The test bake!

We spent a day checking that everything on board the mobile bakery worked properly - by doing a test batch of bread… see how it all worked out …

It was early morning and we were rattling through small country roads towards Izmail, a large tub of sourdough starter in the boot of the car, crammed with bags of flour, sugar, bottled water, butter and milk that we'd picked up at a supermarket on the way. All the ingredients to make around fifty loaves of the iconic Ukrainian palyanytsya sourdough bread on board the mobile bakery, using the recipe which Bake for Ukraine had developed with our friend Katrya.

It was Maria's idea to do a test bake on board, to check that everything was working properly: the wood fired furnace which powered the ovens, the huge two armed dough mixer and the generator, how easy it was to manoeuvre everything around in the space. Two local women - both keen home bakers - were keen to help make the bread, and by the time we arrived quite the crowd had formed. The vehicle was parked in a yard behind a family bakery run by Vlad and his mother - and they gave us a quick tour round, the wood fired ovens blasting out heat, lifting a delicious loaf of dark rye and raisin bread off the cooling rack for an impromptu breakfast.

Staff at Vlad’s bakery taking a tea break

Back on the mobile bakery, Maria and Tatyana were busy calculating the ingredients to make fifty loaves, pouring cartons of milk and bags of flour to the starter, adding water and softened butter as the giant mixer cranked away. It was noisy, but everything seemed in good working order - next, the main ingredient was time, waiting for the dough to have its first proof, periodically stretching and folding it over three hours.

Then it was time to weigh it out and shape it into round loaves, drop each into proofing baskets lined with muslin and wait again. There's a real knack to this shaping process: you don't want the loaf to be too haphazard as it won't rise properly. I've tried, and I definitely don't have the knack. But luckily our amateur bakers were more than capable, and quickly set up a very efficient production line. The mobile bakery was already equipped with a large shelf-lined cupboard, and as the baskets filled up with dough, there was just enough space for everything to fit inside.

The dough mixer at work

A reporter and cameraman from the local television station appeared - and squeezed inside the truck to film the process, and did an impromptu interview with me, Maria stepping in with some admirable simultaneous translation skills. By early evening we were ready to start the exciting part - baking the bread. One of Vlad's staff members leapt in to help manoeuvre the loaves into the huge deck ovens on board - which were surprisingly deep.

Working that oven!

The efficient wood furnace kept them at a constant 250 Celsius, while added steam would enable that trademark burnished crust. It took a couple of goes for everyone else to get the hang of sliding the loaves off the metal paddle and right to the back of the oven - and then out again when they were done - but as soon as it clicked, the rythm of baking set in. Each loaf was adorned with a floured stencil of the Ukrainian tryzub emblem before going into the oven - and the fabulous smell of fresh baked bread began to fill the air.

By the time the last loaf was pulled out of the oven, it was almost eleven o clock at night. A cheer went up "The last one!" and someone shouted "Slava Ukraini!" "Heroyam Slava" came the reply: glory to heroes. Outside the mobile bakery, someone had set up a trestle table with a few bottles of local wine, as we sliced into one of the just-baked loaves to try it. Some butter appeared, a plate filled with slices of lard. "The doctor says it's not good for you to eat bread all hot like that" said Vlad's mum - but all everyone wanted was to reach out for another piece of that warm, crusty sourdough, dripping with melted butter, in the darkness of that back yard: it was the best possible meal, toasting the mobile bakery with actual toast.