Estonian Kringel - Fresh From The Oven

Time for another Fresh From The Oven challenge which was picked by Jo over at Jo's Kitchen. Jo spotted the recipe when it appeared on the Hairy Bikers TV Show ' Mum's Know Best'. I think I'm about the only baker int he group to have missed that episode but I'm so glad that Jo picked this recipe to try for our March challenge. Yum does not even begin to describe it.

In usual me type style I left it till today to get the bread made. That said there isn't much of it left, Hubby and I have pretty much eaten the lot. That sounds bad, especially when you take a peek at the ingredients list but its the only thing we've had to eat today - promise! Got a nice dinner in the oven though so never fear, Hubby isn't on starvation rations just yet!

I found the dough quite dry to work with, I was worried that the cooked bread would be the same but I guess that 100g of butter smeared over the top did the trick. I couldn't lay my hands on fresh yeast and used 12g of instant in its place, not sure if that caused the initial dry texture. Hubby has asked for this to be made again soon and as everyone knows by now this is my barometer of success or not! Two thumbs up from this camp. There was a bit of discussion when the recipe was posted about some ingredients being omitted etc so I have used the recipe as the Hairy Bikers have included on the web site for the TV show.

Sweet Estonian Kringle
40 g fresh yeast
1 tbsp sugar
220 ml milk
1 tsp Salt
2 egg yolks
50 g melted unsalted butter
600-700 ml flour
Filling
100 g soft butter
10 tsp sugar
3 handfuls of raisins
Topping
150 g dark chocolate (min 50%)

75 g butter

Mix yeast and sugar in a mixing bowl. Add lukewarm milk, egg yolks.

Mix in flour and melted butter and knead well.

Shape the dough into a ball, cover the bowl with a kitchen towel and leave to rise in a warm
place for 30 min.

Knock the dough back and roll it out on a slightly dusted work surface to about 1 cm thickness.

Spread soft butter evenly over the rolled sheet of pastry. Then sprinkle raisins and finally sugar.

Roll the dough up like a Swiss roll then cut in half with a sharp knife leaving one end uncut.

Starting from the uncut end, lift each half over the other in turn revealing the separate layers.

Shape the plaited bread into a B-shape and transfer onto a buttered baking tray. Bake in a
preheated oven at 200 C for about 25 min or until golden.

In the meantime prepare the chocolate topping by melting chocolate and butter in a bowl over
some boiling water.

Once out of the oven, let the bread cool down a bit, transfer to a serving plate and drizzle the
chocolate sauce all over.

Serves 15 to 20 (lol!)

Hairy Bikers 'Mum Knows Best'

In an attempt to try and reduce the amount of calories we were to consume with this recipe I have omitted the chocolate sauce for drizzling. A savoury version can also be made by omitting the sugar and replacing the filling with cheese.

Crusty Pasta and Broccoli Bake

The other night Hubby and I were watching Masterchef Australia. The remaining contestants were given 30 minutes to produce a romantic meal and Julie decided to make the first meal that she ever cooked for her Husband. This got us to thinking about the first meal I ever cooked for my Hubby. At the time I had no idea what a fussy eater he was and I was a strict vegetarian so I picked a pasta and broccoli bake from one of the latest food magazines. I can still remember the look on his face when I showed him what we were eating, safe to say he was not best pleased! But after tasting it he really enjoyed it and went back for seconds, now it is one of his favourite dishes!

Crusty Pasta and Broccoli Bake

400g penne or macaroni

1 red onion, roughly chopped

250g head broccoli, stalks chopped small, florets halved

1 veg stock cube

1 heaped tsp french or german mustard

1 heaped tsp grainy mustard

200g pot half fat creme fraiche

100g grated mature gruyere or cheddar

Small handful parsley leaves, chopped

4 tbsp fresh white breadcrumbs

1/2 tsp dried mixed herbs or thyme

Boil the pasta, onion and broccoli stalks in plenty of lightly salted boiling water for about 7 mins, then add broccoli florets and cook for another 3 mins. Reserve about 400ml of the water, the drain the pasta and vegetables.

Return the reserved water to the pan and dissolve the stock cube, whisk in the mustard and creme fraiche, season to taste. Bring to the boil. Stir in the drained pasta, vegetables and half the cheese, mixing until melted. Stir in the parsley. Heat the grill.

Tip the pasta and vegetables into a shallow ovenproof dish. Mix together the remaining cheese, breadcrumbs and herbs and scatter on top of the pasta.

Grill for about 3 mins, turning if the top starts to brown. Don't let it burn or the cheese will toughen. Remove and let the dish stand for 5 mins before serving.

Serves 4

Strawberry and White Chocolate Macaroons

I've had to think long and hard about whether to post this recipe or not. It wasn't the rip roaring success that I was hoping for and my initial jubilation at being successful with macaroons has indeed been short lived. But I did say that this blog would be a record of all my adventures in the kitchen, both the good and the bad, so I decided to post it anyway.

These were made to go alongside a friends birthday present. We were all meeting for lunch today so I was up early this morning making the macaroons and the ganache filling. I forgot to rap the trays hard before leaving the macaroons to set before putting in the oven. They didn't develop a great 'foot' at all but other than that they were OK. I'm not sure how I get the perfectly smooth dooms that all good macaroons should have, my efforts are defiantly more rustic looking. And then the ganache wouldn't set! I've had to promise to make my friend more for the next time I see her, hopefully by then I'll have this caper mastered!

To make them I used the same recipe as the peppermint and nutella macaroons, but I replaced the peppermint flavouring with strawberry and the green food colouring with pink. For the filling I used my favorite white chocolate truffle recipe.

They look a bit on the messy side, but they tasted great! They have all disappeared already!

Feel The Fear and Do It Anyway!

Just like the cupcake craze I feel I have now resisted the Macaroon fad for as long as possible. Often I have drooled over the macaroon's on offer over at Tartelette but always managed to tell myself that it required more dedication to the cause than I have to make these little morsels. Then Josie over at Daydreamer Desserts got in on the act and I found the pressure mounting! The final nail in the coffin came when the April edition of Delicious magazine landed in my letter box. The front cover piled high with pretty pastel coloured macaroon's ... what was I to do? Especially when I found myself with three spare egg whites that were just begging to be used rather than put int he freezer to save for a rainy day. It was a conspiracy, I'm sure!

Research was required. I'd read enough through various blogs and magazine articles to know that these sweet treats were more easy to scoff than they were to make. There is a great article over on Tartelette which helped ease the pain, apparently it can even go wrong for the professionals! I needed to know more so I headed over to David Lebovitz's blog but I'm afraid to say that his post did little to install confidence in me.

At this point I decided it was best to just dive right on in and make a batch ... so that is what I did. And I'm really pleased I did because the thought of making Macaroon's is actually much more daunting than the actual making of them. And when you manage to produce a tray or two of them for yourself then the sense of satisfaction far outweighs any 'stress' that making them may have induced in the first place ... or as one of my favourite quotes says 'feel the fear and do it anyway'! (Susan Jeffers)

Peppermint Macaroons with Nutella Filling

175g icing sugar

125g ground almonds

3 large free range egg whites

75g caster sugar

Peppermint flavouring

Green food colouring (I used liquid because that's what I have to hand but I think I'll treat myself to a stash of powdered ones from now on as they produce more vibrant colours)

Nutella

Preheat the oven to 160C/fan 140C. Whizz the icing sugar and ground almonds in a food processor to a very fine mixture, then sift into a bowl.

In a separate bowl, whisk the egg whites with a pinch of salt to soft peaks, then gradually whisk in the caster sugar until thick and glossy. At this point you can stir in the flavouring and food colouring.

Fold half the almond and icing sugar mixture into the meringue and mix well. Add the remaining half, making sure you use a spatula to cut and fold the mixture until it is shiny and has a thick, ribbon like consistency as it falls from the spatula. Spoon into a piping bag fitted with a 1cm plain nozzle.

Line 2 baking sheets with baking paper. Pipe small rounds of the macaroon mixture, about 3cm across, onto the baking sheets. Give the baking sheets a sharp tap on the work surface to ensure a good 'foot'. Leave to stand at room temp for 10-15 mins to form a slight skin. This is important - you should be able to touch them lightly without any mixture sticking to your finger. Bake for 15 mins. Remove from the oven and cool.

When the Macaroon's have cooled use 1 tsp of Nutella to sandwich pairs of them together.

Makes 20 (I got 16!)

Adapted from Delicious - April 2010

OK, so they aren't perfect. But I'm chuffed to bits with them for a first effort. Having never actually eaten a Macaroon before either I'm not sure if the texture is spot on or not but they have a nice thin crunchy crust (note the 'foot' - how pleased am I!?!?!?!) and what we think is a lovely chewy middle. Hubby doesn't like meringues or pavs normally so i didn't think he would be that keen on Macaroon's but to my surprise he asked me not to take any of them into work to share, he wanted them all to himself!

The Great Hot Cross Bun Hunt - Trial Two

Thank you to everyone who has left me a comment after my first Hot Cross Bun Trial and for the additional recipes - all have been added to my list and I will do my best to try and make them all prior to Easter, with so many versions though it may need to be a two year project!

This recipe comes from the Times Online and I have to admit that I was desperate to try it for its sheer uniqueness. The ingredient list has a few additions to the usual Hot Cross Bun and I was intrigued to see (and taste!) the end result. These little guys are definite contenders for the 'Best Hot Cross Bun' title delivering everything I was looking for, loads of flavour, fruit and that very important moist and fluffy texture.

That said, the recipe isn't without drawbacks, firstly it makes no mention of what to cook the buns on or in. Tray or pan? Greased or ungreased? I opted for a non stick cake pan but in hindsight I should have greased and floured it, the tin didn't want to release the buns without a few harsh words and some added elbow grease. And the paste mixture for the crosses was far too runny and they ended up disappearing while in the oven (secretly I think it was them that secured themselves to the pan!). With a few tweaks here and there all my issues could be easily rectified though so I'm happy to call this recipe a success.

Hot Cross Buns - Times Online Style

450g strong bread flour

1 tsp salt

2 tsp ground cinnamon

2 tsp ground allspice (I used mixed spice - I'm guessing its one and the same?)

7g dried yeast

75g raisins

75g glacé cherries

Grated rind of 1 orange, 1 lemon, 1 lime

110g caster sugar

50g unsalted butter

2 tsp vanilla extract

250ml milk

1 egg, beaten

Paste

80g plain flour

2 tbsp sugar

100ml water

Glaze

2 tbsp brown sugar

3 tbsp milk

1 tbsp marmalade

Sift flour, salt and spices into a large bowl and mix in the yeast, fruit, rind and sugar.

Melt butter, stir in milk and vanilla extract and heat until tepid. Whisk into egg, add to flour mixture, form a dough and knead on a floured surface for 10min until smooth and elastic. Take note, it took quite a bit of extra flour just to get the dough to a knead-able state. Its a very sticky and damp mixture.

Divide into 12 buns, cover with a damp tea towel and leave in a warm place for about 90min, till doubled in size. (Mine didn't double in size at all, even after 2 hours - I feared the worst at this stage!)

Mix the paste, bung it in a piping bag (or a plastic freezer bag with one corner snipped off) and pipe a cross on each bun.

Bake at 180C for 10min, reduce the heat to 150C and bake for a further 15min. Lightly brush with the glaze and cool on a rack.

Makes 12

Times Online

I didn't even have the chance to add the glaze before we started slathering the buns with spread all warm from the oven still. I especially like the use of the zest instead of the peel, you get all the flavour of the citrus fruit without chomping on a big chunk of peel. I wasn't sure about the glace cherries or the use of the raisins instead of sultana's but in actual fact they aren't out of place in the finished bun at all. I might add some sultanas as well next time ~ assuming that this is the recipe to claim victory of course!

Butter for Breakfast!

Feast your eyes! I'm so proud!!! This is my first ever batch of Hollandaise Sauce - and after seeing the amount of calories that goes into creating it, quite possibly my last batch of Hollandaise Sauce! I don't know where I got the notion from but I always thought that Hollandaise Sauce was a temperamental beast to make but I'm happy to say I was wrong. It is a demanding beast, I'll grant you that, a beast that requires your undivided attention, but it is a doodle.

The taming of the Hollandaise shrew was made to go along side today's breakfast of Eggs in Bread. This is a shrew all of its own, not quite as successful as the sauce with the eggs leaking out all over the baking tray but I know where I went wrong and next time (hips permitting!) I'll just pop the whole pan in the oven rather than transferring to a baking tray. Clearly I didn't read the recipe quite as well as I could have!

Eggs In Bread

4 large, thick slices of bread (rustic or sourdough)
60g unsalted butter
4 eggs

Preheat the oven to 200°C.

Use an 8cm round cutter to cut a hole in the centre of each bread slice.

Melt butter in a large ovenproof fry pan over medium heat. In batches if necessary, cook bread on one side for 1-2 minutes until golden, then turn the bread over. Transfer all bread, toasted-side down, back to the pan or a lined baking tray, then carefully crack an egg into each hole (I found it much easier to crack the egg into a small jug and then pour it into the hole). Season, then bake for 3-4 minutes until eggs are just set.

Transfer to plates with a fish slice, then serve with buttered wilted spinach and hollandaise sauce (and for good measure I popped on some very yummy hot smoked salmon too!).

Serves 4

www.taste.com.au

Hollandaise Sauce

3 egg yolks
6 tbs softened butter
Salt, for seasoning
White pepper, for seasoning
1 tbs lemon juice

Place 3 egg yolks in a heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water (don't let bowl touch water). Whisk until light, then slowly add 6 tablespoons of softened butter, 1 tablespoon at a time. Whisk continually until mixture thickens, then season with salt and white pepper. Stir in 1 tablespoon of lemon juice and serve immediately.

Serves 4

www.taste.com.au

The sauce maybe good of done with a touch more lemon juice but other than that (and the eggs deciding to escape all over the baking tray!) it was a very yummy breakfast. I do think it will be an apple for dinner though!

Maria's Cupcakes (Lemon and Elderflower)

Maria over at The Goddess's Kitchen posted these the other day and as I still have a fridge full of Total Greek Yogurt and Elderflower cordial is a store cupboard essential for me I knew I had to give the recipe a try ASAP. I made a couple of very minor tweaks (hope you don't mind Maria!) so if you want to try the original recipe please head over to the Goddess's most wonderful blog and check the recipe out.

Lemon and Elderflower Cupcakes

200g plain flour

2 tsp baking powder

225g caster sugar

25g ground almonds

Finely grated zest of 1 unwaxed lemon

2 large eggs

90ml corn oil

250ml low-fat Greek Yogurt (I used the 0% variety from the Total range)

Juice from 1/2 lemon

Icing

225g icing sugar

3 tsp elderflower cordial

2 tsp water

Jelly sweeties, lemon rind to decorate

Preheat the oven to 180C/fan 160C. Line a 12-hole non-stick muffin tin with paper muffin cases.

Sift the flour and baking powder into a large bowl. Sprinkle over the sugar and ground almonds, followed by the grated lemon zest, and mix everything together.In a separate bowl, lightly beat the eggs with the oil and Greek yogurt. Add the lemon juice. Slowly pour the wet ingredients into the dry and stir with a wooden spoon. Mix until everything is combined and there are no clumps of dry ingredients.

Spoon the mixture into the paper cases so that they are three-quarters full. Bake the cakes in the centre of the preheated oven for about 20 minutes until they are firm and springy to the touch.

Remove from the oven and place the cakes on a wire rack to cool.

To make the icing, sift the icing sugar into a medium-sized bowl. Add the elderflower cordial and water a little at a time to achieve a thick, creamy consistency. When the cakes are cool, spoon a tablespoon of icing onto each one and decorate with jelly sweeties.

Makes 12

Stolen from The Goddess's Kitchen

These did not disappoint! It's the first time I've ever made cupcakes without all the butter and missing out the whole 'beat the butter with the sugar until light and creamy' seemed to be a step too far originally. The cupcakes have a fantastic lemon flavour, they are light and fluffy just like a cupcake should be. I diligently followed the instruction on only filling the cases 3/4 full and I managed to get 18 cupcakes out of the mixture (normally I would just keep topping up the cases until the mixture was gone but Maria said 3/4 and as she is a true Goddess who am I to argue?!?!?!)

The only thing I would do differently next time is the icing, even though I ramped up the amount of elderflower the flavour is still lost amongst all the lemon. Next time I'll use only Elderflower cordial I think ... and maybe add a little to the cupcake batter too?