It’s well and truly that time of year again, and I’ve been loving making our Orange and Muscatel Loaf lately. We began making it last month, with oranges being in season, and beautiful. Lots of fresh orange zest goes in. It has toasted fennel and coriander seeds, toasted in the oven of course, in front of the coals early in the morning, and then ground in the mortar and pestle. The rye grains soak over night, and then cook a little in the morning in the warmth of the fire, and these go in to the dough too. The organic golden muscatels are plump, sweet, and delicious. This loaf smells absolutely yummy in the making, baking, and eating, and of course, the taste is pretty good too. It goes really well with many soft cheeses, or toasted and topped with ricotta, cinnamon and a drizzle of honey, or simply toasted with butter.
