BBD#06 - Coffee, Almond & Choc Chip Braided Bread

When Eva of Sweet Sins announced she was this month’s host of Bread Baking Day and her chosen theme was shaped breads, I knew I had to participate. I love playing with dough, the smells, textures and flavours they produce are simply wonderful and this event sounded like one I could have a lot of fun with.

I decided to use my favourite sweet bread dough recipe, which produces a wonderfully soft and fluffy bread thanks to the use of milk and an egg which keeps the dough supple and moist. My first thought was to flavour it somehow and bake it in a ring mould, but I wanted to have more fun with it than this and so I hit upon the idea of plating/braiding it instead. As I began divide the dough into thirds for braiding, I suddenly had the idea to flavour each of the three strands of dough with a different flavour. I chose to flavour my dough with coffee, dark chocolate chips and chopped almonds along with almond essence for extra flavour.

I really liked how the braid turned out, the different appearance and flavours of dough intertwining and made the bread look speckled and intriguing. Once baked, the braid had turned lovely and golden brown and looked quite ordinary on top, but revealed its mix of flavours upon slicing. This also made it incredibly fun to eat as each bite contained a new flavour, or combination of two flavours that switched order with every slice cut. However, be warned this also makes it hard to stop eating it.

This dough is so easy to work with that I think even people who have a fear of yeast would be able to handle it. It requires very little work and looks after itself and always seems to produce excellent results. It’s also very versatile and will take to any flavours or add-ins you wish to throw at it.

Coffee, Almond & Choc Chip Braided Bread
For the bread dough
350g strong plain bread flour

50g caster sugar

¼ tsp salt
25g fresh yeast
50g butter
200ml milk

1 egg

For the added flavours
1 tbsp dark chocolate chips
2tsp instant coffee granules
1 tbsp water
2 tsp flour
20g whole almonds
½ tsp almond extract
Method
Combine flour, sugar and salt in a large bowl.Measure out the milk into a jug and cut the butter over the top of it and heat gently until warm but not to hot. (It shouldn’t get hotter than body temperature).Break up the yeast and stir into the milk mixture before whisking in the egg.
Pour this milky mixture over the flour and use your fingers to bring everything together and then kneed on a lightly floured surface for 5 minutes until soft and stretchy, adding more flour if necessary. Transfer to a greased bowl, cover with cling film and leave to prove for 25 minutes by which time it should have double in size.Knock back the risen dough on a lightly floured surface and divide into three equal pieces.
Knead the chocolate chips into one third of the dough and set to one side.
Mix the water into the instant coffee and add the flour to make a paste. Add this paste into another third of the dough and knead until mostly incorporated but a few streaks remain.
Chop the almonds into small chunks and knead into the final piece of dough along with the almond essence.
Using your hands, roll out the three balls of dough into long stands.
Place the strands side by side and plate them together into one loaf.
Place the loaf on a floured baking tray and brush the top with a little milk or sugared water. Preheat the oven to 210C and allow the bread to prove while the oven heats up.
When the oven is up to temperature, place the bread into the oven and bake for 18-20 minutes until golden brown and springy when pressed. (You may need to turn the baking tray round half way through baking if one end is browning more quickly than the other).Allow to cool for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire wrack to cool.

Update: The round-up is now up! Click for Part 1 & Part 2

Hazelnut Shortbread Stars

Every Christmas I like to make an assortment of cookies, truffles, preserves and cakes to give away as gifts. Among the usual suspects of biscotti, oat cookies, coffee truffles and peanut butter balls I decided I wanted to include a nutty cookie. I found a recipe for walnut shortbread that I though sounded perfect, but as always, I tweaked it to fit my own preferences. I chose to use hazelnuts in place of the walnuts, a nut I am getting more and more fond of. I also decided to toast the ground hazelnut to enhance their nuttiness. A small dash of cinnamon added a warming note and as it was Christmas, I cut the shortbreads into stars instead of circles.

The dough for these shortbreads was a little tricky to work with, as it was very crumbly. I ended up adding a few teaspoons of water to help it stick together, to no ill effect. I was a little surprised at the suggested baking time, but they do need this long as the oven temperature is quite cool meaning they bake and turn crisp without turned too brown.

I was really pleased how the cookies turned out. They were just as shortbread should be, buttery without being greasy; crumbly in texture and just firm enough so they didn’t disintegrate when you take a bite and yet still melt in your mouth. The toasted hazelnut flavour really came through and added a nutty crunch and speckled appearance which I loved. These shortbreads ended up being my favourite cookie this Christmas, I will definitely be making these again.

Hazelnut & Cinnamon Shortbread Stars
Recipe adapted from Delia Smith
Ingredients
50g hazelnuts (whole or pre-ground)
110g butter
50g caster sugar
175g plain flour
50g rice flour or cornflour
½ tsp cinnamon
4 tsp water (only use if mix too dry)

Method
Preheat the oven to 150C and grease a large baking sheet.
Pulse the hazelnuts in a food processor until finely ground (or use pre-ground)
Scatter the ground hazelnuts over a tray (not the greased one) and place into the oven to turn lightly golden, only 2-3 minutes. Keep an eye on them to make sure they don’t burn. Remove from the oven and allow to cool.
Cream and butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.
Add all the other ingredients and work the mixture together until it forms a smooth, yet still crumbly dough. Add the water, a teaspoon at a time, if the dough is so crumbly that it won’t stick together.
Wrap the dough in clingfilm and chill in the fridge for 30 minutes.
After chilling, cut the dough in half and roll out on a lightly floured surface until 4mm thick. It will still be crumbly, but after rolling the dough just smooth any cracks with your hands.
Cut out stars, or other shapes, using a cutter and place onto the greased baking tray.
Repeat with the remaining dough.
Bake in the oven for 40-45 minutes until lightly golden brown and crisp.
Transfer the shortbreads to a wire wrack to cool.
Makes around 35 stars.

Festive Mince Pies

Christmas is nearly here, the tree is up, the decorations are displayed and thick fluffy jumpers are making an appearance. The festive baking is well underway and along with it come mince pies. Those little pastry cases full of boozy fruits, sugar and spice that everyone seems to feel must always be on hand to feed unexpected guests and well wishers. They have become associated with the last few days before Christmas, in my family at least. This year I had the added bonus of being able to make mince pies using my own homemade mincemeat (fruitmince) that I made a few weeks previously.

Its had time to mature, the flavours have mingled and its sweet sticky fruitiness has developed. I found another bonus to making my own mincemeat, which was because my mixture was heated before being jarred, the suet had dissolved throughout the mixture meaning that when I baked with it, it didn’t bubble over the edges of the pastry, making the pies stick to the tin as I have found with other mixes. This is because when the suet is left raw, it creates extra ‘liquid’ when it melts and often bubbles over the top of the pies. Having the suet already melted also means you can fill the pastry cases with even more mincemeat without the fear of it bubbling over.

I decided to make a batch for this years last offering to the Monday Munchers. I decided to make them more festive by cutting out Christmassy shapes of pastry for the tops, rather than using a round disc of pastry like most store bought ones. I used a star, holly leaf and a Christmas tree cutter. I also dusted them with a snowy shower of icing sugar before serving which made them look extra festive.

They went down very well and were full of flavour. My only small disappointment was that the mincemeat was not that boozy. You could tell there was some there, but it wasn’t overly obvious, but then again this allowed the flavour of the fruits to shine through so I suppose it depends what flavour you want. I’m sure a blob of brandy butter would help enhance the boozy aspect.

These are a must have in my family at this time of year, even for people who don’t like mice pies, they still expect to see them on the table. It just wouldn’t be Christmas without the site and smell of baking mince pies.

Mince Pies
Ingredients
½ jar mincemeat
500g sweet shortcrust pastry
Milk, caster sugar and icing sugar to decorate

Method
Preheat the oven to 190C and place a baking tray in the oven to heat up. Make sure you have a bun tin to hand.
Flour a work surface and roll out two-thirds of the pastry until around 4mm thick.
Cut out circles of the pastry and place into the bun tin, ensuring the circles are wider that the top of the bun hole in order to fit properly.
Spoon heaped teaspoons of mincemeat into each pastry cup.
Roll out the remaining pastry and cut out festive shapes and add to the tops of the pies.
Brush the pies with milk, cream or egg wash and dust with a lightly sprinkling of caster sugar.
Place the mice pies into the oven onto the hot baking tray (this helps ensure the base of the pies get crisp too) and bake for 12-15 minutes until golden brown and crisp.
Remove from the oven and allow to cool slightly in the tin before transferring to a wire wrack.
Serve when still warm with a snowy dusting of icing sugar.
Makes around 14 mince pies

Poinsettia Christmas Cake

Some of you may remember that a couple of months ago I mentioned I had started attending a cake decorating and sugar flower class. The course ran for 4 months and the last 5 weeks of this was spent planning and completing our very own projects – a Christmas cake, iced and decorated using our new skills. The best part was we were free to choose whatever design we liked, meaning that everyone’s cakes turned out very differently. Some people went very modern with red and gold swirls, others made little penguin figurines or piped on Christmas tress. I decided to go quite traditional and make a classic Christmas flower – the poinsettia.

There is quite a lot of thought, planning and patients required to make a Christmas cake, but as the saying goes ‘good things comes to those who wait.’
We spent one week looking through books and designing how we wanted our cakes to look. Then we made the actually rich fruit cake at home and kept it for two weeks, feeding it with brandy. After this it was marzipaned, iced and then decorated over consecutive weeks. In-between these times we worked on our decorations. In total it took 6 weeks from idea to finished cake. The actuall cake itself is not that difficult and if you didn’t want to ice or decorate your cake you would be able to have made and be eating your Christmas cake in just two weeks, but it always tastes better if allowed to mature for a few weeks.

The following recipe is my favourite for a rich fruit cake. Its one I make every year for Christmas, but its also good for special celebration cakes or even as the bases of a wedding cake. It chock full of fruit, moist and full of rich spicy flavours. A rich fruit cake such as this one can be kept for several months, happily getting older and maturing gracefully before being consumed by a bunch of hungry happy people on Christmas day.

Rich Christmas Fruit Cake
Ingredients
175g raisins
175g sultanas
175g currants
80g dried apricots
100g glacé cherries
Zest of 1 lemon
Zest of 1 orange
225g plain flour
1½ tsp mixed spice
45g ground almonds
150g light soft brown sugar
150g butter or margarine
1 tbsp black treacle
3 eggs
2 tbsp brandy
45g blanched almonds
Extra brandy for feeding

Method
Grease and line the base and the sides of an 8inch/20cm tin.
Weight out the currants, raisins and sultanas and then gradually sort through them, a handful at a time, removing any stalks attached to the fruit before placing into a large bowl
Weigh out the apricots and cherries and cut into small pieces using a pair of scissors. Grate the zest from the lemon and the orange and add it all into the bowl along with the raisins.
Pour over the 2tbsp brandy, stir and then cover the bowl with clingfilm and leave for at least 12 hours or preferably overnight, to allow the fruit to soak up the brandy.
The following day, preheat the oven to 140C. Grease and line the base and the sides of an 8inch/20cm tin.
Chop the blanched almonds into small chunks and add to a clean large bowl along with the remaining ingredients. Beat for 3 minutes until mixture is smooth and well combined.
Add the soaked fruit to the batter mixture and stir together using a spatula until all the fruit is well coated and distributed.
Spoon the mixture into the prepared tin, level the surface and then create a dip about 2cm deep in the centre of the cake. (This compensates for the usual dome/rise when baking and results in a flatter cake) Place the cake in the oven and bake for 2 hours and 45 minutes. After the 2 hours you may want to quickly add a sheet of foil over the top of the tin to prevent it from over browning.
Ensure that a skewer inserted in the cake comes out clean before removing from the oven and allowing to cool in the tin.
Prick the top of the cake all over with a fine skewer and then slowly drizzle over another tablespoon of brandy.
Remove the cake from the tin and wrap in clingfilm, leaving the greaseproof paper attached to the cake. (This helps keep it moist).
Place the cake in an airtight container and lave in a cool dark place for a minimum of two weeks to mature. Unwrap it once a week to ‘feed’ with an extra tablespoon of brandy before re storing until required.
The cake can be made anything from 2 weeks to 6 months ahead of time. The brandy preserves it. (Although I have never kept a cake longer than 3 months myself).


To marzipan the cake – this must be done one week in advance of putting on the icing.
600g marzipan
2 tbsp apricot jam
Icing sugar

2-3 weeks ahead of wanting to eat the cake, it is time to cover it in marzipan.
To do this unwrap the cake, carefully peel off all the greaseproof paper and discard.
Turn the cake upside down and place it onto a sturdy cake board, 2inch wider than the cake. (If you cake rose into a very high peak, carefully cut the cake to a level surface before placing upside down).
Examine the cakes top and sides carefully. Fill any tiny holes or crumbled edges with small pieces of marzipan until all edges are flat and smooth, you don’t want any small gaps for the icing to sag into later.
Then dust a work surface with icing sugar and roll out the remaining marzipan into a large circle, ensuring it is quite a bit wider that your cake as it has to drape over the sides as well as cover the top.
When the circle is wide enough, heat the apricot jam with 2 teaspoons of water in the microwave until melted. Quickly brush the hot jam over the top and sides of the cake which acts as glue.
Pick up your circle of marzipan with the help of the rolling pin, centre it over the top of the cake and place it down, allowing the excess to drape over the sides of the cake.
Use your hands to smooth the draped marzipan neatly over the sides.
Cut off any excess marzipan from round the bottom edge, allowing a ½ cm rim with which to push back against the cake to ensure there are no air holes.
Place the cake in a container and allow the marzipan to firm up and dry out for at least a week before attempting to ice it.


To ice the cake using fondant icing
500g fondant icing
Icing sugar
White alcohol e.g. vodka

After allowing the marzipan to dry out you are now ready to ice the cake.
Roll out the fondant icing in the same way as the marzipan, ensuring once again that it is wider than the cake. A good tip is to make it once inch/2.5cm wider that the cake board, which is already wider than the cake.
When the icing is rolled out, brush the cake with the white alcohol and cover the cake with the icing as before, carefully smoothing down the sides and cutting away any excess.
You can then use a cake smoother to rub over the top and sides to remove any fingerprints or untidy folds, but this is not essential.
After icing, place the cake in a large cardboard box and leave for a further week before decorating.
The cake needs to breath, and the icing will sweat if kept in an airtight container. If you do not have a cardboard box large enough, place in your normal container but leave the lid offset to allow the air to circulate. However, if you wish to crimp the edge, as I have done with my cake, you will need to do this immediately after icing the cake while the icing is still soft.

One week after icing, your cake, you are free to decorate it as you please. I chose to crimp the top of edge of my cake to add an interesting border, which requires a crimping tool that you can buy from cake decorating shops.

During the times the cake was setting, I made my poinsettia sugar flower. This has to be done by cutting out each leaf from special sugar flower paste and attaching them onto florist’s wire before being twisted or draped into shape and allowing to dry out. The leaves and petals of the flower are then taped together, one by one, using florists tape until the complete flower is formed. The ends are cut and they are placed into a small plastic flower folding tube (called a flower pick) which is then pushed into the cake to display your flower.
For me, this was the most difficult and nerve wrecking part of the cake. Making the petals was fine, but when it came to taping them together, three of my petals broke off from their wires! Luckily I managed to reattach two of them so all was not lost. The petals were so fragile that I held my breath every time I accidentally knocked two of them together. I was so relieved when it was finished and displayed on my cake, but then my next challenge was driving it home. I winced every time I went over a bump in the road, imaging the leaves knocking together and breaking. I drove slowly (thankfully it was quite late and no one else around on the roads) and amazingly it made it home in one piece – phew!

I also cut out tiny holly leaves of sugar flower paste (although fondant would work just as well for flat decorations) and used them to decorate the edge of the cake. I then tied a thin red ribbon around the centre and piped shells in royal icing around the base and piped small red dots of royal icing in-between each shell.

I was absolutely thrilled with how the cake turned out. Despite making many Christmas cakes in the past, I have never attempted to decorate one properly before, but my cake decorating course has really given me the confidence and skills I needed. It took a lot of time, effort, nerves and planning but I really feel the end result was worth it. It will look so special displayed on Christmas day and will be my oven special contribution to the foodie festivities, which if I’m honest, are usually left to my parents. I had such a lot of fun at my cake class and met a lovely group of ladies. It has inspired me to keep on practising and trying out new designs for future celebrations.

Happy Christmas to you all!

Homemade Fruity Christmas Mincemeat

Whenever someone mentions the word ‘mincemeat’ to you I expect your first thought is of a spicy fruity concoction, closely followed by mince pies. Although this is correct, I expect few people imagine (or even know) that mincemeat used to contain real minced up meat – hence its name.

The recipe originated in England some 500 years ago as an alternative method of preserving meat rather than salting or smoking it. Mince pies made with real meat are less sweet and denser than the more modern fruit only version and were traditionally eaten as part of a main course with more meat than fruit being included into the recipe. In the 17th century as fruits and spices began to be more widely available, they began to be included more than the meat. As the dish got sweeter accordingly, the meat was lost altogether from the pies and they were transformed into the sweet treats we now recognise and love today. You can still buy traditional meat mincemeat, but more from specialist shops and delis than from supermarkets as there is not a high demand for it.

I chose to make the sweeter meat free alternative, so I suppose really I should rename them fruitmince pies. Hehe I quite like that. The recipe I used was from Delia Smith, although I made a few adjustments by replacing the mixed peel in the recipe with dried cranberries and apricots as I thought this would give a better more festive appearance and flavour. The recipe is also a little unique in its own right, as most recipes tell you to just mix the fruits and then pack them raw, into jars. However, this one instructs you to mix all the fruits together and leave over night to blend and develop before baking the mixture in a very low oven for a few hours to allow the suet to melt and everything to mix and mingle together. You then douse it in alcohol and seal into jars. Although this might sound a little odd, when you think about it, it actually makes a lot of sense. Think of when you make a rich fruit cake, you leave the fruit to soak overnight in alcohol, and it develops and smells good, but just think how wonderful it smells after being slowly baked for a few hours. The smells and flavour then develop to a whole new level, especially when left to mature for a few weeks before eating. I tasted a little of mine before jarring it and it tasted amazing, much better than shop bought with can often be overly sharp or bitter. This was bursting with fruity flavours, full of warming spices, sweet plump fruits, a great zestiness form the fresh lemons and oranges with a slight nutty flavour. The ruby red cranberries, apple and apricots were a lovely contrast to the darker more traditional fruits. I can’t wait to see what it tastes like in a few weeks time.

Homemade Christmas Fruitmince
Ingredients
450g Bramley apples
225g shredded suet (I used vegetable suet)
350g raisins
225g sultanas
225g currants
115g dried cranberries
115g dried apricots
350g light soft brown sugar
Zest and juice from 2 oranges
Zest and juice from 2 lemons
30g slivered almonds
30g hazelnuts
4 tsp mixed spice
1 tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp freshly ground nutmeg
6 tbsp Brandy

You will also need 5-6 jam jars.

Method
Peel, core and finely dice the apples. Add to a very large bowl with the rest of the fruits, chopping the apricots into small pieces using a pair of scissors.
Zest the lemons and oranges into the bowl and then cut in half and add all the juice too.
Sprinkle over the sugar, spices, almonds and suet. Chop the hazelnuts into coarse pieces and add to the bowl.
Give everything a good stir together, ensuring the juice and sugar are evenly distributed over the fruits.
Cover the bowl with clingfilm and leave to sit for 12-24 hours in a cool place.
The next day, preheat the oven to 120C and set your oven shelves to the lowest part fo the oven.
Transfer all fruit mix into a large ovenproof/casserole dish, cover with a lid and place into the oven for three hours.
Remove from the oven, and place your jam jars in the oven to sterilise.
Stir the fruitmince for a few minutes to cool slightly and to ensure the melted suet and sugar evenly coat all the fruit.
Add the Brandy and stir well.
Remove the jars from the oven, immediately fill them with the fruitmince and screw on the lids.
Allow to cool before storing in a cool dark place for several weeks before using.

Makes around 2.75kg or 6lb of fruitmince

Overload of Blueberries = Cake

This cake is absolutely delicious and is literally bursting with blueberries. The blueberries along with the addition of yoghurt in the batter produce an incredibly moist and tender cake. The cake also contains two types of nut, some in the form of almond marzipan, used in the batter, and the other as crush hazelnuts which are sprinkled over the surface of the cake to give a nutty crunchy topping. What more could you want from a cake?

Last weekend, as ever, the urge to bake got the better of me and as I had a whole tub of blueberries from work, I went in search of a recipe to accommodate them. I found (and used) a great sounding recipe from Chocolate & Zucchini which required plenty of blueberries. However, I also tweaked it a bit by adding marzipan and hazelnuts into the equation and reduced the sugar slightly to compensate for the added marzipan. The result is fantastic, moist cake, juicy blueberries, little pockets of marzipan and a nutty topping. It was perfect to share with the rest of my family for afternoon tea, as I had gone home for the weekend. It’s definitely one I will make over and over again.

Blueberry Overload Cake
Ingredient
200g plain flour
1½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
115g butter
150g caster sugar
3 eggs
240ml plain natural yoghurt
400g blueberries
65g natural marzipan

For the topping
1½ tbsp light soft brown sugar
2½ tbsp finely chopped hazelnuts

Method
Preheat the oven to 180C and grease and line a 22cm 9inch spring form tin.
Using an electric mixer, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
Add the eggs on at a time, beating well between each one. Chop the marzipan into small squares and fold into the batter along with the vanilla and yoghurt.
Sift over the flour, bicarb and baking powder and fold in well, turning the bowl as you go until just combined.
Place half of the batter into the cake tin and then cover the surface with half of the blueberries.
Spread the remaining half of batter evenly over the blueberries and top with the leftover berries.
Scatter over the chopped hazelnuts and sprinkle on the brown sugar.
Bake between 1hr – 1hr 15minutes until springy and a skewer inserted in the cake comes out clean. (It will be wet if you hit a blueberry).
Allow to cool in the tin for 15 minutes before removing from the in and allowing to cool before serving.
Tastes great eaten on its own, with crème fraiche or slightly warm with ice cream.

Flourless Chocolate Espresso Mud Cake

This cake is not much to look at but its taste and texture is sublime. I have adapted it from another recipe so that it is completely flourless apart from 3 tsp of cornflour, which I don’t count the same as standard wheat based flours. This also means that this cake is gluten free which means it is suitable for people on a wheat and gluten free diet – ideal for a colleague in my office who has just been advised to cut wheat from his diet. I felt sorry him and didn’t want him to miss out on the Monday Munchies and was the reason for developing this cake.

It has a thick chewy outer crust which hides an airy mousse like and incredibly rich cakey layer inside. You know the very centre of a good squishy brownie, well the whole inside of this cake is just like that – mmmm! It involves 200g of good dark chocolate along with a hit of strong coffee which produces an intensely chocolaty deeply rich flavoured and moist cake with an unbelievable aroma. Small slices are enough for an instant mood enhancing boost.

I replaced the flour with ground almonds and added a little cornflour and gluten free baking powder to help stabilize the cake. It puffs up when baking and then sinks ever so slightly on cooling. It’s best to let it cool completely in the tin as it’s quite fragile when warm.

It was devoured at work (I only got a little taste) and it would also make a wonderful dessert for a dinner party, dressed up with some drizzles of white chocolate, lightly whipped cream and plump raspberries.

I’m afraid I don’t have a picture of the inside, I thought it would be rude to cut into it before delivering it to work.

Flourless Chocolate Espresso Mud Cake
Ingredients
200g butter
200g dark chocolate 65% plus

30g cocoa powder

2 tbsp instant coffee powder

60ml water

1 tsp vanilla essence

180g caster sugar

3 eggs

100g ground almonds
3 tsp cornflour
1 tsp baking powder

Method

Grease an 8inch/20cm loose bottomed cake tin and line the base with greaseproof paper. Preheat the oven to 160C.
Place the butter, chocolate, cocoa, coffee powder, water and vanilla essence in a medium saucepan.
Place over a low heat and melt gently until smooth, whisking every so often to make sure it all combines together smoothly.
Then set to one side to cool slightly.
Beat the sugar and eggs together using an electric mixer until thick, creamy and pale in colour.
Keep whisking and slowly add the melted chocolate mix until all incorporated.
Scatter the ground almonds, baking powder and cornflour over the surface of the batter and beat again to combine.
Pour the mix into the cake tin (it will be very liquid) and bake for 50-55 minutes until it looks puffed up and slightly cracked on top and s skewer inserted into the middle comes out with a few moist crumbs sticking to it, but no wet batter.
Leave to cool in the tin before un-moulding and devouring.It can be left at room temperature, but if you keep it in the fridge it will become denser and be more like a giant truffle.

Daring Bakers September Challenge - Cinnamon Swirls and Sticky Buns

When Marce of Pip in the City announced this months challenge of sweet sticky buns I was a very happy baker. I love the whole process of baking bread and working with yeast, I love how it grows and evolves before your eyes, and yet for some reason I don’t actually get round to making it that often. I suppose it due to lack of planning as you do need to have a few hours free in which to prepare the dough and leave it to prove. However, this month’s challenge was not only involving making a bread dough but a sweet sticky dough that contained one of favourite spices – cinnamon and lots of it!

We were given the option of making cinnamon swirls or sticky buns or both. I love cinnamon swirls so I knew straight away I was going to make those, and as I had never made sticky buns before I decided to take up the challenge and give them a whirl too.

The dough was very easy to prepare and work with, neither too sticky nor too dry. I prepared mine early one morning, placed it in a warm place and went out shopping while it sat happily proving. I returned home to a risen puffy dough and set about making the buns.

The buns were also easy to prepare, as both buns start off with the same steps. The thing that sets them apart is how you finish them/arrange them before baking. After forming the dough into logs and cutting the cinnamony swirls of dough into sections, half are placed cut side down on a baking tray and baked before drizzling with icing, which produce the cinnamon swirls. The remaining half of the dough is placed closely together into a tin which has first been coated with caramel and chopped nuts. These are then inverted after cooking and the delicious nutty caramel becomes the sticky glaze over the top of the buns.

For my sticky buns I baked them individually in a muffin tin as I didn’t have the right sized tin to bake them all together. I added a couple of teaspoons of caramel into the base of the muffin holes and then topped each with a mixture of chopped walnuts and hazelnuts before adding the doughy buns. This worked very well, although they had a slight caramel eruption in the oven and coated the entire muffin tray (and the bottom of my oven!!) with caramel, but they produced perfectly shaped buns.

I was very happy with how both variations turned out. They were quite dense in texture and yet not heavy to eat. The dough was soft and full of sweet cinnamony goodness. The sticky buns were very sweet but the combination of the caramel and the nuts was gorgeous. The only thing which I found slightly odd was the addition of lemon zest in the dough. The lemon flavour was quite pronounced and although I quite liked this in the cinnamon swirls I wasn’t so keen on the lemon flavour in the sticky buns, it just didn’t work with the caramel and nuts for me. If I made the buns again I think I would add vanilla instead of lemon. Apart from this, I wouldn’t change the buns at all. They looked so glossy and appetizing and the fragrant cinnamon aroma lingered in my house for a few days. I really enjoyed unraveling the dough and eating it in pieces while licking the icing from my fingers. These buns are simple and satisfying to make and are sure to impress your family and friends, the perfect sweet treat for afternoon tea.

Cinnamon Swirls and Sticky Buns
(From Peter Reinhart´s The Break Baker´s Apprentice)

Makes 8 to 12 large or 12 to 16 smaller cinnamon or sticky buns

Ingredients
6 1/2 tablespoons (3.25 ounces) granulated sugar
1 teaspoon salt
5 1/2 tablespoons (2.75 ounces) shortening or unsalted butter or margarine
1 large egg, slightly beaten
1 teaspoon lemon extract OR 1 teaspoon grated zest of 1 lemon
3 1/2 cups (16 ounces) unbleached bread or all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons instant yeast
1 1/8 to 1 1/4 cups whole milk or buttermilk, at room temperature OR 3 tablespoons powdered milk (DMS) and 1 cup water
1/2 cup cinnamon sugar (6 1/2 tablespoons granulated sugar plus 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon, or any other spices you want to use, cardamom, ginger, allspice, etc.)
White fondant glaze for cinnamon buns or caramel glaze for sticky buns (at the end of the recipe.)
Walnuts, pecans, or other nuts (for sticky buns.)
Raisins or other dried fruit, such as dried cranberries or dried cherries (for sticky buns, optional.)

Recipe
Cream together the sugar, salt, and shortening or butter on medium-high speed in an electric mixer with a paddle attachment (or use a large metal spoon and mixing bowl and do it by hand); if you are using powdered milk, cream the milk with the sugar, and add the water with the flour and yeast. Whip in the egg and lemon extract/zest until smooth. Then add the flour, yeast, and milk. Mix on low speed (or stir by hand) until the dough forms a ball. Switch to the dough hook and increase the speed to medium, mixing for approximately 10 minutes (or knead by hand for 12 to 15 minutes), or until the dough is silky and supple, tacky but not sticky. You may have to add a little flour or water while mixing to achieve this texture. Lightly oil a large bowl and transfer the dough to the bowl, rolling it around to coat it with oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap.
Ferment at room temperature for approximately 2 hours, or until the dough doubles in size.
Mist the counter with spray oil and transfer the dough to the counter.
Roll out the dough with a rolling pin, lightly dusting the top with flour to keep it from sticking to the pin. Roll it into a rectangle about 2/3 inch thick and 14 inches wide by 12 inches long for larger buns, or 18 inches wide by 9 inches long for smaller buns. Don´t roll out the dough too thin, or the finished buns will be tough and chewy rather than soft and plump.
Sprinkle the cinnamon sugar over the surface of the dough and roll the dough up into a cigar-shaped log, creating a cinnamon-sugar spiral as you roll. With the seam side down, cut the dough into 8 to 12 pieces each about 1 3/4 inches thick for larger buns, or 12 to 16 pieces each 1 1/4 inch thick for smaller buns.)

For cinnamon buns, line 1 or more sheet pans with baking parchment. Place the buns approximately 1/2 inch apart so that they aren´t touching but are close to one another.

For sticky buns, coat the bottom of 1 or more baking dishes or baking pans with sides at least 1 1/2 inches high with a 1/4 inch layer of the caramel glaze. Sprinkle on the nuts and raisins (if you are using raisins or dried fruit.) You do not need a lot of nuts and raisins, only a sprinkling. Lay the pieces of dough on top of the caramel glaze, spacing them about 1/2 inch apart. Mist the dough with spray oil and cover loosely with plastic wrap or a food-grade plastic bag.

Proof at room temperature for 75 to 90 minutes, or until the pieces have grown into one another and have nearly doubled in size. You may also retard the shaped buns in the refrigerator for up to 2 days, pulling the pans out of the refrigerator 3 to 4 hours before baking to allow the dough to proof.

Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C) with the oven rack in the middle shelf for cinnamon buns but on the lowest shelf for sticky buns.

Bake the cinnamon buns for 20 to 30 minutes or the sticky buns 30 to 40 minutes, or until golden brown. If you are baking sticky buns, remember that they are really upside down (regular cinnamon buns are baked right side up), so the heat has to penetrate through the pan and into the glaze to caramelize it. The tops will become the bottoms, so they may appear dark and done, but the real key is whether the underside is fully baked. It takes practice to know just when to pull the buns out of the oven.

For cinnamon buns, cool the buns in the pan for about 10 minutes and then streak white fondant glaze across the tops, while the buns are warm but not too hot. Remove the buns from the pans and place them on a cooling rack. Wait for at least 20 minutes before serving.

White fondant glaze for cinnamon buns
Cinnamon buns are usually topped with a thick white glaze called fondant. There are many ways to make fondant glaze, but here is a delicious and simple version, enlivened by the addition of citrus flavor, either lemon or orange. You can also substitute vanilla extract or rum extract, or simply make the glaze without any flavorings.
Sift 4 cups of powdered sugar into a bowl. Add 1 teaspoon of lemon or orange extract and 6 tablespoons to 1/2 cup of warm milk, briskly whisking until all the sugar is dissolved. Add the milk slowly and only as much as is needed to make a thick, smooth paste.
When the buns have cooled but are still warm, streak the glaze over them by dipping the tines of a fork or a whisk into the glaze and waving the fork or whisk over the tops. Or, form the streaks by dipping your fingers in the glaze and letting it drip off as you wave them over the tops of the buns.

For the sticky buns, cool the buns in the pan for 5 to 10 minutes and then remove them by flipping them over into another pan. Carefully scoop any run-off glaze back over the buns with a spatula. Wait at least 20 minutes before serving. Caramel glaze for sticky buns
Caramel glaze is essentially some combination of sugar and fat, cooked until it caramelizes. The trick is catching it just when the sugar melts and lightly caramelizes to a golden amber. Then it will cool to a soft, creamy caramel. If you wait too long and the glaze turns dark brown, it will cool to a hard, crack-your-teeth consistency. Most sticky bun glazes contain other ingredients to influence flavor and texture, such as corn syrup to keep the sugar from crystallizing and flavor extracts or oils, such as vanilla or lemon.
In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine 1/2 cup granulated sugar, 1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 pound unsalted butter, at room temperature.
Cream together for 2 minutes on high speed with the paddle attachment. Add 1/2 cup corn syrup and 1 teaspoon lemon, orange or vanilla extract. Continue to cream for about 5 minutes, or until light and fluffy.
Use as much of this as you need to cover the bottom of the pan with a 1/4-inch layer. Refrigerate and save any excess for future use; it will keep for months in a sealed container.

Peanut Butter & Cranberry Cookies

Now you may read that title and think “Urgh, what a weird combination is that?” but please bear with me. I was reading through one of my new favourite cookbooks (The Professional Pastry Chef by Bo Friberg) when I came to a recipe for peanut butter, raisin and dark chocolate cookies. I pondered the recipe for a while and decided to remove the dark chocolate as I wanted a pure peanutty taste. However I then didn’t fancy the idea of the raisins with the peanut butter and so I decided to replace them with dried cranberries instead. My thoughts behind this was that the cranberries would be sweet, jammy and slightly sharp and so would add a fun twist of the famous American combination of peanut butter and jelly.

The cookies themselves have a wonderful light buttery texture and the peanut flavour really comes through. I used crunchy peanut butter for extra crunch and depth of flavour. The cranberries nestle among the dough and work wonderfully with the peanut flavour, adding little bursts of fruitiness with every bite. People at work were a little skeptical of the combination at first but they were loved after the first bite.

The cookies have a crisp outer edge immediately after baking but this softens within a couple of hours to give a moist, soft and slightly chewy cookie.

I made the cookies quite small by using a teaspoon to measure out the dough but I expect they would be just as good made into normal sized cookies or even mega cookies.

Peanut Butter & Cranberry Cookies
(Recipe adapted from The Professional Pastry Chef by Bo Friberg)
Ingredients
115g butter
115g caster sugar
70g soft light brown sugar
115g crunchy peanut butter
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
180g strong plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
50g dried cranberries

Method
Preheat the oven to 185C and line a baking tray with greaseproof paper.
Cream together the butter, both sugars and peanut butter in a bowl until smooth.
Add the egg and the vanilla and beat until well incorporated.
Sift over the flour and baking powder and add the dried cranberries.
Beat together for as short a time as possible, until the flour has been incorporated.
Using a teaspoon, place little mounds of the dough onto the baking tray, leaving an inch gap between them. (I got 15 on one tray). Flatten the dough slightly using your fingertips.
Bake in the oven for 9-12 minutes until lightly golden brown.
Allow to cool and firm up on the tray for 3 minutes, before transferring to a wire wrack.
Repeat with the remaining cookie dough.
Makes 40 cookies.

The Beautiful Fig

I was extremely lucky in that on my recent visit to the shops I happened upon some fresh figs, in packs of four, that they were reducing to the ridiculous price of only 30p despite still having 2 days until their best before date. I had tasted fresh figs for the first time this summer and not wanting to miss such a bargain I grabbed a couple of packets and returned home happy. They really are a thing of beauty, with moody purple skins and ruby red centres. They were soft and succulent with a softly sweet taste and texture with a most individual smell. It was only after enjoying one with my lunch that I realised I still had 7 figs left and there was no way I would be able to eat them all in time. Later on as I was browsing through my favourite blogs I came across Ivonne’s blog - Cream Puffs in Venice, where she had just announced that she is this month’s host of the popular event, Sugar High Friday. Not only that, but her theme of choice was figs!! It was obviously meant to be and I decided there and then to enter with my own figgy concoction.

I had some pastry in the freezer so making a tart was by first choice. I decided to quarter the figs to show off their spectacular centres and to make up an almondy frangipane mixture in which to bake them. I made a last minute decision and spread a layer of my plum and vanilla jam over the base of the pastry case before adding the filling, turning the tart into a stylized version of a Bakewell tart.

I am really pleased with how it turned out. The figs looked amazing with their rich red centers and speckles of tiny seeds and the baking really brought out their sweet, yet slightly earthy flavour. The frangipane was soft, moist and full of almondy goodness. The layer of jam in the base helped to prevent the pastry from going soggy and added a sweet fruity flavour boost with a subtle hint of vanilla. All the flavours mingled together producing one very tasty and pretty tart. It was so quick and easy to put together and yet looks special enough to serve at a fancy lunch or dinner party. Its lovely served warm but I think it tasted even better when allowed to cool to room temperature.

You have until the 24th of September to create your sweet fig inspired recipes. The full details can be found here.

Fresh Fig Frangipane Tart
Ingredients
250g shortcrust pastry (homemade or shop bought)
6 fresh figs
80g butter
75g caster sugar
2 eggs
75g ground almonds
½ tsp almond essence
3 tbsp jam of your choice

Method
Preheat the oven to 200C.
Roll out the pastry until around 4 mm thick. Line a 23cm round tart tin with the pastry and set to one side.
Cut the figs into quarters and set to one side.
Beat the butter and sugar together until smooth and fluffy. Then add the eggs, beating well until incorporated.
Stir in the ground almonds and the almond essence. The batter should be fairly thin.
Spread your jam of choice over the base of the pastry case before pouring in the frangipane mixture.
Arrange the sliced figs decoratively on the tart before placing into the oven. Bake for 10 minutes before reducing the oven temperature to 160C and continuing to bake for a further 20 minutes until slightly risen and golden brown.
Allow to cool before removing from the tin and serving in big slices.
Serves 8

Update: The round-up can be viewed here.

Granola Bars

These have got to be my favourite oaty flapjack style bars. They have a crisp golden surface with a soft, moist and slightly chewy underneath. They look and taste very wholesome thanks to the addition of the nuts, seeds and fruit all held together with oats and honey making them taste wonderful. They are also wheat free (and possibly gluten free too depending on whether you consider oats to contain gluten or not). As long as you stick to the quantities of fruit, nuts or seeds used, you can very the type of e.g. fruit, to suit your own tastes (or just use what needs using up in the cupboard like I did).

Depending on the variety of honey you use, you can end up with boldly fragrant or delicate tasting bars. I used two different types of oats to add a bit of texture and the cinnamon helps bring all the flavours together without being too obvious.

The mixture is very sticky before baking and can be quite hard to smooth out evenly. After experimenting with a wooden spoon, fingers and a potato masher I found the back of a large metal spoon, that had been wiped with oil, the easiest method. These are great for a mid afternoon snack or a breakfast on the run as the honey and oats will provide you with a prolonged release of energy. I made these to take into work for the Monday Munchers where they were happily devoured.

Granola Bars

Ingredients
150g butter or margarine
150g honey
200g soft brown sugar
350g rolled oats (I used a mixture of porridge and jumbo oats)
1 tsp cinnamon
40g whole almonds with skin on
30g hazelnuts
50g dried cranberries
75g dried apricots
50g prunes
50g raisins
30g pumpkin seeds
30g sunflower seeds
50g ground almonds

Method
Preheat the oven to 190C. Line a 20cm x 30cm and 2cm deep baking tray with foil. Then brush the foil with vegetable oil and set to one side.
It is best to prepare all of the ingredients before you begin. Weight out the oats, ground almonds and cinnamon into a bowl. Roughly chop the nuts so they are still in fairly big pieces and add to the oats along with the seeds.
Weigh out the dried fruits and chop into raisin sized pieces using a pair of scissors and add to the bowl
Put the butter, honey and sugar into a large saucepan and heat gently until the butter has melted. Stir everything together until smooth.
Increase the heat and bring the mixture to the boil for two minutes, stirring all the time. (It will bubble up so be careful)
Remove from the heat and quickly add all the other ingredients and stir together in a folding motion, making sure everything gets evenly distributed and covered in the caramel.
Tip onto the baking tray and smooth out into an even layer.
Bake in the oven for 10-12 minutes until nicely golden brown. You may need to turn your tray around half way through depending on your oven.
Remove from the oven, it will still be very soft as this stage but it firms up a lot on cooling.
Allow to cool completely before inverting onto a board, removing the foil and slicing into bars or squares.
I cut mine into 5cm x 7cm pieces and I got 28 bars.
Keep in an airtight container with clingfilm between each layer to prevent them sticking together.