Bread & Butter - Crafting Sourdough in your own unique way

Have you ever considered that making bread and butter could not only provide you with food for your table but also food for thought.  As you may just learn a little about yourself in the process.

Picture an autumn day, well not just any autumn day, as the day was Samhain or more commonly known as Halloween.  The time of year that celebrates the end of autumn and marks the first signs of winter.  As we entered the beautiful grounds of Hampton Manor, we were met by the distinctive colours of autumn, fallen leaves, logs piled high in anticipation of colder days and nights and the sense of nature slowly shedding what is no longer needed ahead of its winter slumber.

The long winding lane felt like we were embarking on a magical trail of discovery with each twist and turn giving a glimpse of all that this ‘foodie estate’ had to offer.  You could choose to follow the sign to the artisan bakery which was open until lunch time each day and not only offered a selection of artisan breads and pastries but a cosy coffee shop for locals and visitors to explore.  After midday, the bakery morphs into ‘Kynd’, a produce-led intimate restaurant, with the food cooked over coals and the second restaurant at Hampton Manor by Michelin-starred chef, David Taylor.

If you venture past the walled garden, the winding lane will open up to the Manor itself.  Built in 1855 by Sir Frederick Peel, the 45 acre estate was founded by James and Fjona Hill in 2008, and has painfully been brought back to life, after being neglected for over a year.  The ethos of the family is focussed on a more sustainable future, embracing the new kind of luxury that delivers experience and meaning built on ethics and values.  They create a relaxed and informal ‘house party’ style ambiance for guests whilst embracing skilled artisans with hand crafted furniture and tableware.  They embrace renewable energies and are part of the national movement to save bees.  Sourcing local produce, supporting other local sustainable businesses and the walled kitchen garden is free of chemicals and pesticides, providing a field to fork experience for the Michelin Starred Grace & Savour restaurant and its five guest bedrooms.

It is at the end of the abundant Victorian walled garden that you will find the Cookery School, snuggly tucked beside Grace & Savour.  Housed in part of the garden wall, Grace & Savour takes on a warm and inviting fusion of nordic/morrocan style, with amber walls, sculpted lighting, low level seating and unique artisan crafted furniture and ceramics.  The focal point being the open kitchen area with its bar front seating and carefully placed tables with a view over the kitchen garden. 

Large glass crittal doors lead directly to the impressive cookery school. The restaurant style continues but has a more purposeful feel, than the relaxed ambiance of the restaurant next door.  A central table, adorned with cookery baskets underneath, reminding me of school cookery lessons, is framed by three large wicker ceiling lights. This farmhouse style table, is pre-prepared with 9 place settings, each includes an apron, plastic bread box and recipe card, whilst the centre of the table offers glimpses of the ingredients and delights to come. At the end of this impressive room, are shelves laden with large preserving jars, cooking utensils and spices, making the space feel like an open pantry.  With large black crittal doors framing the view to the kitchen garden, our baking room for the next 3 hours feels so relaxed and inviting.

My son had joined me for the course and together we took the opportunity to explore the kitchen garden, whilst we waited for our fellow course attendees to arrive.  As the summer flowers and seasonal crops had started to slowly retract in anticipation for the winter ahead, we wandered amongst the pumpkins and glass houses.  Areas of the garden were identified by large pieces of slate, each giving a reminder of the organic and biodiverse soil and sustainable ethos of the garden and estate. 

As we returned to our now familiar workspace, we met our fellow bakers—maybe not friends just yet, but certainly kindred spirits on a shared adventure. The group was a delightful mix: me and my son, a mother and daughter duo, a young couple hoping their baby would stay snug until the end, two young friends, and a retired gentleman. Over sips of coffee from rustic handmade mugs and bites of freshly baked cookies, we introduced ourselves and took our places, ready for the experience ahead.

There is always that familiar feeling of anxiety and excitement when you try something new, particularly with a group of people you do not know.  It’s so natural for you to feel a little overwhelmed and unsure of what is to come but also a curiosity and anticipation. Sarah, our workshop tutor soon put everyone at ease and it was reassuring to see that each of us were beginners and had never made sourdough bread before.  Sarah informed us that this process would normally take several days, but as we only had a few hours, we would be expediting the process. 

We were immediately introduced to the star of the show, ‘Frankie’ - our mature starter. A little bit of Frankie is added to our new and fresh young starter of flour and water, in order for the older and wiser ingredient to help start the process. Once all the ingredients are brought together by hand, then the first of the ‘kneading’ patterns can begin.  Sourdough is not quite like other breads and has quite a sticky feel to it. Therefore the traditional kneading action that you might be familiar with is not used when making sourdough. Sarah effortlessly demonstrated the unique Sourdough knead, more a drop, slap and fold method before leaving to rest and prove for the first time, this step was to be repeated several times during the course of the morning.

This was my first self-discovery - who knew I was such a perfectionist!. I realised that I took so much longer than all my fellow bread makers weighing out my ingredients - I needed the measurements to be exact, whereby my son, although equally as focussed, seemed less concerned that he may be a couple of grams over the stated recipe instruction.

Turning our hand then to our butter making, it was amazing how quickly we were able to turn double cream into butter, placing our discarded butter milk to one side for future use.  We then needed to flavour our butter and this is where the beautiful kitchen garden came into its own.  Foraging for edible flowers and herbs was surprisingly fun. I’m not a gardener but I found the freedom meandering amongst the herb beds and vegetable plots, discovering the different varieties whilst tasting and smelling them in order to create my flavour combination for my butter, quite relaxing and compelling.  I could certainly see how easy it would be to see time slip by whilst tending to your vegetables and plants.

Once the butter was infused with our flavour combinations, I chose a classic combination in the end or rosemary, thyme and sea salt.  Whereas my son went for something a little more unconventional, using mustard instead of rosemary.  A few people opted for edible flowers for their butter, deciding to have a more arty approach and another simply had no idea when herbs they had selected and had decided to create a butter full of surprises.  

Having washed our hands and warmed up again, we were ready for another ‘knead’ of our sourdough.  At this stage in the process the dough is a little easier to handle but still remains very sticky.  The biggest challenge is whether or not you can release it in one piece from its resting bow.  It feels like you are wrestling with a small octopus, who delights in slipping through your fingers whilst you are grappling to pick it up gently without wishing to hurt it!

Once it has been through its ‘kneading’ process, then it goes safely back in its box to rest…

This gives us time to use the discarded butter milk to make scones.  A relatively straightforward task of amalgamating all ingredients together in one bowl and then shaping the dough into 4 equal pieces.  I say straightforward and indeed the process was relatively pain free but yet again no batch of 4 scones was the same.

Whilst the scones baked, we were challenged with the ‘one time only’ task of folding the sourdough into a bread shape and placing into our bread cases in preparation of their final rest and then bake.  This created a slightly tense and unexpected degree of hysteria in the kitchen, as each person carefully folded their now familiar dough into the desired shape they wanted whilst quickly trying to manoeuvre the still malleable dough safely into its new home…..and then rest!

The simple task of making bread and butter, only highlighted how on the surface we all appear to have created the same thing. A loaf of bread, some butter and a batch of scones. However, in reality, everyone was different, each person added their own style, taste and personality to their bread and butter making. 

I realised that I enjoyed the precision, the freedom to choose my flavours and the process itself.  Bonding in such a very short time to share, a glimpse of people's lives, laughing at odd shaped scones or the option to have a surprise butter, rather than being fully aware of its contents. I left feeling I had learnt a new skill, and would certainly make sourdough and butter again but it was the shared experience that I personally found the most fulfilling. 

My son, who was still very focussed but had far less concern over exacting measurements and went for a riskier infused butter.  Came away from the experience with a new and unexpected desire to start making his own bread & butter. Naming his gifted 10g of mature starter ‘Jefferson’, he went home to rest his dough before baking it the following day, eager to start feeding and nurturing Jefferson, so he could in turn start baking more bread. 

You may be a bread maker or like us, have never attempted to make sourdough or indeed butter.  You too will follow the recipe a step at a time but what you will create will be completely different to anything anyone else will produce. As you will sprinkle a little of your  personality with the flour and knead a little of your own style into the dough, flavouring your butter with your unique creativity. 

Embrace these little moments of creation—they remind us that our lives, like our bread, are both perfectly crafted and delightfully imperfect.

If you want to experience making Sourdough and Butter at Hampton Manor there are several dates available..  There are also many other workshops to choose from including Cinnamon Bun and Pasta making, together with gardening and wellness workshops, these can be found on the Hampton Manor website www.hamptonmanor.com.

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