Soft Slider Buns

Beautiful soft buns

Also known as.... the buns that nearly didn't get made!

It's been ages and ages since I last posted a savoury bread recipe that is new to me, but I've been having a love affair with soda bread and various other tried and true breads, and haven't felt the need to experiment too much. However, when Dan's recipe for slider buns was published in the Guardian a few weeks ago I just couldn't resist making them - such a lovely picture, and the promise of soft white rolls and the added intrigue of custard powder.

Before prooving

Yes, custard powder. You did indeed read that correctly! These buns are based on a roux method where the liquid (milk) for the recipe is mixed with a starch and thickened before then adding the remainder of the flour, yeast and salt and proceeding as normal for a bread recipe.

After prooving

The roux technique is not new to me - I think I first used it in the black pepper rye bread a couple of years ago, and inspired by this recipe my go-to recipe now involves boiling the water and pouring it over 1/4 of the flour in the recipe and then allowing to cool a little before proceeding. It's a technique that seems to work really well so I wasn't in the slightest bit doubtful about using it again here. I wasn't even concerned about using custard powder, after all, it's just cornflour and a bit of colour and flavouring, which would surely be drowned out by the addition of all the flour....

Lovely crumb

No, the real problem came when I realised that I had made custard. I love custard, big time! And realising that I had just made custard I had to try extremely hard to not just pour it into a bowl and eat it as it was, rather than continuing with the recipe. Fortunately self restraint prevailed and I added the flour.

A pile of floury, delicious rolls

As I followed the recipe exactly I won't reproduce it here (it's the easiest thing ever - make custard, mix ingredients in, leave, knead very briefly, leave for ages, shape, proove, bake) but will instead direct you to the Guardian page here. My only concern whilst making them was that my yeast still seemed to stay in the little rods it comes in rather than becoming invisible, even as late as the shaping stage. It didn't seem to matter in the end though, and there wasn't a yeasty taste or appearance or aroma. Just a quirk I guess. I chose to make them 50g size, and only made a half recipe, getting 12 buns. I also baked for a little longer at a lower temperature because I'm not a fan of a dark crust on white breads.

Gorgeous even, golden crumb

These were everything I had hoped they would be and more - soft and slightly sweet from the milk and a beautiful golden colour. The crumb was soft and tender, and almost tore in the way that enriched doughs do. I dusted them with flour rather than egg washing because I didn't want shiny tops to my buns, and because I had deliberately placed them close together during the prooving stage, some of them had started to join together batch-style, giving lovely soft edges too.

I didn't have any cute little burgers or falafel or anything to put in them, but I will make these again because they're delicious. Thoroughly enjoyed for breakfast and lunch. Thanks Dan, for another great recipe!

Pear and ginger creme fraiche cupcakes - Tea Time Treats

These are a different, but equally seasonal take on the clotted cream cupcakes I first blogged just over a year ago. I've made and blogged about them since, noting down how I had changed the recipe and I decided that it was time for them to have another outing, with a few more changes.

I guess that really it was a combination of ingredients looking at me that decided the final recipe, but I think it was a pretty good decision. It's also perfect as my submission this month to Kate and Karen's new challenge - Tea Time Treats. This is pretty much perfect for my blog as everything I make would be lovely at tea time, so I'm really looking forward to participating! The challenge is going to be hosted alternate months by Kate of What Kate Baked, and Karen of Lavender and Lovage. This month is Karen's turn and the theme is Ginger and bonfire treats. I think that with the combo of seasonal pears and warming ginger, these cupcakes are a great submission! You can find more info on the challenge here.

I had pears and creme fraiche and where the original recipe uses jam, I had a jar of ginger conserve and because pears and ginger are such a good match, better than any of the jam I had open and to hand (although actually, I think I have some rhubarb jam somewhere that would be a good combination.... hold that thought!) I decided to go with pear and ginger.

Pear and ginger creme fraiche cupcakes
Ingredients
50g butter, softened
115g full fat creme fraiche
150g caster sugar
2 eggs
300g plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp ground ginger
2 pears, peeled, cored and chopped small (mine were very ripe) - see method
115g ginger conserve
milk (optional, see method)

Method

- Preheat the oven to 190C/Gas 5. Line a 12 hole muffin tin with papers.

- Beat together the butter and creme fraiche, mine was still rather lumpy, and remained so throughout.

- Add the sugar and beat well, then add the eggs one at a time, beating well in between adding the eggs.

- Add the flour, baking powder, ground ginger and a good slosh of water (you could use milk, but I didn't have any open) and beat well to combine.

- Add the pears and mix in. I actually waited until this stage before peeling and chopping them, to prevent them browning too much.

- Divide half of the mixture between the cases, then top each with a blob of the ginger conserve. Finish by dividing the remaining mixture between the cases.

- Bake for 25 minutes until risen and golden.

- Allow to cool on a wire rack.

I topped these with a simple water icing, as I wanted a little extra sweetness, but nothing to compete with the flavours of the cupcakes.

They were really nice, the ginger conserve stayed put in the centre of the cupcakes, which is exactly what I wanted. My only slight issue with them is that they weren't gingery enough! Next time I'll add some more ground ginger to the cupcakes, and perhaps use either chopped crystallised stem ginger to perk up the conserve, or just use some chopped stem ginger and mix it with a little of its syrup to put into the middles, for a real ginger hit! I must also remember that much as I like pear, it does have a tendency to disappear when baked into this kind of cake. Next time the chunks might be a little bigger, and I'll try and remember to use under-ripe rather than over-ripe pears as I think they'll keep their shape and texture in the final cake.

Apple, Spice and Chocolate Tealoaf - We should Cocoa

This month Chele has set the We Should Cocoa challenge, and she admits herself that it's a tough one. Keeping it seasonal, the choice this month is apples. Like I'm sure many other people have found this month, there seems to be a distinct lack of apples and chocolate pairings in recipes out there.

Many other fruits pair extremely succesfully with chocolate, including that other seasonal gem, the pear. But apparently not the apple. I really love apples - so many different types out there and so many subtle variations in flavour and texture, so easy to just grab and go, and forgiving of being (slightly) manhandled. But I think the thing about the pairing of apple and chocolate is the texture, well it is for me anyway. When I think of chocolate and fruit I think of the soft, luscious juicy fruit and the chocolate and quite often apples either remain slightly hard, or fall to mush, neither of which immediately appeal to me in combination with chocolate.

Which is my rather longwinded way of saying that this month I've chosen the fall back option, the safe recipe rather than pushing the boat out. There was something I had in mind (and I still want to make it, and still have it in mind) but I've run out of time this month, so it'll have to be postponed to a more leisurely time. This month's bake is both apple and chocolate, yet neither of them. Neither the apple nor the chocolate is the star here, but both contribute to the flavour and texture of the final cake.

My loaf is based on a recipe to be found on the BBCGoodFood website, for Apple and Spice Tealoaf. The apple is grated into the cake to provide moisture, and I added a chopped up 100g bar of (unusually for me) milk chocolate to the cake. I decided on milk as I thought it would complement the dried fruits and general sweetness of the cake better than my usual preference of dark chocolate. I think I chose well! The other substitutions I made were to use 100g raisins and 100g dried cranberries for the specified 200g dried mixed vine fruits, and I substituted the specified ground almonds for more plain flour. I also used 1 1/2 tsp mixed spice in place of cinnamon and nutmeg. The baking of the cake is slightly odd - 45 minutes at a higher temperature followed by 45 minutes covered with foil at a lower temperature. I didn't add the sliced apple topping, but I did follow the timings given. I found this slightly odd and although I'm sure it's to stop the apple topping burning, I'm not sure it did the cake any favours.

This is a very substantial cake. Once baked it felt very heavy for its size and I was concerned that it would be dense and dry. Thankfully not. The combination of the dried fruits and sweet milk chocolate was lovely, and it was a really good cake to enjoy at teabreak time at work I don't think it will become an everyday cake, it was nice, but nothing outstanding but it fulfilled the chocolate apple combo, and so I am going to submit it. For more details of We Should Cocoa see here.

Food Bloggers Unplugged

Having been tagged twice, by Kate at What Kate Baked and Suelle at Mainly Baking, for Food Bloggers Unplugged, I thought I had better get on and think of some answers. The idea of the ten questions is to learn a little more of the person who writes the blog and it was started by Susan of A Little Bit of Heaven on a Plate

So here are my answers....

1. What, or who inspired you to start a blog?

I clearly remember the first food blog I ever looked at - I was searching for a Nigella Lawson chocolate cake recipe that I knew I had seen in a book borrowed from the library, and wondered if I could find it online. I stumbled across A Spoonful of Sugar. It sort of went from there - I read blogs for a while, and then decided to take the plunge and start my own, with some trepidation - I wasn't sure I could keep it up, but three and a half years later I'm still here!

2. Who is your foodie inspiration?

I don't think I really have one foodie inspiration. I think lots of people and things influence me - other bloggers, television chefs, lots and lots really.

3. Your greasiest, batter - splattered food/drink book is?

I do try really, really hard not to splatter my books, but the prize here defnintely goes to Nigella Lawson's How to be a Domestic Goddess. I bought this book a very long time ago, after seeing it at my Grans and repeatedly reading it and wishing for my own copy. This was before Amazon and cheap supermarket books on offer so it was an indulgent treat. It was also before I started earning my own money! It has been well used and is a little spattered but it had a rather unfortunate meeting with a hot hotplate and was only rescued when we all wondered what the disgusting smell was.... it's never quite been the same since, but I still enjoy looking through it!

 

4. Tell us all about the best thing you have ever eaten in another country, where was it, what was it?

As a slight understatement, I am not an adventurous foodie. I have been lucky enough to go to some lovely places on holiday (although not far-flung exotics) but am never very adventurous. However, my stand out delicious dish was a pizza I ate in Bologna a couple of years ago. J and I had wandered down some back streets and came across a little restaurant. As we walked past we could see the wood fired oven in the kitchen and made a note to come back for dinner later. I had a pizza with the most sublime aubergine on it, which made me realise just how meltingly soft and delicious aubergine can be, and there was parmesan on my pizza too, which was amazing. I wish I were back there now!

5. Another food bloggers table you'd like to eat at is?

Hmmm, do I have to choose just one? I'd like to eat at Celia's table because everything she produces looks absolutely delicious and I'd love to be part of her family's conversations! But I'd equally well like to eat at Joanna's table, because her food all looks amazing too, and I'd love to verify that her bread tastes as fabulous as it looks (I'm sure it does). And who wouldn't want to meet Zeb?

6. What is the one kitchen gadget you would ask Santa for this year (money no object of course)?

Um, if money is really no object would Santa mind an entire new kitchen (to replace the nasty falling apart mess that currently masquerades as a place to cook) please? Or is that just too cheeky? Honestly, I'm not sure, I'm rubbish at asking for Christmas presents!

Random flower to break up my wordy post and remind me of lovely Italian holidays!

7. Who taught you how to cook?

I don't really do cooking; I do bake though. I picked up bits from my mum mostly and then just added other things myself.

8. I'm coming to you for dinner what's your signature dish?

See the answer to question 7! How do you fancy bread for your main followed by cake for dessert? I could run to spreading the bread with some really good butter though... I don't really think I have a signature dish I can be proud of!

 

9. What is your guilty food pleasure?

I don't think it's a guilty food pleasure, because I don't feel guilty, but I eat a lot of chocolate. And I really do mean a lot.

10. Reveal something about yourself that others would be surprised to learn?

When I was little I wanted to eat honey straight from the jar (well, via a spoon rather than Winnie the Pooh like) and my mum said I wouldn't like it. Well, I did and I do. Quite often. Actually this might have been a better answer to number 9 really mightn't it!

Best pizza ever!

I'm supposed to tag five other people now, but lots of the blogs I visit have already been tagged so apologies if you've already been tagged and please don't feel obliged to participate but I'd like to tag

Lou at Please Do Not Feed the Animals
Celia at Fig Jam and Lime Cordial
Joanna at Zeb Bakes
Katie at Apple and Spice
and... The Caked Crusader (whose identity shall never be revealed!)

Top Teacakes - Short and Tweet

I love a good tea-cake; toasted, lavishly buttered and enjoyed with a good mug of hot chocolate on a chilly winter's morning, it's the perfect way to start the day. Well, we haven't got the chilly mornings yet (not that you'll catch me complaining about that - I hate the cold!) but that just means that I'll have to make these again when such mornings roll around.

This week's 'Short and Tweet' challenge set up by @EvidenceMatters was to make Dan's Top Teacakes, to be found on page 88 of Short and Sweet or here, from the Guardian Guide to Baking.

I'm really glad that these were chosen for the challenge because I probably wouldn't have got round to making them otherwise. After all, I have been meaning to make them since November 2007, so I obviously needed an additional push! I think it was the scale of the recipe that put me off them - there is only me here to eat my baking efforts (although actually, my colleagues might quite like these!) so any bread recipe requiring 600g flour in addition to lots of other add ins and three eggs is going to take me a long time to get through. I decided to make 1/3 of the recipe (recipe uses three eggs, hence not halving it!) and also decided to make the teacakes much smaller. The recipe says nine, but I got six out of my 1/3 recipe, so mine are half of the recommended size. Having said that, these are still substantial buns, the original size must be massive!

I followed the recipe pretty closely (for me) - my kneading wasn't quite spaced as Dan instructed and I probably left the dough for about 1 1/2 hours in total for the first stage, and then nearly two hours at the second stage after shaping. My kitchen wasn't very warm, so I decided that after an hour I would encourage them a little by very briefly preheating my oven, turning it off and sticking them in there. This technique worked well, and I'll do it again.

For the ingredients, I used white chocolate, not beef dripping, raisins (roughly chopped) rather than currants, as I often find currants either seedy or stalky (whichever, they sometimes have nasty crunchy bits in them) and then used 1/4 tsp each ground ginger and mixed spice for the spices. Then, out of necessity rather than choice I used chopped dried cranberries instead of mixed peel. I discovered a while ago that whilst I hate chopped mixed peel, I really quite like candied peel that you can chop yourself. Sadly I haven't seen any in the supermarkets this year, and I'm upset that they seem to have stopped stocking it. If anyone has seen any, please let me know otherwise I'll have to investigate making my own!

I baked at 200C rather than 220C, (Gas 6 rather than Gas 7) because I always find these sweet, fruited breads colour too quickly when I bake at such a high temperature. That is also the case here, the buns are darker than I like, perhaps next time I'll try Gas 5. To compensate I baked for 20 minutes, turning the buns upside down after 15 minutes to brown the bases. It just means that they'll only need toasting on one side!

They're very tasty buns, but I do wish I hadn't darkened the crusts quite so much, I'm not a fan of dark crusts on sweet breads. The spice is very subtle, next time I might increase this a little more. The texture of these isn't the same as shop bought tea cakes, which are very light and fluffy. These are denser, but in a good way - after all, you need a good weight of bun to hold the melting butter and these are just right... There is plenty of fruit in the buns which is a good thing in my view, but again, I wish I had been able to get some mixed peel, there's just something delicious about the contrast of the slightly bitter mixed peel, the sweet bun and the rich melty butter.... mmm, melting butter!

Thanks to EM for picking these, and also to Jo for saying how lovely they were, without both of these prods to make them, I probably would still have left them.