldn’t persuade it to upload here).
Mitchdafish of Mitchadafish blog has contributed her rye crispbreads in charming shapes, including hearts that would grace a Valentine’s Day plate of canapés.
Jo of Zeb Bakes is a box of delights: Short & Sweet: Rye Crispbreads and Cider Squash Farls. As ever, there are enjoyable domestic insights and pronouncements on the desiderata of a decent crispbread: “The Holy Grail for me at least of rye crackers is that they should snap and be brittle, something like a potato crisp (chip in US English) rather than something you have to gnaw your way through…Only thing is, now I’ve [baked these and] got a cracker I adore, I don’t want to buy them any more…”. Nip over there to delight in the sight of a Turkish rolling pin and an intriguing dough roll press that produced the spiral pattern on the rye crispbreads. You will pick up several tips for making these along with helpful illustrations for both the rye crispbreads and the pumpkin and cider farls.
BakeCakeCrumbs of Cake, Crumbs and Cooking sent along: Extra thin rye crispbreads - short and tweet. She reports them to be substantially superior in flavour to commercial products and “irresistibly moreish”. Unlike some of us, there was little evidence of sticking dough or difficulty with rolling: “I didn’t find the dough difficult to work with at all, and made them whilst making the rest of our NYE dinner, not too much brainpower or effort required for a very tasty result”.
I will need to update this compendium with my own crispbreads and pumpkin and cider farls as we’re having some problems with the memory card. If I’ve omitted anybody, please let me know and I’ll include them in an update. [Much overdue update shows the cracker dough going through the pasta roller; the finished rye cracker edge on. Sadly, we ate the farls before we took another photograph.]
The next challenge is Coconut milk layer cake pg 153 or The Alchemist’s chocolate cake pg 148 or Saffron peach cake pg 137. If you blog about your experience with a recipe, please post links in the comments or tweet pictures or links to @foodcraftspace or @evidencematters using the hashtag #shortandtweet - Thank you. It’s the same procedure if you don’t blog but just post a photograph of your work. Please send the links by 8pm 8 January or as soon thereafter as practical.
Schedule for the #shortandtweet January 2012 challenge.
Outline for #shortandtweet challenge and its conditions.
Thank you to everyone for taking part. I look forward to seeing next week’s cakes after our comparatively virtuous and abstemious start to the year.
