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Chocolate Chip Hot Cross Buns


Hot cross buns!
Hot cross buns!
One ha' penny, two ha' penny,
Hot cross buns!
If you have no daughters,
Give them to your sons
One ha' penny,
Two ha' penny,
Hot Cross Buns![1]


If your child, like mine played a recorder in a school orchestra, I will not be surprised if you could hear never ending Hot cross buns tune in your ears every time you saw a package of the Hot cross buns in a supermarket. My children are grown now and it's been awhile since that happened to me the last time, but also since I made the buns. I am not sure, whether it's because I was looking for a new recipe to try this Easter and paid closer attention, or their popularity is really increasing - they are simply everywhere, every magazine, book, supermarket, bakery - in all shape and sizes with but so many taste varieties - traditional with raisins, then toffee, orange, cranberry, apple, coffee, cinnamon, the list goes on.. I read recipe after recipe, hoping that I would reinvent the buns to our satisfaction, but gave up after realising that none of them sound more appealing than the ones we all like so much - the Chocolate Chip Hot Cross Buns.



Chocolate Hot Cross Buns

450 g bread flour
1/2 tsp  salt
15 g fresh yeast
20 ml warm water to dissolve yeast
1 tsp of spices  ( I used cinnamon,clove, pinch of nutmeg)
50 gr sugar
100 g chocolate drops
50 g butter
200 ml warm milk
1 egg

For the cross dough:
40 g flour
10 g soft butter

For the glaze:
1 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp water


Mix the yeast with water, tsp sugar and tsp flour and let it rise until frothy and bubly . Combine the flour with the salt,mixed spice and the rest of dry ingredients, then add the yeast.

Next add the butter and pour the hand-hot milk over the butter followed by the beaten egg, mix everything to a dough, cover the bowl with a plastic bag and leave it  to rise until doubled in size.

Then turn the dough out on to a work surface and punch out the air, then divide the mixture into twelve equal pieces.Take one by one piece of the dough and shape them into the round rolls

Arrange them on the lined or greased baking sheet (allowing plenty of room for expansion). Leave them to rise once more inside a large, lightly greased polythene bag for 45 minutes to an hour, or again until about double the size. 

Meanwhile, if you want to make dough crosses, put the flour into a bowl and rub in the butter. Add just enough cold water to form a dough then roll it out thinly on a lightly floured surface to an oblong about 12cm by 16cm then cut it into 24 strips.

Pre-heat the oven to 220°C.

When the second rising is up, brush the strips with water, to make them stick, and make a cross on top of each bun trimming away any excess dough with a small knife. 

Alternatively you can use a small sharp or serrated knife to score a cross in the top of each bun. 

Bake the buns for 15 minutes near the centre of the oven. Then, while they're cooking make the glaze in a small saucepan by slowly melting together the sugar and 2 tablespoons of water over a gentle heat until the sugar granules have dissolved and you have a clear syrup. 

As soon as the buns come out of the oven, brush them immediately with the glaze while they are still warm. If you are not serving them on the day that you bake them its best to freeze them as soon as they are cool. 




Recipe adapted from Delia Smith online

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Tarte Tatin


#Daring Bakers Challenge March 2015



The 27th day of each month is reserved for the special Daring Bakers' post!

 For the March Daring bakers’ challenge, Korena from Korena in the Kitchen taught us that some treats are best enjoyed upside down. She  challenged us to make a Tarte Tatin from scratch.

Since I'd never made it before, I wanted to try the original recipe before I went experimenting with tastes and chose to use good old apples.



Tarte Tatin 

Rough Puff Pastry:

125g plain flour
140 g unsalted butter, cold
¼ tsp fine salt
60 ml ice cold water

In a medium bowl, combine the flour and salt. Cut the butter into small cubes and add it to the flour. With a pastry blender (or two table knives) cut in the butter until the mixture in crumbly but even, with pea-sized pieces of butter. Make a well in the middle and pour in the ice cold water. Toss the flour/butter and water together with a fork until the dough starts to clump together. Alternatively, you can do it in a food processor.

Turn the dough out onto your work surface and knead a few times just enough to bring it together. Be careful not to overwork the dough, there should be visible bits of butter and it should still look very rough.

Lightly flour your work surface and rolling pin, and roll the dough out into a rectangle about 25 cm long. Fold the bottom third of the dough up into the middle, and fold the top third down, like you are folding a letter. This is one fold. Turn the dough a one quarter turn so that one of the open edges is facing you, and roll out again into a 25 cm rectangle. Fold again - this is the second fold. Repeat the rolling and folding 3 more times, for 5 folds total. Let the dough rest in a fridge between each folding Your dough will get smoother and neater looking with each fold . After the last fold, tap the dough into a square, wrap it in plastic and chill for a least 1 hour, or even better,overnight.

Tarte Tatin:

6-7 medium apples that would hold a shape
200g white sugar
50g butter
Puff pastry you made earlier (or bought)
1. Peel, halve and core the apples, then put in the fridge, uncovered, for 24 hours.
2. Put the sugar into a  heavy-based  frying pan along with 50ml water and leave to soak for a couple of minutes, then cook over a medium heat until golden and fudgy. Take off the heat and stir in the butter, and a pinch of salt, until well combined, then carefully arrange the apples in the pan, round-side down, bearing in mind the caramel will be very hot, and put back on the heat. Cook for about 5 minutes, then take off the heat and allow to cool completely.
3. Pre-heat the oven to 200C. Roll out the pastry (you'll probably have some left over if you've made your own) to 5mm thick, and cut out a circle slightly larger than your baking dish. Put back into the fridge to rest.
4. Arrange the caramel and apples on the bottom of your baking dish, put the pastry on top and tuck in the edges around the fruit.Make few slits to let the steam go out and bake for about 30 minutes until the pastry is golden, then remove from the oven. Allow to cool for 5 minutes, then place a plate, slightly larger than the pan, on top and then invert the tart on to the plate.


Recipe partly adapted from the Guardian "How to..edition".
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"Easter Tiara"



This is not a pastry that will be remembered for its taste, although the basic recipe could be spiced up a little bit and used for dipping. It's rather a decorative piece of history on the Easter table, that's easy and quick to bake. 


Easter Tiara 
makes two

3 medium eggs
about 230 -250 g 00 grade flour
pinch of salt

Preheat the oven to 210 C.

Mix the ingredients and knead into a smooth, not too soft dough. Divide into two equal pieces, cover them and leave to rest for 15 minutes.
Roll out each piece into roughly 15 x 30 cm rectangular and make a slit in the middle of both short sides.  In the same manner make slits on one of the long sides just above imaginary middle line ( see pictures below), then place it over the uncut half. Relax the pastry and bend it into a horse shoe shape first, then slowly bring the ends together to make a full circle. Press the ends together with a bit of beaten egg white.
Dust a baking sheet lightly with flour, place the" Tiaras" and bake until the crown raises and the pastry becomes lightly brown in colour, about 20 minutes.


Make sure that the middle is well baked, so it can hold the shape, although it will go slightly down when it cools.



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Girly Almond Cookies



Making cookies is never boring. A few basic recipes are all we need to keep inventing new and reinventing old ways of making them look and even taste different over and over again.
I used a simple almond cookie recipe to create these cute little girly cookies for which I used some transfer paper I bought last December in Lyon from ScrapCooking, and a rubber stamp with a bit of black food gel colour.


Girly Almond Cookies

125 g sugar
200 g flour
150 g ground almond
1 egg
90 g unsalted butter
3 tbsp water
sachet of Madagascar vanilla sugar

Mix the flour, almond, sugar and vanilla, add the butter and the egg and combine into a smooth pastry. Refrigerate for 1 hour, cut into a chosen shape and decorate.

If you are using transfer paper suitable for biscuits, place it on the bottom of a baking sheet, rough side up, and arrange the cut outs on the top.
Bake for 10- 15 minutes, or until the edges are slightly brown.

To stamp the cookies use a rubber stamp and a bit of gel food colouring spread on a piece of parchment paper.
Bake the biscuits, let them cool completely, dip the stamp into the food colouring, press lightly against a soft piece of paper to get rid of the excess gel , then firmly press on the top of the cookies, making sure that you don't break it.


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Cranberry Lemon Bundt Cake #BundtBakers



I'd spent the morning staring anxiously at some pictures of 'Girl Scout Cookies'. "Meet the cookies" it said on the page and for me it was literally that, my first Girl Scout Cookies experience. Never saw them, never tried them before, but despite that I had the task before me to bake a bundt cake inspired by the famous cookies, set by this months #BundtBakers hostess Kelly from Passion Kneaded, http://passionkneaded.blogspot.com/.  
I had no idea what to do, so I just pulled the Scarlet O'Hara move -"I'll think about it tomorrow!" Twenty tomorrows later I met with the cookies again and as I didn't know what else to do, I started the elimination process. Eventually it went down to two, not bad! It would be wonderful to bake a gluten free cake. I'd never done it before and as it happens I brought some flaxseed flour back from my trip to Serbia. 


The cake turned out lovely and I was so pleased that I choose to bake it in a small mould I picked up at the local market recently. Pictures done - beautiful, rustic look! I was so proud. Then, I cut a slice to taste it and I had only one word to describe it - mud! After I carefully looked around to make sure that no one was watching I pressed a pedal. The bin was so happy to have it.
Now what?


I was left with the remaining citrus and cranberry cookie. I didn't have any problem other than it sounded so boring. Must be a way of sprucing up the idea and making the cake interesting. After many what ifs I came up with an idea of using an unorthodox approach to bundt baking -  to make a bundt cake without using a bundt pan.


If I only didn't use that word! It kept resonating in my head - unorthodox!! Is it in accordance with the rules of the baking group? Or is it not?
Fortunately you can swing backwards and forewords in your indecisiveness for only so long. I gave up! Is the third time always lucky?


How do you easily, without trying to be too clever turn an ordinary cake into something a bit special? Simple!You choose the cutest little bundt pan you possibly can. Third time is lucky:)



Cranberry Lemon Bundt Cake

3 eggs
100 g brown sugar
100 g flour
80 ml oil
2 tbsp double cream
1 lemon 
100 g dried cranberries 

Beat the eggs with sugar until fluffy and light, then slowly add the oil and the flour, mix to combine, add half of the lemon juice, zest and cranberries.
Preheat the oven to 180C/350F for about 20 minutes, or until golden brown in colour.
Leave it to cool for few minutes then invert onto a cooling rack. 
To make lemon glaze, squeeze the other half of the lemon and mix with few spoons of icing sugar. How much of icing sugar you use will depend on your desired thickness. Start with 3 spoons, mix them to a smooth consistency, then keep adding if you are aiming for a thicker glaze.


#BundtBakers is a group of Bundt loving bakers who get together once a month to bake Bundts with a common ingredient or theme.  Follow our Pinterest board right here. Links are also updated each month on the BundtBakers home page.

We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme/ingredient.

If you are a food blogger and would like to join us, just send Stacy an email with your blog URL to foodlustpeoplelove@gmail.com.

Now please have a look where the inspiration took the rest of the group members:



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Rhubarb Pickle



Raw rhubarb is my latest discovery. With rhubarb, I went from staying away from it all together, to warming up to the idea of having it in desserts, to absolutely loving it raw in a salad.
That's why this recipe goes into the exception from my just baking posts rule.



Rhubarb Pickle

150 g  diced rhubarb
1 diced carrot
1/2 small finely chopped onion
2-3 tbsp cider vinegar
1-2 tbsp caster sugar
2 bay leaves
few crushed coriander seeds (optional)
salt, pepper

Combine the chopped vegetables in one bowl, then mix the cider vinegar, sugar, bay leaves, salt and pepper until the sugar is dissolved. Leave to stand for 10 minutes.Pour it over the vegetables, taste and adjust the seasoning if necessary.
If you wish to keep the Pickle salad for 24 hours, drain the excess vinegar, store in glass or plastic jar, seal and refrigerate.


recipe by Hugh Fearnley - Whittingstall
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Veiled Mushroom Pilaf


based on Turkish Perde Pilavi


I prepared the pictures and took the recipe with me intending to publish this post while away visiting my parents. But, as the days went by it only felt right to take a break from blogging and to swap it for the enjoyment of having my mother and father just for myself for a while. So I did!
Besides, it would have been wrong to rush this post, because it's so special in it's simplicity, that is often served at the weddings and goes well back into the history of Eastern civilization. Whoever came up with it has to be saluted for their imagination.
My idea of pilaf (pilav) is however slightly different from theirs and does not include as much spices and raisins as I found on Turkish recipe sites. Where I come from people haven't got a lot of understanding for mixing sweet ingredients into savoury dishes (except in small amounts to balance the flavours ). If you do, put some pine-nuts and currants into the chicken breasts filling.



Veiled Mushroom Pilaf

Dough:
2 eggs
4 tbps natural yoghurt
100 g soften butter, plus 1 tbsp for greasing
320- 350 g flour
1 packet baking powder
pinch of salt

Filling:
400 g  short grain rice 
500 ml hot vegetable or chicken stock
1 small onion
1 celery stick, finely chopped
500 g chestnut mushrooms
or
2 diced roast chicken breasts
50 ml white wine or cider
100 g blanched almonds - 50 g whole, 50 g chopped (optional)
black pepper
salt

In a large pan, heat a bit of oil and add the onion and celery. Slowly fry without colouring them for at least 10 minutes, then add the rice. Stir in the wine or cider and let it cook until the liquid was absorbed. Now add first ladle of hot stock. Turn the heat down to a simmer and keep adding stock allowing each batch to be absorbed before adding the next.

Carry on adding stock until the rice is softer outside but with a slight bite. Meanwhile, get a dry griddle pan hot and grill the mushrooms until soft, add them to the rice. If you are using chicken add the hot meat. Season to taste and add chopped almonds. Let it cool down.
In the meanwhile make the dough by combining all the ingredients.
Preheat the oven to 190 C.
Grease the mould with softened butter, arrange the almonds and place into the fridge for few minutes to hardener. 
Roll the dough into the desired shape slightly bigger then your mould and place it in, with the ends hanging over the edges. Pour your rice in, tuck it in nicely, then cover the top with the hanging part of the dough. Close neatly and bake until golden brown. 
Serve warm.



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