Wimborne's winner

Down in Dorset, a competition to discover old bread recipes, has come up trumps

- Published: 15 June, 2007

Page 26

The Artisan Food Centre, based at the Dorset Smokery & Charcuterie, Hurn, Dorset, also the home of craft bakery, Quinney's, ran a competition to flush out old bread recipes.

Supported by Christchurch Food & Wine Festival, Big Barn and Breakfast & Brunch, the competition ran for three months, from 4 February, 2007 to 4 May, 2007. Judging took place during the week commencing 6 May, with the winner being announced on the first day of the Christchurch Festival, following a demonstration in breadmaking by Boyd Shaw, master craft baker, Quinney's Bakery, and a masterclass by Jean-Christophe Novelli, who later said the Wimborne loaf would make French toast "to die for".

Nigel Allan, winner of the competition, is a retired dental surgeon from Wimborne, Dorset - hence the Wimborne loaf. He received the prize of two vouchers, presented by Shaw, each for a one-day hands-on workshop at the Artisan Food Centre. The judges found the loaf "amazing". It had a good crust and crumb, with a most unusual flavour. It was delicious, quite original and put a totally different facet on bread.

The recipe Allan entered was for one loaf, but has been adapted here by Shaw to give a scaled-up version.

Makes 12 loaves at 400g

3kg Strong white organic flour

60g Salt

120g Fresh yeast

90g Mustard powder

90g Chilli powder

90g White granulated sugar

300g Grated mature Cheddar

300g Lightly salted butter (to be blended with the warm milk)

120g Molasses

1650g Full-fat milk (warmed through)