This ember-baked dolche cake takes classic brioche dough and bakes it over live coals, topped with fresh raspberries and finished with hot embers on the lid for even, oven-like heat. Made in a Dutch oven on your Somerset Grill, it's a simple way to bring bakery-style bread to the fire. Perfect for a weekend cook with something sweet at the end of it.
WHAT YOU'LL NEED
- Your Somerset Grill
- Tongs
- Cast iron Dutch oven with lid
- Baking paper
- Fire shovel or scoop (for moving embers onto the lid)
- Wire rack
Ingredients
- 500g strong white bread flour
- 80g caster sugar
- 1 tsp fine salt
- 7g instant yeast
- 250ml warm milk
- 1 large egg
- 60g soft butter
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- Zest of 1 lemon or orange
- 1 punnet fresh raspberries, about 150g
Method
Making the Dough
Combine the flour, caster sugar, salt and instant yeast in a large mixing bowl.
Whisk the warm milk, egg, soft butter, vanilla and citrus zest together in a separate bowl, then bring the wet and dry ingredients together until a dough forms. Knead for 8–10 minutes until smooth and no longer sticky.
Cover and leave somewhere warm for around 1 hour, or until doubled in size.
Fire and Vessel Setup
Set up your Somerset Grill and build a steady bed of embers in the ember maker well ahead of time.
Line your Dutch oven with baking paper and grease lightly with butter.
Press the risen dough evenly into the lined pot, then push the raspberries into the top of the dough all over.
Baking Over Embers
Put the lid on the Dutch oven and set it over a bed of hot embers.
Shovel a layer of hot embers directly onto the lid. This gives you heat from above and below, just like a proper oven.
Bake for 20–25 minutes, rotating the pot occasionally so it colours evenly. You're looking for a deep golden crust and a loaf that sounds hollow when tapped.
Serving
Lift the loaf out using the baking paper and let it cool slightly on a wire rack before slicing.
Top Tip: Keep a small pile of embers ready to top up the lid partway through baking. This keeps the top heat consistent and stops the crust from cooling before the loaf is properly set.
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