Hot Cross Buns

This is the first time that I've made Hot Cross Buns and I must admit that I found them time consuming and a bit 'faffy'. Don't think I left myself enough time really as I didn't finish them till 10 o clock at night.

I didn't realise they needed to be proved twice (I should have read the recipe better!). With a two hour rise and 2 one hour proves, it makes for a long recipe time, especially given the 'cross' being added at the end before baking and the glaze being added as soon as the buns come out of the oven.

I think my oven thermostat needs checking too, I left them in the oven for 15 minutes at the temperature in the recipe, before I checked them and they were already very well done!! If I had left them for the full 20 minute the recipe stated they would have been very burnt!!

I amended the recipe a little, I excluded the mixed peel as I don't like that and added a few more sultanas instead, which I love!

Despite being a bit well done they taste lovely! You can taste the orange in them and the sultanas are lovely and plump.

I will definitely make these again but next time will do it on a day when I have more time to dedicate to them!

The dough at the beginning

The dough rising

The dough proving for the first time

The buns proving for the second time

The buns with their crosses on

The finished glazed Hot Cross Buns!

 

The proof of the pudding is in the eating-toasted Hot Cross Bun with butter. Delicious!

 

My first attempt at Maneesh

I made a Maneesh today for supper. I got the recipe from Paul Hollywood's How to Bake, which is primarily about how to make yeast based breads and desserts.

The book says it should look like this

I decided to use just half of the quantity described in the book as the recipe made more than I need.

I used 250 g of Strong White Flour and started off with the dough like this.

 



After 2 hours rising the dough had expanded to this

 

I then knocked the dough back and divided it in 2 and rolled each half into a round flat disc. I then left it to prove for 20 minutes

 

I then added the za'atar made up of olive oil, thyme, marjoram and sesame seeds

Before I cooked it for 15 minutes in a really hot oven (Gas Mark 9)

It's a lovely flavoured bread, not too spicy but lovely and 'herby'. It went perfectly with Potato and Pea Curry I made for supper!

Chocolate Cupcakes

My daughter is back from University for the Easter holidays tomorrow so I have made her favourite chocolate cake. Normally I do this as one large cake but I decided to do it as individual cupcakes today.

It's not really a cupcake recipe, its just a Victoria Sponge recipe with some cocoa powder added to it. This is my basic recipe, and I always use imperial measures so my recipes are in lbs and oz!!:

6 oz butter
6 oz caster sugar
3 large eggs
5 oz self raising flour
1 oz cocoa powder
2 large tblsp

I use the creaming method to make all my cakes and I never use a food processor, just a little hand held mixer to help me cream the ingrdients together.

I used some left over bright red cupcake cases I had from the Queens Jubilee last year, they are lovely and bright!

 

I bake them for about 15-20 minutes on Gas mark 5

 

 

Once they have cooled completely on a wire tray I decorate them with a simple butter cream icing, I don't really follow a recipe for this as I've made it so many times I just guess the proportions, but its about

1 oz butter
8 oz icing sugar
1 oz cocoa powder
2 tblsp milk

I decorated them with a simple swirl pattern using a piping bag

 



I find it is better to make them the day before you plan to eat them, as the next day the chocolate cake seems moister.

Yummy!







 

My 'forced' rhubarb

I've just checked my forced rhubarb in the garden. It still has a long way to go before I have enough to make a rhubarb crumble but as its the only thing growing in my veggie patch it's quite exciting!

My Second Baking Day

Fired up by my success baking a Bloomer I decided to have a go at making a wholemeal loaf. I chose to try Paul Hollywoods Wholemeal Tin Loaf. It has 350g of wholemeal flour and only 50g of strong white flour.

This is it rising

 

 

 



Once it had risen I knocked it back and then put it into my new Loaf Tin (having first 'seasoned' the tin). I left it to prove and then put it into the oven.

The loaf didn't rise as much as the Bloomer had, this is the result (along with a White Cob Loaf I made on the same day)

 

 

Apparently wholemeal loaves are more difficult to get to rise than white loaves. A friend has suggested adding more white flour and reducing the amount of wholemeal flour, plus having the oven on a higher setting so the loaf 'sets' quickly once it goes into the oven. I will try this next time!

 

Despite the poorer 'rise' on the loaf, it has a lovely taste and the texture is really good inside too

 

 

 

 

The White Cob Loaf was lovely by the way!

 

 





My First Bread Making!

Many years ago I used to visit an Aunt of mine who made her own bread. Her house always smelt lovely and the bread tasty lovely too-fresh, chewy and with a lovely crust on the outside. A memory I've never forgotten.

So when I watched the first episode of Paul Hollywoods new series 'Bread' I decided to have a go myself. I downloaded the recipe from the BBC website and bought myself some basic ingredients of Strong Flour and 'Instant' yeast. They only cost a couple of pounds, so not expensive.

 

I set about making my first loaf-a Bloomer. The recipe was easy to follow and I didn't need any special equipment, just a mixing bowl, measuring jug, weighing scales and flat baking sheet.

 

The actual time I spent 'actively' baking was about half an hour, although this is split over 4 hours as the dough is left to rising, and then prove. This was fine though as I was at home all day.

 

This is my dough when it was rising

 



And this is my dough when it was proving

 

Half an hour in the oven and my completed Bloomer looked like this

 



It was so easy to make and I was absolutely thrilled with the finished result. It tasted so lovely too! It makes great toast and we finished it off with some homemade Leek and Potato Soup.

Why don't you try to make it yourself-it's so satisfying and made my house smell just like my Aunty Alices house used to smell!

First Blog

Well this is my first blog posting. Just trying to get my blog layout sorted out and then I will be able to start blogging properly!