Hot Cross Buns

Baking bread is something that has been on my mind for a long long time. I would see the awesome bread posts posted on facebook and would wish to be able to bake like them. However my whole life I have been staying in small cities with names you have not heard of. Opportunities were less even though the desire was there. Then finally we got to live in a sprawling metropolis, the business centre of our country. And this was a moment I seized with both my hands. Even before settling in I was googling for baking classes.
The four day bread workshop I attended was an eye opener. Both theory and practical was taught extensively. We were made to practice at least four kinds of breads everyday. Buoyed by the experience I decided to start baking on a regular interval.
The first bread I wanted to bake was Hot Cross Buns. I had heard this nursery rhyme so many times and I always wondered what is so special about this bun that you have a nursery rhyme dedicated to it. I started looking at different recipes and found myself getting more and more confused which one to follow. Met with a few disasters.
I have basically flowed the recipe by Joe Pastry. I have halved the recipe because I didn’t  need 18 buns. Also, thankfully, I didn’t add all the liquid at once because I was left over with almost ¾ cup of milk and yet the dough was quite sticky. It depends a lot on the quality of ingredients you use. What kind of flour you use determines how much liquid you need. So main point to keep in mind is not to use all the wet ingredient at once to make the dough. After the bread workshop I had an idea how sticky a dough should be and I used that much milk accordingly.
And while baking bread remember not to give up. The sticky dough will get together. Just keep kneading. If things seem hopeless dust your hands with a little flour, oil the working surface a bit. But keep at it!!


Ingredients 

Makes about 10 buns
2 ½ cups flour
½ tbsp instant yeast
¼ tsp nutmeg powder
¼ tsp cinnamon powder
½ tsp salt
1 cup milk, lukewarm
2 tbsp honey
1 egg(optional)
2 tbsp soft butter
½ cup raisins

For making the crosses
2 tbsp flour
1 tbsp granulated sugar
Water to make a thick paste

Pour enough water on raisins to cover them and boil for 10 minutes. Keep aside.
Sift together flour, cinnamon powder, nutmeg powder and salt. Mix the yeast with a spoon.  Whisk the egg and honey together. Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients.

Add the whisked milk and honey and mix with a spoon. Slowly add the milk and keep mixing with the spoon.

 Stop adding milk as soon as you get a sticky dough.

Turn out the dough on a lightly floured surface and start kneading. It is going to be really sticky and will stick to your palms and the working surface. Keep at it for 5 minutes. Scrape your hands if you need. Now add the softened butter and raisins.

Start kneading again. The butter and sticky dough will make a real mess.

Do not panic. This is where you need your best friend, the scraper. Use it to scrape the dough off and keep kneading. After a long time that will seem like a life time the dough will come together. It will still be a sticky dough.

 Put it in an oiled bowl. Cover the bowl with a damp cloth. Do not let the cloth touch the dough or it will stick to it. Keep aside for 2 hours or until it has doubled in size.

 Lightly punch the dough to knock out the air.

 Divide the dough into 10.

Now comes the rolling part. Do not roll between your palms. Remember the dough has air which shouldn’t be squeezed out. Put the ball on the working surface, place your palm over it like a cage with the dough lightly touching your skin. And start a rolling movement with the only pressure being between the base of your thumb (the fleshy mound) and the working surface. As you roll the dough keep lightly pushing with the base of your thumb.

Do these with all the balls.

Place a parchment paper on the baking tray and put the balls on them keeping some space between the balls. Cover and keep for about an hour till it grows in size.
 Now make the crosses. Once the balls have doubled up in size, mark an X with a kitchen knife. Now make a thick paste with the sugar, flour and water. The paste should fall slowly when you pick it up with a finger. Using your finger slowly trail some paste on the X you have marked on the buns. If you are an egg eater then do an egg wash.

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Bake the buns for 18-20 minutes.
After 10 minutes your house will be filled with an amazing aroma. Trust me !!

Cheese Rolls

Cheese Rolls

Have guests coming over unannounced? Feeling like having a quick snack? Want something to munch on while watching the tv? These Cheese Rolls are easy to make. They require ingredients that are already in your kitchen. With cheese as the main star the kiddos will also love them.

Ingredients

1 cup grated cheese
1 onion, minced
1 capsicum, minced
Salt to taste
½ tsp pepper powder
10 bread slices with sides trimmed

Mix together grated cheese, minced onions and capsicum, salt and pepper powder. 

Take a bread slice and dip it in water. Take the slice out and putting it flat on your palm squeeze out the water. Take a tablespoon of cheese mix and put in the middle of the slice. Wrap the slice around the cheese mix and roll well. Do the same with all the bread slices. 

Deep fry. 

Cinnamon Pull Apart Bread

Cinnamon Pull Apart Bread

I had seen amazing pics of this Cinnamon Pull Apart Bread a while ago and ever since then I wanted to bake it. The golden brown bread had stacks of slices that seemed like a deck of cards. It was a visual treat and I was sure it would be a gastronomical treat too.

Joy the Baker has an amazing pictorial description of the recipe. I really had fun during the whole process. Cutting, slicing and stacking. The bitter cold was a problem. However keeping in a heated room overnight helped the dough double beautifully. I swathed and cradled the bowl of dough like a baby. The time and effort was totally worth it. The bread was as I had imagined it would be. The slices were thin and soft, sugary and cinnamon, and so much more. 

Recipe source : Joythebaker.com

Ingredients

For the dough
2 ¾ cups+2 tbsp flour
¼ cup granulated sugar
2 ¼ tsp yeast
½ tsp salt
60 gm butter
1/3 cup milk
¼ cup water
2 eggs

For the filling
1 cup granulated sugar
2 tsp cinnamon powder
50 gm butter, softened

Mix together 2 cups of flour, sugar, yeast and salt. Whisk the eggs and keep aside.
Heat the butter and milk till the butter has melted. 
Pour the milk mix into the dry ingredients and mix gently with a spatula. 
Add the eggs and stir again. Start kneading slowly adding the ¾ cup of flour and water. 
Knead for 10 minutes. Place the dough in a greased bowl, cover and keep till it doubles in size. 

Mix together the sugar and cinnamon powder for the filling. 
Punch back the risen dough.
 Flour the working surface.
 Roll out the dough into a large rectangular shape. 

Spread the melted butter on the dough. Sprinkle the sugar-cinnamon mix on the dough. 

Cut the dough into six strips.

Stack the strips on top of each other.

Cut the strips into six slices so that you end up with six set of squares. 

Stack the squares sideways into a greased loaf tin. 

Cover and keep the loaf tin for half an hour. Preheat the oven to 175 degrees. Bake for 35 minutes. 

Parsley and sun dried tomato Focaccia bread

Parsley and sun dried tomato Focaccia bread

Baking bread is something I have still not mastered and I keep trying. The two main problems I face are temperamental yeast and inadequate kneading. Coming to an extremely cold place has compounded the yeast problem. 
But I didn’t give up. In the process I burnt a towel!!! What!!! Bread and towel you say!!
The normal day time temperature in this place is about 3 degrees. You can very well imagine what it does to the proofing of yeast. I have tried all sorts of things. Made a tent of my dupatta under the sun, wrapped in foil, put in a warmed oven etc but to no avail. My dough simply wont rise.
In the evening we have to put on keroheaters or we will simply freeze. They make the room quite warm and cozy. So I made the dough, covered the bowl in a thick towel and kept it overnight near the keroheater. The dough doubled beautifuly. For the second proofing I got greedy. I kept the whole towel bundle on top of the kero heater and soon I could smell something burning. Turned out it was my towel!!! 
Anyways the towel incident aside my dough rose beautifully and I baked a beautiful Focaccia bread. 


Ingredients

2 cups flour
1 tsp salt
3 tbsp olive oil
2 tsp yeast
½ cup lukewarm water
1 tsp sugar
3 cloves garlic, sliced
1 tbsp sundried tomatoes
Few sprigs parsley, chopped
A pinch of sea salt

Mix the sugar and lukewarm water. Sprinkle the yeast over it and let it bubble. I always use instant  yeast which can be mixed directly into the flour. However I prefer proofing the yeast first to ensure that the dough will rise. 

Mix together flour, salt and olive oil with your hands. Add the yeast mix and knead well for at least 10-15 minutes. The dough will be a bit sticky. Now grease a bowl well. Also oil the dough so that it doesn't stick to the bowl. Cover with a cling film and leave to double. 

At this point I had to leave it overnight because of the extreme dip in temperature. 

Once it has doubled punch it back and put it in a baking dish. I used a springform pie dish. Spread it with your fingers. Sprinkle sliced garlic, chopped parsley and sun dried tomatoes on it.

 Cover and keep for another 20 minutes for it to proof again.

Preheat the oven at 200 degrees Celsius. Bake the bread for 20 minutes.