Stone Ground Flour

I remember tasting my first wholemeal cake only a couple of years ago.  It was yummy and I was very surprised to discover that the texture was special, as well as the flavour!  Cakes and muffins made with freshly ground flour are slightly gritty (doesn't sound appealing but really is) which gives them interest.  They feel like real food in your mouth.

I make bread, muffins, pikelets and nearly all my pastry from wholemeal.  With things I am uncertain of, such as my pizza recently, I just replace a little of the plain flour with wholemeal.  If it works, which it nearly always does, then I use more wholemeal the next time.  I haven't found a good never-fail recipe for a wholemeal cake yet so if you have one please let me know. 

My flour mill sits permanently on my bench and is used most days.  If a recipe calls for two cups of flour I grind a little extra to be on the safe side.  The flour left in the bowl under the grinder is draped with a tea towel to keep the dust off.  If I know I need more flour in the same day then I would grind it at the same time.  I try not to leave the flour sitting for any length of time because it is so full of goodness when freshly ground that I prefer to grind it then and there.   With my electric mill it only takes about a minute to grind two cups and it comes out slightly warm from the friction of the stones!  You couldn't get fresher than that!