Tag: bread

Chocolate-Pear Tea Bread … Love Baking for Friends

“The key to successful baking is just to enjoy it. Don’t fuss, don’t stress, and don’t try to make it ‘perfect’.”
Kathleen King

Chocolate-Pear Tea Bread A Chocolate-Pear Tea Bread from Baking for Friends by Kathleen King flooded our home with warmth and happiness yesterday! Kathleen’s baby, Tate’s Bake Shop needs little introduction. Iconic in the US, a must stop over in New York. The shop is called a ‘destination … worth putting miles on the odometer’ by the New York Times, and her books a must have on the kitchen shelf!

The creator and owner of the acclaimed Tate’s Bake Shop has an inspiring story. She began her baking career at eleven, selling her all-natural baked goods off a card table on her family’s farm.  Her award winning cookies are now sold at over 5,000 gourmet retailers throughout the US.

I got down to baking the day I received my copy for review! First Milk Chocolate Brownies, then little Chocolate Raspberry Tarts! If the feedback from the teens is anything to go by, the book is a winner!  I connected with Kathleens style of thinking and writing almost instantly. The little snippet before each recipe, the reaction to a test bake, her sons comment on his first bite of the Hurricane Irene Cookies, “Oh, don’t give these to anyone” …  all part of my everyday life as a home baker! It’s a tough {read delicious} cookbook to put down. The very idea of an Apple-Italian Plum Deep Dish Pie had me swooning. Then came  PUMPKIN recipes!!! Sometimes I wish I lived in canned pumpkin country as Kathleen offers a number of winners now that Fall is here. For those who can grab a can, the book is full of delectable options – pumpkin apple cake, pumpkin whoopie pies, two-recipe pumpkin pie, pumpkin mousse pie … and more!

Yesterday I was bitten by the Bread Baking Day bug, and though I had some itty bitty yeasty ideas, they radically changed. It was time for tea bread from my new fave baking book! {Sorry the post is a day late but I have had a plethora of internet issues with the service provider, Firefox etc. Now experimenting with Google Chrome!}   The book has something for everyone. Since I love baking with fruit and since it was Bread Baking Day yesterday, the Chocolate-Pear Tea Bread was my pick! It baked as I furiously punched away at my keyboard, the house filled with the most amazing bakery aromas. Tate’s Bake Shop must feel like home!!

Did I tell you I did everything from scratch that morning? Made a big batch of butter, then saw the recipe had applesauce listed.  Was tempted to substitute but what the heck!! Had a bowlful ready in a matter of minutes and I think that might be the secret of this moist tea bread! Chocolaty, moist and fruity …. it tasted even better the next day!

The Chocolate-Pear Tea Bread is part of the Fetish Fridays at Javelin Warrior.

The book has an interesting chapter on “health & lifestyle baked goods” which includes gluten free and vegan recipes. The book is therapeutic because it connects the baker in me to the bake shop, the beginnings of the success story, touches base with reality and makes you believe in the goodness of natural, home baked comfort food. For me, more so after the rather pathetic recent experience of Rose Cafe. I needed some sense of reaffirmation in bakeries and cafes, and this was it!

Baking for Friends is much more than a book of recipes. It’s about the sweetness of connecting with the ones you love. Kathleen welcomes you into her kitchen in the Hamptons, debuting more than 120 delectable, easy-to-bake recipes—from plump scones and muffins to mouthwatering pies and tarts to scrumptious gluten-free treats. Kathleen shares precious time-saving tips, designed to help you breathe easy in the kitchen without sacrificing taste.

I did a few other bakes which should show up here on PAB soon. The first was a batch of Milk Chocolate Brownies as I was curious to see how they fare since I am a dark chocolate person. I never buy milk chocolate {as a rule} but the hub got me a few bars from HKG and they weighed heavy on my conscience.

Kathleen convinced me to try them, and they were winners in my kids eyes. Fudgy, chocolaty and indulgent, well worth the bake. The lad even inquired if I had added melted chocolate on top {which I hadn’t}, and the continued to unwrap the little parcels like a birthday present! And then I made these absolutely sinful little Chocolate Raspberry Tartlets. The book has one large chocolate tart in a chocolate pastry base. I used another pastry recipe from the same book and made mini tarts. Absolutely divine!! The recipes also include a buttermilk pastry dough which is used extensively through the book. I’ve bookmarked it to try it next! In celebration of the highly anticipated release, Tates has partnered with KitchenAid to sponsor a Baking for Friends Bake-Off on Facebook. Join the Baking for Friends Bake-Off contest on the Tate’s Bake Shop Facebook Page.  Put your own spin on one of Kathleen’s recipes, then supply a photo/recipe for a chance to win $1,000 or a KitchenAid Artisan series stand mixer.

I can also offer readers of Passionate About Baking a  $5 discount on the cookbook from the website. The discount code is BAKEOFF, which entitles you to $5 off a copy of the book .

[print_this]Recipe: Chocolate-Pear Tea Bread

 

Summary: Delicate pears, brown sugar and butter come together with dark chocolate chips to make a specially delicious  moist and flavourful quick tea bread. A delightful fall special from ‘Baking with Friends‘ by Kathleen King.Serves 10

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour 30 minutes

Ingredients:

  • 210g {1 3/4 cup} plain flour
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 100g {1/2 cup} unsalted butter
  • 115g {3/4 cup firmly packed} brown sugar
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1/2 cup applesauce {recipe follows}
  • 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
  • 400g pears {about 2 cups diced} or 2 large {or 3 small pairs}, chopped
  • 150g {1 cup} dark chocolate chips

Method:

  1. Preheat the oven to 180C. Lightly butter a (9 X 5 X 3 loaf pan. Line the bottom with parchment paper.
  2. Sift together the plain flour, baking powder and salt. Reserve.
  3. With an electric beater, whisk the butter and brown sugar until smooth and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Beat in eggs one by one, followed by vanilla  extract and applesauce
  4. On low speed beat in the flour mix.
  5. Fold in the chopped pear and chocolate chips with a spatula, and transfer batter to prepared tin.
  6. Even out the top and bake for about an hour until tester inserted into the centre of the loaf comes out clean.
  7. Let it cool in pan for ten minutes. Then gently invert onto cooling rack and remove parchment paper. Gently turn right side up and leave to cool completely before slicing {we couldn’t resist it of course!}

Recipe: Applesauce

Summary: Basic applesauce recipe. Makes about 1 cup.

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Total Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:

  • 2 Apples, cored, peeled and sliced
  • 1-2 tbsp water {as required}
  • 2 tbsp brown sugar
  • 1/2 tsp lime juice

Method:

  1. Put all the ingredients in a sauce pan and cook until tender, about 20 minutes. {I cooked it for 3 minutes in the microwave and then another 2 minutes. Did not add any water}
  2. Mash the mixture using a potato masher or an electric mixer until it is smooth.
  3. You can add a dash of cinnamon if you like. I didn’t

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This recipe featured on Huffington Post – Dark Chocolate Recipes

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French Fougasse with Roasted Red Bell Pepper, Garlic, Walnut & Mozarella … #fortheloveofbread

“If thou tastest a crust of bread, thou tastest all the stars and all the heavens.”
Robert Browning

Bread we love! French Fougasse with Roasted Red Bell Pepper & Garlic, Walnut & Mozarella … one of the most satisfying, indulgent and ‘would sell like hot cakes’ breads I’ve made ever since I’ve got back into bread baking mode! There’s been a bread baking frenzy of sorts and the net seems  knee deep in dough!I switched into bread baking mode with wonderful wonderful Ottolenghis focaccia and there’s been little looking back. That was a most excellent bread to bake … deep, rustic, complex flavours. The stamp of Ottolenghis culinary brilliance!! It must have been more than a coincidence to find Jamie in Nantes baking focaccia too … whihc is how I walked into the Twelve Loves Challenge. What is that? Simply said, an event  ‘for the love of bread‘!

I missed their August challenge but looks like carbs all the way this month and the bread monster is alive and kicking yeast on PAB! The September Twelve Loaves Challenge calls for Bread with Cheese; for me it meant baking French Fougasse stuffed with cheesy goodness, a bread we LOVE at home.

In French cuisine, fougasse is a type of bread typically associated with Provence but found (with variations) in other regions. Some versions are sculpted or slashed into a pattern resembling an ear of wheat.

I’ve baked this often, always with fresh yeast and plain flour. This time though, with carbs threatening an overdose, I did a tiny substitution with whole wheat flour and used instant yeast. I also literally stuffed the dough, almost making it a more like a baked sandwich than bread. It was delicious … and disappeared soon! I didn’t have Gouda so used mozzarella instead. Any cheese is good and mozzarella was great … warm, stringy, flavourful, cheesily indulgent.You could always halve the cheese but mine had a good dose ‘For the Love of Bread’ of course! Bread with Cheese Twelve Loaves is kneadlessly hosted by my sweet baker friends – Jamie @ Life’s a Feast, Lora @ Cake Duchess and Barb @ Creative Culinary. They are immensely talented ladies, inspirational too.Along side, the very viral FB group on CAL took off and we voted for a bread baking event … it was time to Tame The Yeast Beast. A lot of bread talk took place – dough ‘mentoring‘, recipe swaps, inspirations across the board, ideas exchanged, meals virtually dug into … The flour and yeast industry must be feeling the upswing these days with home bakers doing bread from scratch across the globe!Never has it been a better time to ‘break bread’ together. There’s been plenty of bread talk, FAQs, fresh yeast vs instant yeast vs sourdough {sourdough bread above}, why the yeast won’t rise, the brand of flour, the temperature etc. I’m no expert but have found that more often than never it’s the quality of the yeast which plays spoilsport and gives rise to beastly failure!This week, I also baked my maiden sourdough bread thanks to Sangeeta who shared some sourdough with us at Veda. My bread didn’t come out looking too good, and the recipe needs some further experimenting. Sangeeta’s posted a wonderful sourdough FAQ on her blog and I now know my bread was pleasantly sour because it was proofed for 3 days. The kids loved the flavour … {Sorry about the photographs. All done in a rainy day hurry}Those loaves too disappeared pretty soon… some with lunch, and the rest as sandwiches for dinner. Will tweak the recipe and get sourdough confident soon. I want to make a San Francisco Sourdough bread one day … have you made one yet? Until then, here is one of my favourite meal breads for you, a  French Fougasse, almost a meal in itself. Serve alongside a light salad {I did a chickpea salad}, steamed French beans or char grilled broccoli, maybe a soup.

[print_this]Recipe: Bread – French Fougasse with Roasted Red Bell Pepper & Garlic, Walnut & Mozarella

Summary: Bread we love! With carbs threatening an overdose, did a tiny substitution with whole wheat flour and used instant yeast. I literally stuffed it, almost making it a more like a baked sandwich than bread! Any cheese is good here and mozzarella was great. {Recipe adapted from The Practical Encyclopedia of Baking}. Makes 2 breads {each serves 4}

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 60 minutes {plus rising time}
Ingredients:

  • 350g all purpose flour
  • 100g wholewheat flour
  • 300ml warm water {divided 250ml + 50ml}
  • 1tbsp instant yeast
  • 30g olive oil + 15g for garlic
  • 10g /1.5tsp salt
  • 1 red bell pepper, roasted, skinned, chopped
  • 1 head of garlic, roasted
  • 200g mozzarella, chopped {can decrease if desired. Can use Gouda, cheddar, well drained ricotta etc}
  • 100g walnuts, chopped
  • Extra olive oil for brushing
  • Sea salt for sprinkling

Method:

  1. Squeeze out the roasted head of garlic and mash with 15g /1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil. Reserve in a small bowl.
  2. Take 50ml of water {lukewarm} & dissolve the yeast into it. Stir the salt and 30ml of olive oil into the remaining water.
  3. Mix both flours, make a well in the centre and pour the yeast/water mixture into it.
  4. Knead to a dough, kneading further on a floured surface for 8-10 minutes, till  smooth & elastic.
  5. Thermomix: Place both flours, salt and yeast in bowl of TM and whiz for 5 seconds on speed 10. Add the water and olive oil and mix on Speed 6 for 30 seconds, then knead in closed position for 5-6 minutes.
  6. Place in an oiled bowl, cover the bowl with cling wrap & leave in a warm place for about an hour until doubled.
  7. Punch down & divide into 2.
  8. Roll one half out to about an 12″ oval, spread half the roasted garlic olive oil mixture on the base, sprinkle over half the bell pepper and half the walnuts. Season lightly salt and freshly ground pepper. Roll up gently like a swiss roll.
  9. Fold over the dough 2-3 times on itself to incorporate the stuffing.
  10. Shape each back into a flattish ball, then fold the bottom third up, & top third down to make an oblong.
  11. Roll into ovals with a flat base, cut slits diagonally, three on each side. Pull slightly to open the cuts. {Repeat with the other half.}
  12. Place on parchment lined baking sheets. Cover with cling wrap & leave to double for 35-40 minutes while you preheat the oven.
  13. Preheat the oven to 220C, brush the loaves with olive oil, sprinkle over sea salt and bake for approximately 25-30 minutes till golden brown. Brush with more olive oil as they come out of the oven. Cool on racks. Serve warm {that’s how we love it} or at room temperature.

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Baking| Ottolenghis Brilliant Focaccia … doesn’t get better than this!

“The smell of good bread baking, like the sound of lightly flowing water, is indescribable in its evocation of innocence and delight.”
M.F.K. Fisher

It was bread baking day. Sometime days are like that, now rather rare, and with a relatively ‘free’ day comes the urge to make bread. Chatting with Sangeeta on FB, she was sipping her morning tea, me already on my second coffee and the laundry whirring annoyingly, I was hit with a ‘bread baking feeling‘ . By afternoon I had a brilliant Focaccia bursting with flavour yelling to get out of the oven!The bread recipe caught me by surprise. In my head I had a slightly quicker bread, something which would just do a single rise, yeast & all. I turned to one of my all time favourite books, Ottolenghi, The Cookbook but didn’t read the recipe thoroughly though …I always heel ‘happy’ when I read the book – so much quality food, fresh produce holding the key to the end result, recipes from the heart, colours and flavours that leap out of the pages … and photographs that tantalise the tastebuds! Even if I don’t cook / bake out of it, it keeps me strangely satisfied! I weighed the ingredients, added the water … and took a double take! This was just the starter, or a preferment! There was going to be LOTS of bread! For some reason the elder teen rejects bread these days because of her diet, cutting back carbs etc, yet the rainy weather had me in a bread baking frame of mind!! I wanted to bake real bread, slow bread … not a quick, non yeast bread! Thankfully the trusted Thermomix is always at hand and takes the work out of kneading. There was plenty of rising to happen. First the preferment, then the 1st rise, then some folding {almost like rough puff pastry}, then some more rise. All this folding and rising resulted in a delightfully nice dough… and in turn, a delightfully nice bread!I baked half on day one and punched down the other half and refrigerated it for day two. NICE!! It was even better the next day with a third slow rise in the fridge … and ‘bubbly and squeaky‘ as Dorie Greenspan would call it! It’s a beautiful dough to have in the fridge. Both days the bread didn’t last long… quite an addictive bake!Even the dieting diva loved it and couldn’t stop nibbling. It’s no nice and chewy she declared! That’s the beauty of Ottolenghis recipes…they ALWAYS deliver. The kids had focaccia sandwiches for dinner that night with chicken salami, homemade pesto and mozzarella. The verdict – ♥♥♥!The dehydrated tomatoes from Fab India were SO disappointing; I’m not going back there in a hurry! On the other hand, the queen olives stuffed with pimento from Leonardo are absolute winners. That jar’s not safe once it’s open … you cannot keep away from it … delectable! So is the Leonardo Gold Olive Oil that I slathered on top … it just made the bread sing!!It’s a bread I am going to make often. I like that it baked even better the next day, so maybe the next time I leave it in the fridge for a slow overnight rise. Bread baking days are here again … and I’m loving it!! I am also excited as I have a sourdough starter from Sangeeta on my counter {it’s alive and bubbling I think} and I can see more bread in the coming days!

Other recipes from Ottolenghi on PAB

Ricotta and Spinach Roulade
Dried Cranberry & Walnut Bread
Chargrilled Broccoli Salad
Carrot Walnut Cake with Mascarpone Frosting
Olive Oil Crackers
Preserved Limes
Milled Nut Flour Macarons with Dark Chocolate Ganache
Individual Cherry & Plum Clafoutis

[print_this]Recipe: NAME

Summary: Bursting with flavour, chewy focaccia with great flavour and texture. Another winner from Ottolenghi {minimally adpted from Ottolenghi, The Cookbook}

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 45 minutes {plus rising time}
Ingredients:

  • Dough
  • 330g plain flour
  • 1 tsp light brown sugar
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 tbsp coarse sea salt
  • 8-10 cloves garlic, sliced {can reduce if you like}
  • 50g pitted queen olives with pimento {I use Leonardo}
  • Fresh basil, black olives, sundried tomatoes
  • Starter
  • 1 1/2 tsp active dried yeast
  • 420ml luke warm water
  • 300g plain flour
  • 30g vital gluten

Method:

  1. Starter/Preferment
  2. For the starter put the yeast and water in a large mixing bowl and stir until the yeast dissolves. Add the flour and stir until there is a porridge like consistency. Cover the bowl with a damp cloth and leave somewhere warm for about an hour until it has doubled in size. {will take longer in winter}.
  3. Thermomix: Place starter ingredients in bowl of TM, mix at Speed 6 for 30seconds. Cover and leave in a warm place until doubled in size.
  4. Dough
  5. Mix the starter with the flour, sugar and olive oil. Knead for about six minutes, then add the salt and knead further until the salt is mixed through.
  6. Thermomix: Place starter and remaining dough ingredients in bowl of TM, mix at Speed 6 for 30seconds, then knead for 4 minutes.
  7. Brush a large bowl with oil, place the dough in it and brush the surface of the dough with more oil. Cover the bowl with a damp cloth and leave in a warm place for one hour or until the dough has again doubled in size.
  8. Turn the dough on to a floured bench and stretch and flatten it into a rectangle. Take one of the short ends of the rectangle and fold it into the centre, take the other end and fold it over the first one to form three layers of dough.{I added olives and lots of garlic into the layers too}
  9. Brush a heavy baking tray {around 30cm x 40cm} with oil. Lift the dough on to the tray and flatten it by pressing hard with your hands. Cover with cling film and leave to rise for another hour. During this time check on the dough a couple of times and press it down, spreading it to the edges of the tray.
  10. Preheat the oven to 220C. Press the olives and rosemary into the top of the focaccia and sprinkle with sea salt. Bake in the oven for 10 mins and then reduce the heat to 190C and continue for 15-20 mins or until golden. When it is out of the oven and still hot brush with plenty of olive oil.

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Lamb & Purslane Pide

” You should eat delicious things while you can still eat them,
go to wonderful places while you still can…”
Nora Ephron

Chomp, chomp, chomp. “Ooooh, this is good“, declared Mr PAB between bites. Then gesturing wildly he said, “This MUST go on the blog. It’s GOOD!” So with recommendation, hot off the press oven, here are Lamb and Purslane Pides, or simply put Turkish Flatbread Pizza!What is purslane? It is an annual succulent, found in North India in the hot summer months, is funnily considered a weed in America {LOL}, and cooked extensively through much of Europe, Middle East, Asia and Mexico! It is known as kulfa saag here, and was the only green other than spinach that I could find to replace the chard! It worked a charm …  and went undetected by the ‘green hating‘ terrible teens!It’s been ages since I cooked lamb mince. By healthy choice I’ve switched over th chicken mince but the lamb murmur has been growing stronger of late. My SIL is a great lamb lover and mentioned that she prefers lamb to chicken any day. I was listening. Then the other day, a meeting with someone from BBC GF and she mentioned her undying love for lamb too. Now I was all ears!“Next kebabs will be have to be lamb“, I thought as I got mince from the butcher. However, this morning I lost my inclination to make kebabs. I wanted something on dough, something baked, something quick! I recollected the Turkish pides with sumac I had made long ago and googling got me to a Lamb & Chard Pide recipe on BBC GF!

Pides, local pita bread, are delicious flatbread pizzas topped with different ingredients from Turkeys rich cuisine. You have specialty Turkish pide restaurants across Turkey which sell different avatars of this flatbread. It is popular street food there as well. Regional variations in the shape, baking technique, and topped materials create distinctive styles for each region which include chicken, beef, cheese, potatoes, garlic and many other ingredients.

It came together fairly quickly. I did a quick rise dough, and by the time the dough was rising, the lamb was ready. Baked quick, crisp and nice, the lamb pides were wolfed down faster than the time I took to make them… not a crumb remained!The recipe suggestion was to drizzle pom molasses over it. I didn’t have any but I did have a fresh plum prune sauce I developed for Del Monte. To that, I added some red harissa that I had made last week. It was H O T! 10 red chilies, more fresh red chilies = fiery HOT! That said, it’s almost gone and I am ready to make my next jar! The lamb offered subtle, gentle flavours, lilted further by the cottage cheese and bell pepper. The pickled peppers added some zest, and a drizzle of plum chili sauce brought out a delicious complexity of flavours … all pairing beautifully together!I loved how quickly and beautifully the meal came together. Of course we had the much dreaded power cut halfway through, so I baked a couple on a heavy griddle pan covered with a lid over low heat …. and there was no reason to complain {pictured above}. So there you, if it’s too hot to turn on the oven OR you suffer power cuts like we have all summer, these cook up crisp beautiful on the stove top too!

I had some dough left over, so made some chicken, red harissa and plum sauce pides the next afternoon for the kids. Gone in minutes! They are filling yet light enough for a summer meal. Pair with a green salad, maybechilled summer cooler … and you have a meal!Bon appetit! Afiyet olsun!

And as I leave I wish to thank Lifezing for interviewing me. It was an honour and I loved doing it.
Catch it, with a whole lot of colour here …

… In conversation with Deeba Rajpal From Passionate About Baking

[print_this]Recipe:  Lamb & Purslane Pides

Summary: Turkish flatbread pizza with lamb and  seasonal greens.The lamb offered subtle, gentle flavours, lilted further by the cottage cheese and bell pepper. the pickled peppers added some zest, and a drizzle of plum chili sauce brought out a delicious complexity of flavours. {Makes 10 pides}.  Adapted minimally from BBC Good Food.

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour
Ingredients:

  • Quick pizza dough
  • 410g plain flour
  • 110gm whole wheat flour
  • 1 1/2 tbsp yeast
  • 30ml extra virgin olive oil
  • 4-5 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 1/2 tsp salt
  • 380ml warm water
  • Lamb Purslane Mince
  • 1 medium onion, chopped
  • 5-6 cloves garlic, chopped
  • 500gm lean lamb, minced
  • 2-3 tsp roasted cumin powder
  • 1 tsp cinnamon powder
  • 2-3 bay leaves
  • 2-3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, plus some for drizzling
  • 1  large bunch purslane {Indian kulfa saag, or chard}
  • 1 red bell pepper, chopped
  • Toppings
  • 150gm cottage cheese, cubed, tossed in olive oil
  • Plum Sauce
  • Red Harissa or chili sauce
  • Pickled peppers
  • 150gm mozzarella

Method:

  1. Quick dough
  2. Place both flours, salt and garlic in bowl of food processor and process for a minute in short burst.
  3. Add remaining ingredients and mix.
  4. Knead for 2-3 minutes to get a smooth pliable dough.
  5. Transfer to an oiled bowl, and leave covered in a warm place for about 15 minutes. Store in fridge after its been doubled if you intend to use it later.
  6. Mince
  7. Heat 2-3 tbsp olive oil in a pan. Sweat onions and garlic in this for 4-5 minutes until light pink, add bay leaves and mince and roast well on high heat. Season with cumin, cinnamon and salt. Cook open on medium high for about 10-15 minutes until the mince is cooked, becomes brownish and no liquid remains.
  8. Add 1 tbsp of the plum sauce and 1-2 tsp of hot chili sauce {as per taste/optional}, followed by greens. Sauté for a minute or two until the greens begin to wilt. Take off heat, add bell pepper and mix well. Cool.
  9. Assemble
  10. Preheat the oven to 225C. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper, or sprinkle a pizza stone with cornmeal.
  11. Divide into 2, and then into 5-6 parts each. Make balls, toss lightly in flour and roll out to an oblong shape, stretching one corner to get a tear drop like base.
  12. Top with cooked mince, pickled peppers, cottage cheese and sprinkle with mozzarella.
  13. Bake at 250C for about 20 minutes, until golden brown and puffy. Drizzle with EVOO and serve with a plum chili sauce, or pom molasses…or as is!

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Baking| Hot Cross Strawberry Chocolate Chip Buns … Happy Easter

  “Happy Easter. May happy thoughts and springtime flowers brighten all your Easter hours.”
Author Unknown

So what are you making for Easter Mr PAB asked, referring to the ever ‘hungry’ blog! Moi? I had no plans but he talked me into some. Having studied in convents all my life, I’ve been charmed by hot cross buns for long, long, but never baked a batch. Maybe this was the time! Soon enough,  the sweet aroma of Hot Cross Strawberry Chocolate Chip Buns wafted gently through the house!

A hot cross bun is a sweet, spiced bun made with currants or raisins and marked with a cross on the top, traditionally eaten on Good Friday. In many historically Christian countries, buns are traditionally eaten hot or toasted on Good Friday, with the cross standing as a symbol of the Crucifixion. Sharing a hot cross bun with another is supposed to ensure friendship throughout the coming year, particularly if “Half for you and half for me, Between us two shall goodwill be” is said at the time. Because of the cross on the buns, some say they should be kissed before being eaten.

My version is non traditional yet quite delicious! I bookmarked a few recipes including one in my Thermomix cookbook, but eventually went for an oft used basic recipe. It’s the one I adapted for Apple Cranberry Almond Olive Oil Pull-Apart Loaf & Popovers from The Pioneer Woman, a ‘light as air’ flavourful dough, one that can take a stuffing, and is quite a fun dough to play with!

Stuffing? Yes indeed! I had a small idea creeping into my head as I had strawberries calling to be roasted yet again. I wanted to try adding a small ‘heart‘ of that roasted goodness into my hot cross buns. I cooked the syrup to a thick reduction to ensure the filling stayed ‘stuffed’ in! Also, instead of traditional currants I opted for chocolate chips.

The recipe never fails. For the ‘cross’ on top I piped some thick stirred plain flour and water. The buns were delicious and disappeared pretty soon. The red heart of roasted balsamic strawberries was a nice surprise as you bit through the bread flooding your palette with flavour and balsamic sweetness. It paired well, as does the chocolate, with an otherwise not too sweet bread.Buttermilk keeps the dough light, and the vanilla bean adds gentle, beautiful flavour. If I had placed the buns apart on a large baking sheet I’d have managed individual hot cross buns, but since I used a smaller baking pan, they rose into each other and resulted in a pull apart bread. No regrets however!!I like this dough recipe, and keep simplifying it as I use it more and more. The basic dough is eggless, butter free and light. Yeast, soda and baking powder combine to make sure it rises well. Its versatile too as I’ve used it in Savoury Chili Cheese & Garlic Olive Oil Pull-Apart Bread some time ago. More recently it popped up on PAB as the base of Sweet Orange, Roasted Strawberry and Chocolate Buttermilk Rolls.It’s one those recipes you can keep returning to, experiment with and enjoy in different avatars. I might try using the dough for a slow overnight rise sometime soon. So many ideas to keep the hungry PAB and kids happy, but often the lack of time!

[print_this]Recipe: Hot Cross Strawberry Chocolate Chip Buns

Summary: Light and airy hot cross buns made with a yeasted {eggless] buttermilk dough flavoured with vanilla beans and chocolate chips. A sweet roasted balsamic strawberry reduction floods the palette as you bite through the otherwise not so sweet bun.

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 45 minutes plus resting time
Ingredients:

  • Buttermilk Dough
  • 240ml {1 cup} buttermilk, room temperature
  • 70gm {1/4 cup} granulated sugar
  • 60g {1/4 cup} extra light olive oil, or any neutral oil
  • 1 1/8 tsp active dry yeast
  • 270gm {2 1/4 cups} all purpose flour
  • 1/4 tsp baking powder
  • 1/4 tsp baking soda
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1/2 vanilla bean, scraped
  • Filling
  • 50gm {1/4 cup} unsalted butter, melted
  • 100gm dark chocolate, chopped {good quality}
  • 1 serving roasted balsamic strawberries {recipe follows}
  • Icing
  • 1/3 cup flour
  • Enough water to make it into a thick paste {approximately 1/4 cup or less}
  • Roasted Balsamic Strawberries
  • 225gm strawberries
  • 30gm  {2tbsp} brown sugar
  • 15ml {1tbsp} balsamic vinegar

Method:

  1. Buttermilk Dough
  2. In a large bowl or  your food processor,  place all the dry ingredients, followed by the oil and buttermilk. Knead to a soft pliable dough. It will be sticky. Cover and let it rise for at least an hour.
  3. {Thermomix: Place all ingredients in TM bowl. Mix at Speed 6 for 5 seconds. Knead at intermittent speed for 2 minutes. Leave dough in TH for an hour until it doubles. Cover TM if weather is cold.}
  4. Assembling:
  5. Roll the dough into a large rectangle. Spread 1/3rd of the butter over it, and sprinkle half the chocolate chips over. Fold over twice like you would do puff pastry and repeat again with 1/3rd butter and the remaining chocolate chips.
  6. Divide the dough into half, then into 6 equal portions each. You should have 12 portions. On a lightly floured surface, gently roll the dough into balls.
  7. Take a ball of dough, flatten on the palm of your hand, place a scant tsp of completely cooled roasted balsamic strawberries on it, and pull the edges over it to cover the filling. Gently roll back into a ball, ensuring that the filling is trapped in. Place seam side down on a parchment lined baking sheet/pan.
  8. Repeat with remaining balls of dough.
  9.  Allow to rise covered while you make the flour mix for the cross and preheat the oven to 220C.
  10. Mix the flour gradually with the water to get a thick paste. Place into a ziploc bag, snip off a corner and pipe crosses over the dough balls.
  11. Bake for 10 minutes on 220C, reduce the heat to 200C and continue to bake for a further 10-15 minutes until nice and golden. Paint with the remaining butter as soon as the buns come out of the oven.
  12. Serve warm or at room temperature.
  13. {Caution: Don’t be tempted to bite into a hot ‘hot cross bun’ as the filling might burn your mouth.}
  14. Roasted Balsamic Strawberries
  15. Toss the quartered strawberries well with the brown sugar and balsamic vinegar. Bake at 180C for about 45 minutes until nice and bubbly, stirring once or twice. Strain the strawberries and reserve in a bowl. Place the liquid in a pan and reduce over heat until nice and thick. We need a thick strawberry reduction for the stuffing! Cool completely, transfer to a clean glass jar and refrigerate until needed.

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Sweet Orange, Roasted Strawberry & Chocolate Buttermilk Rolls … the best of The Pioneer Woman

“I wanted to make a cookbook full of food that you’d absolutely love, because I love all of you.”
Ree Drummond

Of course I got tempted again! What’s not to love about Sweet Orange Rolls? The day I saw these delicious rolls from Rees new cookbook, I was in a trance. 24 hours later, my kitchen was enticingly orangey, deeply strawberryish … and like the best bakery in town. These Sweet Orange, Roasted Strawberry and Chocolate Buttermilk Rolls were winners.I knew they would be! I am a huge fan of The Pioneer Womans cinnamon roll dough, a dough I have endlessly experimented with outstanding results each time. If the Apple Cranberry Almond Olive Oil Pull-Apart Loaf & Popovers weren’t a screaming success enough, these Savoury Chili Cheese & Garlic Olive Oil Pull-Apart Bread reconfirmed it!So when I saw the dashing and talented {in Rees words of course, but seriously, it’s true} Brians post on  A Thought For Food, I knew my homemade bitter tangerine marmalade had found a new destination. This has turned out to be the yummiest one yet. It was a bread dessert waiting to be baked, and while I worked on the dough I made changes, just a few changes.Nothing radical as the basic recipe is a winner. I had some buttermilk on hand, so in it went instead of milk. Then, when I opened the fridge to take out the jar of marmalade, I couldn’t resist thinking the oranges might enjoy some colourful company …So the marmalade got slathered over with some roasted balsamic strawberries I had made the day before. These are delightful to have in the fridge. For times when you buy too many strawberries in temptation and then panic that they will spoil, this is a good recipe. It keeps them safe for at least a few days longer. I make small portions at a time and put them into fruit bakes, sandwich and top a cake with cream, or drizzle a few spoonfuls over a parfait or ice cream. You can see them in these – Quark Mousse Cake, Quarkauflauf, Eggless Caramel Cream Cakes. Just yesterday I topped a cheesecake with the left overs. So many ways and so much fun; taste, colour and variety all packed into one jar! Because they are oven roasted, they are nice and thick, they don’t ‘leak‘ extra liquid into the dough to make it soggy. To keep the ‘not so terrible any more’ teen happy I threw in some dark chocolate too. Orange, strawberry and chocolate together worked some magic in there to serve up some darned delicious dessert rolls! We loved them … LOTS! {I made 2 individual pop over rolls too with left over dough}.How do I describe something bursting with the freshness of orange, seduced by the heady combination of deep roasted strawberries and dark chocolate … ooeeey, gooeey, wonderful. They were fabulous warm, and very very good at room temperature. And with obligatory lashings of unsweetened low fat cream, even more DELICIOUS!This is my new favourite dessert – light, eggless, fruity, chocolaty. I love it! Dark chocolate only makes good things even gooder better. It’s adapted minimally from the Rees new cookbook, The Pioneer Woman Cooks – Food From My Frontier. If the recipe is anything to go by, the book has to be a winner.I made a half quantity and am glad I did. Half was hard to keep away from, how could we have  justified digging into 48 rolls? Next 24 to be made soon, and more bitter marmalade making coming up just for these! Yes, they were that good! Thank you Brian for the inspiration to bake this ‘miracle‘! Loved your ‘thought for food‘!

[print_this]Recipe: Sweet Orange, Roasted Strawberry & Chocolate Buttermilk Rolls

Summary: Sweet dessert rolls bursting with the freshness of orange flavour, seduced by deep roasted strawberries and then given the kick of dark chocolate … all ooeeey, gooeey, wonderful. Adapted minimally from The Pioneer Woman Cooks – Food From My Frontier

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour, 20 minutes {plus resting time}
Ingredients:

  • Buttermilk Dough
  • 240ml {1 cup} buttermilk
  • 70gm {1/4 cup} granulated sugar
  • 60ml {1/4 cup} vegetable oil
  • 1 1/8 tsp active dry yeast
  • 270gm {2 1/4 cups} all purpose flour
  • 1/4 tsp baking powder
  • 1/4 tsp baking soda
  • 1 tsp salt
  • Filling
  • 50gm {1/4 cup} unsalted butter, melted
  • 4 tbsp orange marmalade
  • 1 serving roasted balsamic strawberries {recipe follows}
  • 100gm dark chocolate chips {good quality}
  • 1/2 cup {1 stick} butter, melted
  • Icing
  • Zest and juice of 1 orange
  • 60gm {1/2 cup} powdered sugar
  • 50gm {1/4 cup} unsalted butter, melted
  • 2-3 tbsp milk, room temperature
  • Dash of salt
  • Roasted Balsamic Strawberries
  • 225gm strawberries
  • 30gm  {2tbsp} brown sugar
  • 15ml {1tbsp} balsamic vinegar

Method:

  1. In a large saucepan over low heat, heat the milk, granulated sugar, and oil until warm but not hot. Add the yeast and 2 cups of flour, then mix and transfer to a bowl. Cover and let it rise for at least an hour.
  2. Stir in the remaining 1/2 cup flour, the baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
  3. {Thermomix: warm milk, sugar,oil, yeast and flour in TM bowl. Mix at Speed 6 for 5 seconds. Knead at intermittent speed for 2 minutes. Leave dough in TH for an hour until it doubles. Cover TM if weather is cold. Add baking powder, baking soda and salt. Mix on reverse speed 2 for 10 seconds.}
  4. Roll the dough into a long rectangle, about 15 inches wide by 10 inches deep. You’ll want it to be as thin as you can get so that you can add plenty of goo.
    Drizzle the melted butter all over the surface of the dough. Use your fingers to smear it all around so that it coats evenly.
  5. Spread the orange marmalade all over the buttered dough, distributing it as evenly as you can, followed by the roasted balsamic strawberries.  Sprinkle as much good quality dark chocolate all over the two …
  6. Using both hands in a back-and-forth motion, gradually roll the dough toward you into one long log. {I took a little long getting here, so the dough began to rise. It’s a slightly shaggy dough, so might be a good idea to roll it on parchment, especially if you fill it ‘up’ like I did!}
  7. Pinch the seam to seal it. Slice the log-o’-dough into 1/2 inch pieces.
  8. Preheat the oven to 190C. Place the rolls in a buttered baking dish and allow them to rise for 20 minutes while the oven preheats. Bake for 15 to 17 minutes until nice and golden.
  9. While the rolls are baking, make the icing.  Add the zest and juice of 1 orange to a bowl. Add the powdered sugar and salt, some milk.
  10. Then some melted butter and whisk it together until it’s nice and smooth and lovely.
  11. Pull the rolls out of the oven when they’re golden brown and drizzle on the icing right off the bat. The piping hot rolls will suck that gorgeous icing right down into their crevices and the whole thing pretty much becomes a miracle.
  12. Serve them warm.
  13. Roasted Balsamic Strawberries
  14. Toss the quartered strawberries well with the brown sugar and balsamic vinegar. Bake at 180C for about 45 minutes until nice and bubbly, stirring once or twice. Cool completely, transfer to a clean glass jar and refrigerate.

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