Cinnamon and Raisin Fruit Loaf

This recipe appeared in the December issue of Delicious magazine and I set about making it straight away. I'm a bit of a sucker for fruit bread and this one didn't fail. Both Hubby and I really enjoyed inhaling our slices warm from the oven with the butter melting in. Actually I used spread instead of butter ... it was the lead up to the festive period and every ounce counts, as my scales are more than happy to point out to me!

This loaf recipe is fairly similar to the Fruit Loaf I usually make but I found that using the yeast in this dough makes for a lovely fluffy texture. The Fruit Loaf can sometimes be a bit on the dense side but as it doesn't have yeast in it means it is less labour intensive so I'm not ready to consign the recipe to the bin quite yet!

Cinnamon and Raisin Loaf

30g dried cherries (I used dried cranberries)

125g mixed golden sultana's and raisins

50g dried apricots

250ml strong Lady Grey tea, cold

400g strong white bread flour, plus extra for dusting

7g sachet (2 tsp) active dried yeast

1 tsp ground cinnamon

2 tbsp caster sugar, plus extra for dusting

1/2 tsp salt

Grated zest of 1 orange

55g butter, melted and cooled slightly, plus a little extra for brushing

1 medium free range egg, beaten

150ml full fat milk, warmed

Oil, for greasing

Place the cherries (cranberries), sultanas, raisins and apricots in a large bowl, pour over the tea and leave to steep for a couple of hours before draining well.

Sift the flour into a large bowl, add the yeast, cinnamon, sugar, salt and orange zest and stir to combine. Make a well in the centre and set aside. In a separate bowl, combine the butter, egg and milk, then pour into the well in the flour mixture. Use a wooden spoon to mix to a soft dough. When the dough has nearly come together, add the fruit and combine.

Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 10 mins, until the dough is elastic and smooth, adding a little extra flour if its too sticky. Place the dough in a large, well oiled bowl, cover with well oiled cling film and leave in a warm place for 45 mins or until doubled in size.

Knock back the dough by punching it gently, then transfer to a lightly floured surface. Shape the dough into an oblong or round and place in a lightly greased and floured 900g loaf tin. Cover with oiled cling film and leave to rise for 30 mins or until doubled in size.

Preheat the oven to 200C/fan 180C. Brush the top of the bread with melted butter and scatter with a little sugar. Bake in the oven for about 25 mins until the top is golden brown and the loaf makes a hollow sound when tapped on the bottom. Cool on a wire rack.

Makes 1 loaf

Delicious Magazine - December 09

The only thing left to do after making this is to cut a slice, spread with butter (!!!), make a cuppa and relax!

We Should Cocoa ~ Paul A Young's Easter Simnel Brownie

Where to start?  I was more than a wee bit panic stricken when Choclette announced this month's challenge for We Should Cocoa.  Marzipan is a taste that I am yet to acquire ... in fact the vast majority of people I know are yet to develop a taste for it too so I knew that whatever I made it either had to be really subtle or something that could be easily distributed to the small handful of people in my office who like it.  I will admit to not doing a great deal of research into what to make, in fact, none at all!  The decision was made while I was flicking through some recipes I had recently clipped out of a magazine, there on the back of the Double White Chocolate Fudge Cake with Vanilla and White Chocolate Buttercream (I know!!!) was a recipe from Paul A Young for Easter Simnel Brownies.

They were horrendous!  The worst tasting 'thing' I have ever baked and as such I am following Aveen's lead and not posting the recipe (although in my opinion her Batterberg looks mighty fine to me)!  The brownies never even made it into to work, they got flung in the bin as soon as the mandatory 'rest in the fridge overnight' time had elapsed.  I hate wasting food like this,  but there was no way I wanted anybody at work to taste them and think that was the level best of my ability!  Oh well ... back to the drawing board!

Anti Mince Pies (AKA Nigella's Mini Apple Pies)

I know there will be a fair few of you out there who will consider me a pure heathen for making 'Anti Mince Pies'.  Sorry!  But ... and in my defence ... booze sodden candied peel just isn't my thing ... apples on the other hand are always my thing, especially when they are wrapped in pastry and come to me courtesy of Nigella!  So if any of the Anti Mince Pie brigade should come to call sometime in the next week or so then having a sneaky batch of these at the ready can only be a good thing!

Nigella's Mini Apple Pies
1 quantity sweet shortcrust pastry
1 large egg, mixed with 1 tbsp water, to glaze, optional
For the Filling
2 cox's apples (375g total weight)
1 tbsp caster sugar
pinch of ground cloves
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
zest of 1 orange plus 1 tbsp orange juice
1 tsp lemon juice
15g butter

Peel, core and finely chop the apple.  Put them into a saucepan with all of the other filling ingredients and cook over a medium heat with the lid on for 5 mins or until soft.

Transfer to a bowl and let the mixture cool.

Use the sweet shortcrust pastry to line the tins and fill them with a teaspoon of the apple mixture.  Use the same cutter to make lids with small stars cut from the centres.  Paint with glaze, if using, and bake in a 220C oven for 10-15 mins or until golden and bubbling.

Makes 36 mini pies or 24 regular pies
Taken from Nigella's Feast

For a bit of added 'yum' I also sprinkled the tops with some demerara sugar after painting the glaze on.

Crunchy Rhubarb Oat Crumble

On my way home from work today I passed a Bumble Bee.  That would be my first Bumble Bee for the year and about two minutes after the first one passed me by I meet up with his friend just down the road.  Two Bumble sightings in one afternoon!  It always manages to produce a silly grin on my face.  They are just so cute!  They defy gravity - how does something so big and fluffy manage to stay in the air?  And the way they buzz along, bumbling from one flower to the next, they remind me of Phoebe from 'Friends' with her running style!  They don't care what they look like, they are in a world of their own humming along to themselves as they go, floating up and down, having fun in a laid back Bumble Bee style.  Love them!  It is clear to see that the novelty factor of Bumble Bee's hasn't worn off for me at all.  We don't get them back home and after nearly 8 years in the UK I still look forward to seeing them appear each year.

So it should come as no surprise that this is my favourite jug of all time.  I have a bit of a soft spot for collecting jugs, I manage to rein myself in most times, but this jug was destined to come and live with me!  Is it going to far to admit that this is called my 'Happy Jug'?  I feel I have admitted too much now ...

It seemed a logical therefore, that tonight's dinner should come with dessert and that dessert should be Rhubarb Crumble.  Bumble Bee's, my Happy Jug and rhubarb all share a connection (in my mind at least!) with summer.  I'm going to stop rambling now (this post is become like the flight path of a bumble bee - all over the place) and just go to the recipe!

Crunchy Rhubarb Oat Crumble
125g plain flour
50g softened butter
50g rolled oats
50g demerara sugar
1 tbsp sesame seeds
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
450g fresh rhubarb
50g caster sugar

Preheat oven to 180C.  Place the flour in a large bowl and cut the butter into cubes.  Add to the flour and rub in with your fingertips until the mixture looks like fine breadcrumbs, or blend for a few seconds in a food processor.

Stir in the rolled oats, demerara sugar, sesame seeds and cinnamon.  Mix well and reserve.

Prepare the rhubarb by removing the thick ends of the stalks and cut diagonally into 2.5cm chunks.  Wash thoroughly and pat dry with a clean tea towel.  Place the rhubarb in a 1.1 litre pie dish.

Sprinkle the caster sugar over the rhubarb and top with the reserved crumble so that all the fruit is well covered and press down firmly.  If liked, sprinkle the top with a little extra caster sugar.

Place on a baking sheet and bake in the preheated oven for 40 - 50 mins, or until the fruit is soft and the topping is golden brown.  Sprinkle the pudding with some more caster sugar (this is a step too far for me - how much sugar can one crumble take!) and serve hot with custard (Hubby's preferred choice) or cream.

Serves 6
I can't remember the name of the book that this recipe comes from, but its a Scottish recipe book that I picked up at the visitor center in Glencoe a few years ago.  (Not very helpful to you I'm sure, but I know precisely which book it is!)

Stained Glass Window Cookies - Take One

The Christmas preparations are in full swing ... for everyone else it seems!!! All the commotions and house guest's over the last few weeks have meant that I am rather behind schedule but I did manage to find five minutes through the week to make these cookies which have received rave reviews from everyone who has tried them.

Stained Glass Window Cookies

175g plain flour

1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

75g unsalted butter, chilled and diced

75g caster sugar

30ml golden syrup

1 egg yolk

150g brightly coloured, clear boiled sweets (I've used up the leftovers from the gingerbread house)

Put the flour, bicarbonate of soda, cinnamon and butter into a food processor. Process until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.

Add the sugar, syrup and egg yolk to the food processor, then process again until the mixture starts to cling together in a dough.

Turn the dough out on to a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth. Wrap in cling film and chill in the refrigerator for at least 30 mins.

Preheat the oven to 180C. Line two baking sheets with baking parchment.

Roll out the dough thinly on a lightly floured surface. Use cookie cutters to cut rounds from the dough and then Christmas shapes to cut out the centers of each circle, remove the dough from the centers.

Carefully transfer the shapes to the lined baking sheets (I actually rolled the dough out on the baking parchment on the tray and then just peeled the excess dough away from the cookie circles).

If these are to be made into tree decorations then use a small knife or straw etc to make a hole at the top of each circle.

Bake the cookies for 5 mins. Meanwhile, lightly crush the sweets by gently tapping them with the end of a rolling pin.

Remove the cookies from the oven and quickly fill the centers of each one with the crushed sweets.

Return the cookies to the oven for a further 5 mins, until the sweets have melted. Remove from the oven and use a skewer to remark the holes if they have shrunk during cooking.

Leave the cookies on the baking sheet until the melted sweets have hardened. Once the centers are hard, gently peel away the paper from the cookies.

Thread fine ribbon through the holes and hang as decorations.

Makes 12 - 14

Adapted from 'The Cookie and Biscuit Bible'

Despite everyone else loving these biscuits, I'm not the biggest fan. The cinnamon is quite strong and the biscuit is quite soft and spread quite a bit more than I expected while cooking. The stars ended up looking a bit like a blob and it is impossible to tell the difference between the gingerbread boy and the gingerbread girl. All the other taste testers (and there have been many!) like the change in texture from soft cookie to hard sweet in the middle so I'll let yo make up your own mind. meanwhile, my quest for the perfect Stained Glass Window Cookie will continue.

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!

Monkey Bread

About this time last year I was trawling the Internet when I stumbled upon a recipe for Monkey Bread.  Well, where to begin!  I was intrigued ... what on earth could this be?  I felt almost certain it was a recipe containing banana's so I clicked the link hoping to find a new recipe to use up over ripe banana's in an attempt to rid them forever from my fruit bowl.  Guess what?  There wasn't a banana in sight.  Instead what I had chanced upon was a sweet yeasted bread that sounded like nothing but pure fun when it came to the eating stage.  I wrote the recipe down in my note book and it has never seen the light of day since!

Fast forward to a few months ago and what should I happen to stumble on in one of my many explorations in Lakeland?  A Monkey Bread Pan!!!!!!  It was fate!  It was destiny!  It was meant to be!  So I bought the pan and took it home where I have spent pretty much every day since moving it either from inside the oven to the top of the oven to the oven draw and then back to the oven ... you get the idea!  But then this morning I rolled out of bed with no real plans for the day.  Hubby had to work this morning so I had time to kill.  What would I do with myself?  Time to bust out the Monkey Bread Pan from the oven!

You may still be wondering what Monkey Bread is.  Put simply its a pull apart bread that seems to be quite a popular treat across the pond.  It gets its name because you pick at the bread to gain your tasty morsel, in a style not unlike Monkeys grooming each other!!!!  It tastes far more attractive than it sounds - trust me! 

For my first attempt I've followed the recipe that comes with the pan;
Monkey Bread
2 x 7g sachets of dry yeast
240ml lukewarm water
225g butter
175g caster sugar
840g plain flour
1 1/2 tsp salt
2 eggs, beaten
240ml boiling water
Topping
1 tbsp cinnamon
225g brown sugar
225g butter

Dissolve yeast in the lukewarm water in a small bowl.  Mix the butter, sugar and salt in a large bowl.  Add boiling water and mix well.  Add the eggs, then add the yeast mixture.  Add half the flour and mix.  Add the rest of the flour with a spoon and mix well.  Cover and let it rise to double, then knead (I did this bit in my kitchen aide mixer on a medium speed for about 10 mins).

Heat the oven to 180C.  Make the topping by melting the butter then add the cinnamon and sugar.  Form dough into approximately 1 inch balls and layer to cover the bottom of pan using half of the dough mixture.  Pour over half of the topping mix.  Continue to layer 1 inch balls of dough until it is all gone.  Pour the remaining topping over the dough balls. 

Place the pan on a baking sheet to catch any over flow of topping and bake for 35-40 mins.  remove from oven and wait for 5 mins to turn out on a large plate to serve.

Makes one large loaf / cake thingy!

I was determined to make a yeasted recipe without adding more flour to the mix and I was very stubborn in sticking to my pledge.  This resulted in a very wet and sticky dough as evidenced below ...

but I plowed on.  It meant that I couldn't really form the dough into balls, instead I opted for dolloping varying sizes of 'batter blobs' into the pan, not 100% convinced that it was going to work. 

To my surprise though it did work and it made for a very sweet lunch to nibble on while watching the F1 qualifying once Hubby got home ... come on Webber!

Now I'm off to find that notebook with the recipe that started this craze!

Banana and Passionfruit Muffins with [Lemon] Icing

So many posts and so little time! Where does the weekend go?!?!? I'm just going to launch into this first recipe, I made it for Hubby when I spied the usual aging banana's ... only thing was by the time I'd gotten around to making these a couple of nights later I discovered that Hubby had eaten the banana's. Apparently they weren't as aging as I had first thought!

Banana and Passionfruit Muffins with Lemon Icing (at least its meant to be lemon - I made passionfruit instead!)

125g butter

315g plain flour

1 tbsp baking powder

1 tsp ground cinnamon

150g light muscovado sugar

110g pecans, chopped

3 very ripe, medium bananas

Pulp of 3 passionfruit (about 3 1/2 tbsp)

Zest 1 medium lemon

65ml whole or semi skimmed milk

2 large eggs, lightly beaten

For the icing

150g icing sugar

Juice 1 medium lemon (I replaced this with the juice and seeds from a passionfruit)

Preheat the oven to 220C/fan 200C. Melt the butter and leave to cool slightly. Sift the flour, baking powder and cinnamon into a large mixing bowl and stir in the sugar and the pecans. Peel and mash the bananas in another bowl and mix with the passionfruit pulp and lemon zest. Next, whisk the melted butter, milk and eggs into the fruit, then stir this mixture into the flour until combined; don't over mix or the muffins will be heavy. Divide the mixture between baking cases that are lining a 12 cup muffin tin. Bake on the centre shelf of the oven for 20 mins until risen and lightly golden. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

For the icing, whisk three quarters of the lemon juice into the icing sugar in a bowl. Then add enough of the rest of the lemon juice to make a thick spreadable icing; you may not need all the juice. Use to ice the tops of the muffins.

Makes 12 muffins

I'm not sure which magazine a clipped this recipe out of - it may well have been Feel Good Food

For me, not being a lover of banana, I don't particular care for these muffins. There just seemed to be a million and one flavours going on, the cinnamon seems a step too far with the lemon and passionfruit. That said, the mixture did smell very tropical while I was making it. If I was to make these again then I'd leave the cinnamon out ... Hubby is slowly eating his way through them but that is evidence enough that he isn't really that keen on them! If he had really liked them they would have disappeared before I'd had the chance to ice them ;0)

Spiced Pecan, Apple and Cranberry Cake

Autumn = Apples!  The only thing better than eating a nice crisp apple is eating a nice warm slice of apple cake ... or pie ... or crumble ... or danish ... you get the idea!

Spiced Pecan, Apple and Cranberry Cake
175g unsalted butter, softened, plus extra to grease
150g caster sugar
3 medium eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
150g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
2 tbsp milk
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
3 eating apples, peeled, cored and cut into 1cm cubes
50g fresh or frozen cranberries, defrosted if frozen (I've learnt that dried cranberries are not a reasonable substitute for fresh or frozen in this recipe!)
75g pecans, roughly chopped
2-3 tbsp apricot jam

Preheat oven to 180C/fan 160C.  Grease and line a 20.5cm springform cake tin with baking parchment.

Using a a free standing mixer or electric hand whisk, beat 150g of the butter with the sugar, eggs, vanilla, flour, baking powder and milk until pale and fluffy - about 5 mins.  Spoon into prepared tin and level the surface.  Bake for 10 mins.

Meanwhile, heat the remaining butter in a large frying pan until foaming.  Stir in the cinnamon and apples and cook for 3 mins until almost tender.  Take off the heat and stir int he cranberries and pecans.

Carefully take the part baked cake out of the oven and sprinkle over the apple mixture.  Return to the oven and bake for a further 40-50 mins or until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean.

Leave the cake to cool in the tin for 5 mins, then remove from tin and peel off paper.  Transfer to a serving plate.  Gently warm the jam in a small pan to loosen, then brush over the top of the cake.  Serve cake warm or at room temp.

Cuts into 8 slices
I tore this recipe out of a magazine and I can't rightly remember which one it was now!

* This cake can be stored in an airtight container for up to 2 days.

I found this really nice warm from the oven (despite the dried cranberry mishap!) or just as nice served cold with a cuppa on the side!

Apple and Cinnamon Scrolls

Continuing with the 'healthy' baking theme, these Apple and Cinnamon Scrolls are a tasty treat and actually started life as a weight watchers recipe.  One or two minor tweaks from me though means they aren't quite as low in points as they should be!

Apple and Cinnamon Scrolls
2 1/2 cups SR flour
7g sachet yeast
2 tbsp caster sugar
50g low fat spread, melted
1/2 cup buttermilk, warm
1/2 cup skim milk, warm
2 medium apples, cored and finely chopped
A large handful sultanas
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 cup brown sugar
Fry light spray

Combine flour, yeast and caster sugar in a bowl.  Stir to combine, then make a well in the centre.  Combine spread, buttermilk and milk in a jug and pour into the well.  Use a wooden spoon to mix together until combined.  use your hands to bring the dough together in the bowl.

Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 10 mins, or until smooth and elastic, adding more flour if necessary.  Place the dough in a clean bowl sprayed with oil.  Cover with a damp tea towel and set aside in a warm spot to prove for 1 hour, or until double in size.

Preheat oven to 220C/fan 200C.  Spray a 18cm x 25cm deep tin with oil and set aside.  Knead dough again for a further 2-3 mins, or until smooth and elastic.  Place dough on a sheet of baking paper and roll out to a 26cm x 36cm rectangle.

Combine apple, sultanas, cinnamon, nutmeg and sugar together in a bowl.  sprinkle mixture evenly over the dough.  Roll up firmly to enclose filling and form a log.

Cut the dough log into 8 even slices and place side by side in the prepared tray.  Cover with a tea towel and set aside to prove for a further 20 mins.  Bake in the preheated oven for approx 20 mins, or until golden and cooked through.  Best served warm.

Makes 8
WW Australia

The scrolls are best eaten on the day they are made but they can be frozen for up to 3 months.  These scrolls taste so good that nobody will know they are good for you ... unless you tell them ;0)