I was experimenting with baking again last night. I recently got a couple of silicon loaf moulds which are great for giving loaves better shaped for sandwiches. The trouble is that my standard quantities (500g flour, 10g yeast, 10g salt and 350ml water) yields enough to create two dainty sized loaves or one loaf that would overflow the mould. With a half-remembered concept that hydration was important and 70% was a magic figure (which equates to 500g flour to 350g water) I decided to try reducing the recipe to maintain the key ratios.

I was also going to try baking some muffins but was thwarted by lack of some key ingredients. I need to take the book I would have used for that back to the library (How to be a Domestic Goddess by Nigella Lawson) but, mainly for my own reference, the basic figures are: 75g butter, 200g plain flour, 1/2 teaspoon bicarb of soda, 2 tsp baking powder, 75g caster sugar, pinch of salt, 200ml buttermilk (or 100g each of yoghurt and semi-skimmed milk), 1 large egg, 200g blueberries; makes 12).

Of course, some of those things prove more of a challenge to scale down. Half a large egg? That one can be done by thinking of something to do with the other half! A few seconds in the microwave for a mini scrambled egg would be the obvious solution to me.