Tag: bread
Kanelbullar (Swedish Cinnamon Buns)

Kanelbullar (Swedish Cinnamon Buns)

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Hello! I hope you’re all ok and coping with the isolation. The next few months are gonna be full of people finding out how to spend the time in a way that suites them. I’ve found that for me baking has been a really good way of practising some mindfulness, being in the present moment and lifting the spirits.

In Scandinavia they have something called Fika, which means coffee/cake break and is something that takes place once or twice every day, giving everyone a chance to have a break and a chat over some treats. They also have something called Hygge which essentially means home comforts. This way of life aims to embrace the wholesomeness and comfort of family and home and to focus on the little sweet things in life. In the current day I think Fika and Hygge are really positive things to be thinking about and aiming for.

These Kanelbullar, for me, are a perfect start to this. With all this extra time I think bread is a really good way to break up a day as you can come back to it every few hours to do the next step. These cinnamon buns are super fun to make, easy to share and are a little bundle of comforting goodness. I could also see them being a really fun thing to make with kids (especially when it comes to the shaping) so if you have any children who are getting a bit fidgety being stuck in doors all day, these might be the ticket!

Traditonally, kanelbullar are cardamom buns and are therefore flavoured (in the dough) with ground cardamom. However, because I don’t really like cardamom and therefore I don’t have it at home I’ve decided to use mixed spice instead. (Apologies to any Scandinavians out there whose traidtional bake I’ve just changed!) So if you’re looking to make the classic kanelbullar swap the mixed spice for some ground cardamom!

I also found that when shaping these the cinnamon sugar/butter mix that you spread over the dough kinda went everywhere and made them super slippery and fiddly to work with. If that happens don’t worry, keep going. The main thing with the shaping is to get a twisted, coiled knot with one strand pulled tightly over the top, so as long as you have that you’ve done it right. That said, if the filling does splurge out a bit I’d really recommend baking the buns with a layer of tin foil loosely over the top (not too tight or it’ll stick to the top of the buns). With the exposed sugar on the outside of the kanelbullar they might end up burning before the buns can fully cook, so covering them with foil will given allow them to reach a soft texture with a nice golden colour.

Recipe

Makes 8 buns

Time: 2 hours, plus proving and baking time

Ingredients

  • 400g strong white bread flour
  • 50g caster sugar
  • 7g salt
  • 1 tsp mixed spice (or ground cardamom)
  • 7g instant yeast
  • 240ml milk
  • 50g unsalted butter

For the filling

  • 80g unsalted butter
  • 70g light brown sugar
  • 1 tbsp ground cinnamon
  • 1 egg, to glaze (or a little melted butter if you’re struggling to find eggs right now!)

Method

  1. Put the flour, sugar, salt, mixed spice and yeast into a bowl and stir to combine.
  2. Put the butter and milk into a pan and heat through gently until the butter is melted (but not boiling).
  3. Pour the warm milk mixture over the flour and stir the dough with a round bladed knife to bring the mixture together into a ball.
  4. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured worktop and knead for 5-10 minutes until smooth and stretchy.
  5. Place the dough into a lightly oiled bowl, cover with cling film and leave to rise until doubled in size (1-2 hours should do it, depending on the temperature of the room).
  6. Whilst waiting for the dough to rise make the filling. Put the butter, sugar and cinnamon into a small bowl and beat with a wooden spoon until smooth.
  7. Turn the risen bread dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead it for 5-10 seconds to knock the excess air out.
  8. Roll the dough out into a 35x35cm square (it’s really important this is as square-shaped as you can make it!). Spread the filling over the entire surface to make a thin layer, leaving a small border around the edge.
  9. Fold the bottom third of the dough up onto the middle third, and then fold the top third down over the other two thirds (as though you were folding a letter). Then roll this rectangle out to roughly 35x20cm.
  10. Have the long edge facing towards you and cut 2cm wide, 20cm long strips from the dough. Twist each strip several times, stretching it a little as you do. Then grab the end of the twisted strip, coil it round your first and second finger a few times, then loop the strand over the top and tuck it in tight underneath.
  11. Place each bun on a lined baking sheet with a good amount of space between them. Cover them loosely in cling film again and leave to rise for 40-60 minutes until doubled in size
  12. Pre-heat the oven to 180C. Crack the egg into a bowl and beat with a fork until the yolk and white are mixed.
  13. Brush the risen buns with the egg glaze and then bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes until golden brown. (If the filling splurged out when rolling and is now covering the outside of the buns you might want to cover the buns in a layer of tin foil when baking as this will prevent the tops from burning before the middle gets a chance to bake).
  14. Leave the buns to cool to room temperature and then enjoy!

Thanks for reading!

Emma x

 
Blood Orange, Raspberry and Almond Couronne

Blood Orange, Raspberry and Almond Couronne

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Recipe

Makes 1 loaf

Time: 2 hours, plus proving and baking time

Ingredients

  • 650g strong white bread flour
  • 12g salt
  • 14g dried yeast
  • 35g unsalted butter
  • 2 blood oranges
  • A few drops of almond extract
  • 350 ml water
  • 1 small egg
  • 4 tbsp raspberry jam
  • 100g icing sugar
  • flaked almonds to decorate

Method

  1. Put the flour, salt, yeast and butter into a large bowl. Make sure to put the yeast and salt on different sides of the bowl as the salt could de-activate the yeast. Grate in the zest of the oranges and then add the juice of one of them, setting the other aside for later.
  2. Add the almond extract and 2/3 of the water to the dry ingredients and stir to make a loose dough. The slowly add the remaining water to the dough, mixing together with your hands until the mixture forms a soft ball.
  3. Turn the dough out onto a table and knead for 5-10 minutes until smooth and stretchy. Put the dough back into a clean bowl, cover with cling film and leave to rise for about an hour, until doubled in size.
  4. Once risen take the dough out of the bowl and knead for a couple of seconds to knock the air out. Lightly flour a work surface and roll the rough out into a 30cm x 60cm rectangle.
  5. Spread the jam evenly over the bread sheet. Roll up the dough, long edge to long edge to make a tight roll (the same as if you were making a swiss roll).
  6. Take a sharp knife or a pair of scissors and cut the roll right down the middle, leaving the two strands joined at the very top. Twist the two strands together and then join the ends of the twist together to make a ring.
  7. Transfer the ring to a line baking tray. Cover loosely with cling film and prove for another hour or so to double in size.
  8. Pre-heat the oven to 180˚C. Beat the egg in a small bowl with a fork and then brush over the loaf to glaze. Bake in the oven for  50 minutes – 1 hour until golden brown and cooked through. If it starts to burn on top cover with tin foil and keep it in the oven. Leave to cool a little whilst you make the decoration.
  9. Take the icing sugar and put it into a bowl. Slowly trickle in the juice from the blood oranges, mixing constantly, until you get a thick, pourable icing.
  10. Drizzle the icing across the bread and then sprinkle over the flaked almonds. Enjoy!

Thanks for reading!

Emma x

 
Simnel Hot Cross Buns

Simnel Hot Cross Buns

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I’ve never been much of a fan of hot cross buns – too fruity, too dry, too many of them around wayyy too long before Easter. Yet every year between February and mid-late April the hot cross buns hit the shops and before I know it there’s a couple of slices in the toaster and I’m holding a knife at the ready to slather them in butter.

So this year I’ve finally accepted that there is something to be said for this humble Easter bread and have decided to make my own hot cross buns – but trying to correct all the flaws I think the shop ones you get have. Less fruit – still enough to be a hot cross bun but not so much it’s bitter, a wetter dough to make it softer and less drying on the palette and a little ball of marzipan in the middle to give it an Easter simnel twist. Now, all that nerdism over essentially what is just a blob of fruity bread is probably enough proof that I’m a food fanatic who is a) procrastinating and b) stuck for things to say on this despite that putting marzipan in hot cross buns is a pretty fine combination. So eyo, onto the recipe…

Recipe

Makes 15

Time: 3 hours

Ingredients

For the dough

  • 300ml Milk
  • 50g Butter
  • 500g Strong white bread flour
  • 1 tsp Salt
  • 75g Caster sugar
  • 1 tbsp Sunflower oil
  • 7g Fast-action dried yeast
  • 1 Large egg, beaten
  • 75g Sultanas
  • 25g Mixed peel
  • Zest of 1 Orange
  • 1 Apple, peeled, cored and finely chopped
  • 1 tsp Ground cinnamon
  • 1 tsp Mixed spice
  • 85g Marzipan

To decorate

  • 75g Plain flour
  • 3 tbsp Apricot jam

Method

  1. Put the milk into a saucepan and bring to the boil over a medium heat. Add the butter and leave to melt/cool down.
  2. Put the bread flour, salt, sugar, and yeast into a bowl and mix together. Make a well in the centre and pour in the warm milk. Then add the beaten egg and mix with a round bladed knife until a dough starts to form.
  3. Tip the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 5-10 minutes until the dough is smooth and stretchy. Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl and cover with clingfilm. Then leave in a warm place to rise for at least 1 hour, until doubled in size.
  4. Once proved turn the dough out onto a work top and knead for 5 seconds to knock out the air. Then add the sultanas, mixed peel, orange zest, chopped apple, cinnamon and mixed spice to the dough. Knead them into the dough and then put back into the bowl and leave to rise again until doubled in size, again covered in cling film.
  5. Meanwhile split the marzipan into 15 equal chunks and then roll each into a ball. Leave to one side, covered in cling film until needed.
  6. When risen divide the dough into 15 pieces and roll each into a circle with a rolling pin on a lightly floured surface. Put a ball of marzipan into the centre of each dough disk and then bring the dough up around it so you have dough balls surrounding a ball of marzipan.
  7. Place the buns on a baking tray lined with baking paper. Arrange them so they have room to grow, but close enough so they’ll join when they rise. Cover loosely with cling film and leave to rise for another hour.
  8. Pre-heat the oven to 180˚C. Mix the flour with 5 tbsp of water, a little at a time, to make a paste. Spoon this into a piping bag fitted with a small, round nozzle. Pipe a line across the centre of the buns in one direction, then the other to make a cross. Bake the buns in the oven for 20-30 minutes until golden brown and cooked all the way through.
  9. Gently heat the apricot jam in the microwave for around 20 seconds to loosen it up. Then sieve it to remove any lumps and brush it over the buns to glaze. Leave to cool and then enjoy!

Thanks for reading!

Emma x
Hazelnut Mocha Bread

Hazelnut Mocha Bread

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I’m just going to pause for a moment and soak up the beauty that is this eight-strand plaited hazelnut mocha bread (yes it’s a mouthful of a name but it’s worth it!)….. OK…. onto where we are this week. In the words of The Beatles ‘when I find myself in times of trouble’ bread is there to comfort me. Everything’s a little crazy at the moment, I’m not entirely sure which way is up and I’m just diving head first into I don’t quite know what. But hey. Get some bread dough in between your fingers, smell it baking in the oven, taste the freshness on your tongue and it’s just about bearable.

One thing great about bread is that it’s a very forgiving medium. Unlike pastry it’s hard to over work bread dough and so as long as the bake is right it’s (relatively) easy to get a warm fresh loaf on the table with ease. The first few times I made bread it was generally more effective as a garden rock than as an edible delicacy, but once I got the hang of kneading and proving everything fell into place. Not to mention how satisfying it is when the loaf comes out of the oven warm, a gorgeous shade of brown and 100% homemade. Call me dramatic but there’s a level of love and comfort poured into a homemade loaf of bread that you just don’t get from shop bought ones.

So if you’re ever bored, angry, frustrated or restless bread is the thing you need to be making. Pummel all your feelings onto the dough, stuff it with luscious flavours and it’ll rise into a beautiful cradle of comfort!

Recipe

Makes 1 loaf

Time: 2 hours, plus proving and baking time

Ingredients

For the dough

  • 650g Strong white bread flour
  • 12g Salt
  • 14g Dried yeast
  • 35g Unsalted butter
  • 400ml Water
  • 3 tbsp Coffee granules
  • 1 Small egg

For the filling

  • 4 tbsp Nutella
  • A Few handfuls of chopped hazelnuts

Method

  1. Put the flour, salt, yeast and butter into a large bowl. Make sure to put the yeast and salt on different sides of the bowl as the salt could de-activate the yeast.
  2. Bring 1/4 of the water to the boil in a pan or kettle and then add and leave the coffee to dissolve in it. Top the coffee solution with the rest of the cold water, then add 2/3 of it to the dry ingredients and stir to make a loose dough. Add the rest of the coffee mix and then bring together with your hands into a ball.
  3. Turn the dough out onto a table and knead for 5-10 minutes until smooth and stretchy. Put the dough back into a clean bowl, cover with cling film and leave to rise for 1-2 hours until doubled in size.
  4. Once risen take the dough out of the bowl and knead for a couple of seconds to knock the air out. Then split the dough into 4. Roll each piece of dough out into a rectangle 40cm x 30cm.
  5. Spread the ¼ of the Nutella over each bread sheet. Then sprinkle over the chopped hazelnuts. Roll up each bit of dough long edge to long edge to make tight rolls. Then halve each roll to make 8 strands.
  6. Now comes the plaiting. Lay the strands out on a large surface and group the ends together at the side furthest away from you on the table. Now number the strands in your head 1-8, working left to right. Every time you plait the numbers will re-jig so that it’s still 1-8 left to right.
  7. Now start plaiting through the sequence. First take 8 under 7 and then over 1. Then repeat the following steps until the plait is finished:
    • Take 8 over 5.
    • Take 2 under 3 and over 8
    • Take 1 over 4
    • Take 7 under 6 and over 1.
  1. It’s going to be a little complicated, but keep going and it’ll be fine! Once finished tuck the end of the plait under itself to fuse it. Then transfer it to a line baking tray. Cover loosely with cling film and prove for another hour or so to double in size.
  2. Pre-heat the oven to 180˚C. Beat the egg in a small bowl with a fork and then brush over the loaf to glaze. Bake in the oven for  50 minutes – 1 hour until golden brown and cooked through. If it starts to burn on top cover with tin foil and keep it in the oven. Leave to cool a little before serving!

Thanks for reading!

Emma x
Salted Caramel Peanut Bread (Vegan)

Salted Caramel Peanut Bread (Vegan)

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Not gonna lie, this week has been tough. I’m used to over committing myself – it’s kinda become a defining feature of my personality – but now I’m being chased up a hill on roller-skates by several angry monsters called degree, sleep and mental-well-being. The only thing keeping me vaguely grounded are the amazing friends I have who are there to scrape me up off the floor, turn me around and put me back the in game (you know who you are and I’m so so grateful!).

If things stopped for a second or two I know I’d want to be back in the kitchen, letting out all my woes on some unfortunate bread dough like this and then devouring it as soon as it’d cooled down enough for me to eat it. I made this back at the start of Veganuary and thus it can be 100% vegan! So whether you’re a hardcore meat-eater or a strong and proud vegan, as long as you’re not allergic to nuts this is the bread for you!

So back unto the breach. Back into the storm. See you on the other side!

Recipe

Makes 1 Large loaf

Time: 2 hours, plus proving and baking time

Ingredients

  • 400g Strong white bread flour
  • 1 ½ tsp Salt
  • 40g Caster sugar
  • 45g Butter (or dairy-free spread)
  • 10g Fast action dried yeast
  • 130ml Milk (or dairy-free alternative)

For the caramel peanut filling

  • 300g Granulated sugar
  • 4 tbsp Water
  • 240g Dairy-free spread
  • 5g Salt
  • 200g Dairy-free cream (e.g coconut or soya cream)
  • 200g Peanuts (unsalted if adding the 5g salt in as above)

Method

  1. First make the bread dough. Put the flour, salt, sugar, butter, yeast, milk and 120ml water into a large bowl and mix together to form a lumpy dough.
  2. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and stretchy (about 10 minutes).
  3. Put the dough into a clean bowl and cover with cling film. Then set to one side to rise until doubled in size (about an hour).
  4. Now make the salted caramel filling. Put the sugar and water into a large pan and cook on a low heat until the mixture starts to turn a golden amber colour. Do not mix at this stage or the caramel will crystallise.
  5. Add the dairy-free spread (or butter) to the mixture (be careful as it will splatter!) and mix it in with a wooden spoon.
  6. Add the salt to the mixture and then cook for another 2 minutes on a low heat.
  7. Take the pan off the heat and add the cream. Mix until well combined, then mix in the peanuts and set aside to cool.
  8. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for about 10 seconds to knock the air out. Then shape the dough into a rectangle and roll it out to a rectangle that’s 25 x 33 cm.
  9. Spread the cooled salted peanut mixture over the dough and then roll it up like a swiss roll from long edge to long edge.
  10. Cut the dough in half length ways so you have two long strips. Then twist the strips over each other, trying to keep the open half facing the top.
  11. Wrap the dough into a ring, pressing the ends of the dough together and then place onto a lined baking tray, cover loosely with clingfilm and leave to prove for another hour until doubled in size.
  12. Pre-heat the oven to 200˚C. Bake the dough for 25-30 minutes until risen and golden brown.
  13. Transfer the loaf to a wire rack to cool and then serve!

Thanks for reading!

Emma x