Christmas Bread

This is my take on a Swedish staple bread, it’s not Christmas until you’ve had this with a few slices of Gouda and pickle cucumber.

Makes 1 Loaf

This is what you need;

200g rye flour360g strong white flour
1 big pinch of salt
5g fast action yeast
1tsp ginger
1tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp grounded cloves
1tsp dried and grounded Pomelo peel (any citrus fruit works if you can’t get a hold of this)
1 star anise grounded
1tsp cardamom
2tbps black treacle
230 ml tepid water
70ml Guinness (or other kinds of Stout works well too)
10ml olive oil (or 25g melted unsalted butter)
50g raisins (you can have less if you’re not that keen and mix in some almonds and clementine peel to make it extra cheerful)

Let’s get started!! If you are using butter then start by melting this and set to one side to cool.
Put all the dry ingredients in a bowl, make sure to put salt and yeast on each side of the bowl, then make a hole in the middle then add all your wet ingredients in the little well. Mix together but make sure that the yeast gets mixed in before in incorporate the salt. Once everything has come together tip it out on a lightly floured surface and begin the work, you will have to knead for at least 20 min, rye is much harder to to work so don’t give up!
Once you have a smooth dough but it in a bowl and cover it with clingfilm, let it rest and double in side, should take around 1 hour.
Once doubled in size, punch the air out and then make a big rectangle and scatter your raising then roll the dough up into a sausage so it fits into your butter greased bread tin. Leave to rise and double in size, this can take longer than  1 hour depending on the amount of fruit and nuts.
Crank your oven up to max, around 240 and gas mark 9, put a baking trey on the bottom of the oven.
Once the loaf is ready bake it in the oven and add ice water to the baking trey, this will give the loaf an amazing crust!
Bake for 10 min then lower the heat to 210 for an additional 20 min, this forces the loaf to rise even further and you end up with quite the loaf!

Saffron Buns

Today I will start my 12 days of Christmas blogging! And we kick start with a Swedish tradition that’s served on Lucia, December 13th!!

Makes 30

This is what you need:

650g self-raising flour
100g caster sugar
7g fast action yeast
0.5g ground saffron
100g butter (unsalted)
330ml whole milk
1 pinch of salt
60 raisins
1 beaten egg for brushing

Let the Christmas baking commence….

Start by melting the butter and leave to one side, weigh out the dry ingredients and put everything in a bowl. Make sure you put yeast on one side of the bowl and salt on the other. Ground the saffron and add to the butter, then add the milk. Make a hole in the middle if the flour and pour in the liquid, mix everything together. Once everything is incorporated pour out on a lightly floured surface and knead for 10-15 min until you have a smooth yellow dough.
But it back into the bowl and cover in clingfilm, leave in a warm place until the dough has doubled in size.
Once doubled in size, punch the air out and dived your dough into 30 parts, roll out to a thing sausage and then form them into a Lussekat, see below.

Leave them to rest for 1 hour and double in size, whatever is first.
Heat your oven to 220, gas mark 6, when the buns are ready put two raisins in each and brush with the beaten egg, bake in the middle of the oven for 10 min and Christmas has started!!!

Sourdough

Lack of blogs I know! But I am planning something very exciting so watch this space!

Now for this bread you need a sourdough starter, this needs to be prepared at least 1 week before you want to bake but the longer you leave it the nicer it tastes.

Take an airtight jar and add 75g rye (or wholemeal) flour and 75g of lukewarm water and mix, close the lid and leave for 24 hours and do the same for 7 days then let it sit in the fridge until you want to use it.

This bread is for the bread lovers, you need time and patience this loaf  as it roughly takes 15 hours to make.

Makes 1 loaf

This is what you need;

300g sourdough starter
500g strong bread flour (now I use strong Canadian bread flour)
200ml warm water5g sea salt

And that’s all you need!

Chuck everything in a bowl and mix, once mixed together get ready to be frustrated!
This is a super wet dough but don’t give up, after 20 min of vigorous kneading you will be left with a smooth dough, still sticky but not as bad, now put that back in the bowl and leave it for 3-4 hours.
turn the dough out and shape into a small loaf, then flour a breadbasket and put the dough in there, cover with clingfilm and let it rest for 12 hours.

Heat your oven to 225 and put a baking trey in the bottom of your oven.
Turn the dough out on a grease proof baking trey and bake in the middle of the oven for 30 min, just before you close the oven door chuck in a cup of ice water in the baking trey.

Now your bread is done. let it cool on a cooling rack then cut a slice and enjoy with some cheese and chutney, Yummy!

White Loaf

Getting a great white loaf right is really hard, but once you got it it’s absolutely amazing, the key to the perfect loaf is great ingredients and patience.

Makes 1 amazing loaf, this will take around 3 hours to make.

This is what you need:
560g Strong Bread flour (I use strong organic Canadian bread flour)
5g of fast action dried yeast
5g salt (or 10g sea salt)
20g extra virgin olive oil
330ml warm water

Start by adding all the flour into a bowl, on one side add your yeast and your salt on the other side. Make a little hole in the middle and add the water and the oil. With your hand, start mixing the water in but start so you mix in the yeast first then mix everything together. Knead the dough in the bowl until all the flour is incorporated, then put it out on a lightly floured surface. Now start kneading your dough, knead for about 15 minutes and really stretch out the dough to create loads of gluten. Put it back into a floured bowl and cover with clingfilm until it’s doubled in size.

If the dough is ready, punch it down to get the air out and then form into a sausage shape and put into a oiled bread tin, dust it with flour and cover with a airtight bag so the loaf has room to grow. Let the loaf double in size, this should take around 1 hour.

Heat your oven to the highest temperature and put a roasting trey on the bottom of the oven.
Once your dough is ready to go, slash your loaf and put it in the oven, pour ice water into the roasting trey and take the oven temperature down to 210 fan, gas mark 6 and bake in the middle of the oven for 30-35 minutes.
Let the bread cool on a cooling rack once done, then slice it up and enjoy with a ton of butter.

Little tip: try and keep the same temperature in the room where your dough is rising and this will help the proving of the dough.

 

Sausage Rolls

THE SAUSAGE ROLL….

Depending on the size you can get up to 15.

This is always a safe option, tastes amazing hot but also works next day for brekkie. This can also be made vegetarian. You can just buy your favorite sausages and take the skin off, or buy some veggie ones and put them in a food processor and use that rather than making the mix, I think it’s nicer to make it..

This is what you need:
1kg puff pastry (see yesterdays post)
500g finly minced pork
3 sage leafs, finely sliced
1tsp black pepper
1tsp white pepper
1 finely diced red onion
2 cloves of garlic, chopped
1/2 tsp grounded nutmeg
1 egg, beaten with 1 tbsp water
1tbsp olive oil

Start by heating your oven to 220 degrees, gas mark 6, add red onion, garlic and sage in a pan and cook until the onions are soft, set to one side. In a bowl, add the mince and the powdered spices and the onions and mix well together until everything is combined.
On a lightly floured surface roll your dough out to a 80cmx40cm and you want the dough to be around the thickness of a £1 coin. Cut the edges off so you have straight lines then cut in the middle giving you to long slices of dough.
Add the pork mixture (or the veggie sausage mix) like a long sausage across the 2 pieces of dough, brush all the edges and roll over the long edges of the dough, making one long dough sausage with a little handle on the edge.

Push down the long edges with a fork and start cutting your rolls. I cut them up 10-12 cm each or you can make mini ones 5cm. Brush them with the beaten egg (now if you want to freeze some for a later date this is the time) bake the rolls in the middle of the oven for 30 min until golden.

Let them cool a bit as the middle will be very hot, then dunk in some ketchup and eat away!

Puff Pastry

Puff pastry is not only amazingly nice but very versatile so you can make a little spread.

Makes 1kg dough.

This is what you need:

5g salt
250ml ice water
75g butter (to be melted)
400g cold butter
500g strong bread flour

(50g chopped dark chocolate + 1 beaten egg with 1tbsp of water) and a ruler….

Goodness ahoy, let’s bake!

Start by melting your butter and put to one side, sift the flour then add the salt. Once the butter has gone cold add it to the flour on one side and add the water on the other. Now it’s essential that you don’t overwork this dough, so mix everything together with your finger tips until you have formed a dough, this can take some time but believe me that it’s worth the wait! Now but your dough to one side and take the butter out, take some baking parchment out and pound out the butter between the sheets to a 15cmx15cm square. The butter should be as soft as the dough and easily bent, but not warm, if it gets warm then put it in the fridge for a few minutes. Roll out your dough to a 30cmx30cm square and put the butter rectangular in the middle and fold over the corns, so it looks like a square envelop.
Now start the layering, do this by rolling out the dough into a 30cm x 50cm rectangle, then fold in thirds, starting by folding the right side 2rds in then fold the left side over the dough and turn the dough 1/4 and repeat the process 6-10 times, making sure the that butter doesn’t escape roll carefully and don’t force the dough, lightly dust with flour as you go along so it’s not sticky.
Leave in the fridge for a minimum of 5 hours, if you can leave it in there for 12-15 hours.

12 hours later and you should have an amazingly smooth dough.
So the quickest and tastiest thing to do with this dough is quick Chocolate Croissants…

I will post a real croissant recipe on a later date but this is a delicious cheat..

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees.

Roll the pastry out 15  cm x 100cm should be just thinner than a £1 coin, cut the edges off so you have a straight edges.
Cut out 12.5 cm rectangles, then cut diagonally across so you get 2 triangles, stretch it out a bit or use a rolling pin to make it 1/3 bigger. Make a 1cm cut in the middle of the bottom and fold out the edges, then put 1tsp of chopped chocolate then roll down then round the edges so you get a croissant shaped croissant 🙂
Brush with water beaten egg and bake in the middle of the oven for 15 minutes.

Now, just wolf it down

Double love biscuits

Makes 20 big ones….

Vanilla jammy dodgers just isn’t enough, lets put a chocolate layer on this!

This is what you need:

200g Self-raising flour
100g butter
50g caster sugar
1 egg
1tsp vanilla paste
1tsp corn flour
(make this dough again and add 2 heaped tsp of cocoa powder)
150g of raspberry or strawberry jam.

Let’s get baking!
Start by whisking the butter, sugar and vanilla paste, add the egg and whisk until you get an even mixture. Sift the flour and the corn flour (when you do the chocolate dough just add the cocoa powder at this stage).
Knead the dough until combined, don’t worry if it’s a bit sticky, wrap in cling film and let it chill in the fridge for about 1 hour.
Preheat your oven to 180 degrees, on a lightly floured surface knead the dough adding flour as you go along until the dough is smooth, make sure not to overwork the dough as the butter will melt and you will have to add flour for the rest of the day 🙂
Roll your chocolate dough out to around 0.5cm and use a 7cm cutter, I used a lid, and make 20 circles. Then take your vanilla dough and use the same cutter then place a small heart shaped cutter, or any other shape works too, in the middle.
Bake the biscuits in the middle of the oven for about 17 minutes.

Once they have cooled start putting the biscuits together,  put 1 tsp jam on the chocolate base and then chuck the lid on and voilà, you have a red heat in the middle of an epic biscuit!

This is a definite dunker so get your tea brewing.

Custard Buns with Coconut Icing (Skolebrød)

This is a classic Norwegian bun that goes down a treat every time, guaranteed!
(Makes 12 heavenly buns)

This is what you need:

650g Self-raising flour
90g caster sugar
1 pinch of salt
2 tbsp cardamom
1 Sachet fast action yest
100g butter
360ml whole milk

For the custard:

6 egg yolks
1tbsp vanilla paste
1tbsp cornflour
50g caster sugar
610ml whole milk

Icing:
1egg white
5 drops of lemon juice
2tbsp water
250g confectionery sugar
1cup on dessicated coconut

LET’S BAKE!
Start by sifting the flour and  cardamom into a bowl, add yest on one side and sugar and salt on the other.
Add 1/4 of the milk into a saucepan together with the butter, stir until the butter has melted and set to one side.
Mix the remaining milk into the melted butter, mix all the dry ingredients together then make a whole in the middle of the bowl, pour in the milk mixture.
Knead in the bowl until the dough feels manageable, pour out on a lightly floured surface and get stuck in kneading to build up as much gluten as you can, this should take about 10 minutes. Put the dough back into a lightly floured bowl and cover with clingfilm, leave to rise until twice it’s original size.
Start making the custard, start by adding the egg yolks, sugar, vanilla paste and cornflour into a bowl and mix vigorously until combined. Heat up the milk until simmering, pour the milk slowly into the bowl whilst stirring, once half the milk has been combined but the milk back on the stove on low heat. Start poring the the egg yolk mixture back into the saucepan whilst stirring but make sure it doesn’t start to boil, stir until the custard goes really thick, set to side.
Preheat your oven to 250 or gas mark 7, punch your dough down (once finished proving) and divide the dough into 12 and make round balls and then flatten them out, time to prove for a second time, cover with clingfilm but make sure the the buns have space to raise. After 1 hour they should have grown about twice their size, using your thumb create a dent in the bun, now you can make a big dent if you LOVE custard or a smaller one if you’re not that keen. Add the custard and bake the buns in the middle of the oven for 10-15 minutes.

Ice Ice Icing time, add all the ingredients into a bowl and whisk with a fork, the consistency should be really thick, it should struggle to slide off a spoon. Put the coconut into a bowl and set aside.
Once the buns has cooled cover the bun in icing around the custard (i love icing so I just chuck it on all over) then dip the iced side into the coconut, now the only thing left to do is stuffing your face in this goodness !

Enjoy

Swedish Cinnamon Buns

Tomorrow is the BIG day, international cinnamon bun day
(or maybe it’s only in Sweden but I think it should be international, they deserve it) so I thought I would give you a head start with a recipe that I’ve used for years!
Makes ca 40-50 normal size or 30 massive ones.

If you have time I would recommend proving the dough over night (12 hours) as we are using milk in this recipe and that slows down the proving process.

What you need:

Dough:

5dl Milk
1 x sachet of dry fast action yeast
2dl Sugar
0.5 tsp salt
14dl Self raise flour (if you can get organic or local do it, it makes such a difference) + 2 depending on the wetness
125g butter
**optional – I have 2 tsp of grounded cardamom in the dough,it gives the buns an amazing taste.

You will need 1 egg to brush the buns with after their second proving and then sprinkle them with coarse pearl sugar.

Filling:

120g butter
1,5dl sugar
3 tbsp cinnamon

OR, if you don’t like cinnamon but don’t want to miss out on bun godness

120g room temp butter
1dl sugar
0.5dl vanilla sugar
50 of shaved almonds

NOW, time to get your hands dirty and start mixing these ingredients together.
Start by sifting 13dl of the flour into a bowl put the yeast on one side and the salt on the other, then mix, add the rest of your dry ingredients and butter. Start adding your milk gradually, in 3 parts. As you go along you will see when you need to add the remaining flour but leave 1dl for dusting and kneading. When everything has come together tip it out on a floured surface, roll your sleeves up and start kneading.
After 10-15 min you should have a smooth dough, now if you can’t prove it over night, put the dough in a bowl cover tight with clingfilm but make sure that the dough has enough space to double in size. If you are leaving it over night, same here but leave it in a cool place, this allows the flavors to establish and for the gluten to build up.
When your dough is done proving, punch it down and tip out on a floured surface.
Take a rolling pin and start flatten out the dough, try not to be too rough and let the dough stretch out.
Once your dough is about 5mm thick it’s time for the filling to come in, so evenly distribute butter, sugar and cinnamon or your other fillings.
Then push the down down on the opposite side of where you start rolling.

Start rolling the dough, make sure you roll it tight and don’t leave loads of space in the swirl as the might dry out and fall apart when you eat them 🙂

This is the traditional way of doing it but there are hundreds of ways of making it to a bun.
Cut them up, I normally cut 5-7 cm pieces, then put into cases and cover with clingfilm.

Leave them to rise and double in size, this should take about 1 hour, turn your oven on when you have 30 min left on the proving. Turn your oven to 250 degrees (gas mark 6-7)

If the buns are ready brush with the beaten up egg and sprinkle with pearl sugar, bake the buns in the middle of the oven for about 8-10 min and golden.

If you have made too much and can’t control yourself, this is the perfect time to chuck some in the freezer, when the buns has cooled down a bit just put them in a freezer bag and enjoy on a later date.

Best consumed warm with a cold glass of milk, yummy….