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.

BBC Good Food Show - Scotland

Guess who I met yesterday ...

... Yep! Just 'The Hairy Bikers'!!!!! And they were so lovely too. In their usual good form we all enjoyed their demo in the Live Theater, despite Si not being able to walk properly because he got knocked lack Pudding for a starter, the main course was Duck Breast with Thyme served with Roasted Plums and Asparagus and for dessert a Strawberry Shrikland (kind of a yoghurt and strawberry served a la Eton Mess style!)

Causing mayhem at the demo

Si King

Dave - pre spatula buring!

And then they signed my book! ;0)

Gordon and Sarge were there too.

They made Cauliflower and Sorrel Soup to start, Cod with crispy Potatoes and Mustard Lentils followed up with Apple, Prune and Butterscotch Compote. Yum!

The show was great this year, loads of local produce available which was great to see (and sample)! I picked up a bottle of Raspberry Balsamic Vinegar from 'Little Doone' (no web address sorry) which has an amazing flavour and won a Great Taste Gold Award this year. I'm imagining Meringue Nests with Strawberries and a Raspberry Balsamic Glaze! Tasted the most amazing Salted Caramel Truffles from 'Charlotte Flower Chocolates' which have also won the Great Taste Gold Award this year, and now I'm goign to have to try and make for myself and sampled more cheese than I coould poke a fondue fork at!

Anyway, must dash - off to the Haddington Farmers Market now - Oh how the Domestic Goddess's work is never done! Lol.

St Clement's Cake

Yesterday was my Mother-In-Laws birthday. As I said in my previous post, Sunday was the day that the whole family gathered to celebrate. Now in my book a birthday just isn't a birthday until there is a cake thrown in for good measure. MIL is a HUGE St Clement's fan and last year I made her a St Clement's Cake, a Hairy Bikers recipe so you can imagine how bad it is for your hips but not so tough on the taste buds!

Last year I followed the instructions to a tee and ended up with two very thick sponge cakes sandwiched with a thick layer of butter icing and topped off with even more butter icing. There were no complaints on the taste but the presentation wasn't that fantastic, it just didn't look especially 'finished'. So this year I sliced each sponge in half and then used thinner layers of the butter icing to sandwich them altogether. Not quite so sure that the presentation was improved any but it certainly didn't effect the taste so it was declared a winner again.

St Clement's Cake

500g unsalted butter, softened

400g caster sugar

8 eggs

1 tsp vanilla bean paste

2 heaped tsp baking powder

100g ground almonds

560g plain flour

Juice of a lemon

Zest of 2 lemons

3 tbsp orange juice

1 tsp orange extract

For the Topping

250g unsalted butter, softened

500g icing sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla bean paste

1 dessert spoon hot water

Zest of a lemon

2 tsp lemon juice

Zest of an orange

1 tsp orange extract

Cream together the butter and the sugar until it goes white (very important top tip). Beat in the vanilla bean paste and the eggs one by one.

In a separate bowl blend together the flour, almonds, salt and baking powder then fold into the butter and sugar mixture. This is the basic cake mix.

Divide the cake mixture evenly into two bowls.

In the first bowl - lets make the lemon cake. To the cake mix add the juice of one lemon and the zest of two lemons.

In the second bowl - let's make the orange cake. To the cake mix add the orange juice, orange extract and the zest of an orange.

Butter the two cake tins and line with silicon baking parchment. Pour the cake mixtures into the two cake tins.

Bake in a preheated oven at 180C for 40 mins. To test whether the cake is cooked test by pushing a metal skewer into the centre of the cake and if the skewer comes out clean then the cake is cooked.

Leave to cool in the tins.

Meanwhile, make the toppings. Cream together the butter, icing sugar and hot water and fold in the vanilla bean paste.

Divide the mixture equally into two separate bowls.

To the first bowl add the lemon zest and the lemon juice mix thoroughly and this makes the lemon butter icing.

To the other bowl add the orange zest and the orange juice mix thoroughly and this is the orange butter icing.

Cut the top off the lemon cake until it is level then spread generously with the lemon butter icing.

Sandwich the orange sponge on top of this. Coat the top of the cake with the orange butter icing.

Arrange decorations on top. (The Hairy Bikers used crystallised fruit, I used jelly sweets!!)

Serves lots of people

Now I am the first to admit that my attention was not fully on the cake by the time it came to he slicing and decorating ... those rotten scones were taking up far too much of my time. Its not an excuse, just the truth, but the end result is a cake that I am not all that proud of. In fact if this had been my first attempt I probably wouldn't have made it a second time. Next time, I'm going to slice the lumpy bumpy tops off as well as slicing the cakes in half. Come to think of it, next time I might actually use cutters to make small individual layered cakes ....

Lincolnshire Plum Bread

My tie to Lincolnshire is pretty tenuous at best.  I've never lived there and to the best of my knowledge I've never visited the area either.  But my 'Uncle' (a close family friend) comes from Lincoln and there we have my tenuous link ;0)

I was passing through the lounge room the other day, the TV on in the background, when I noticed that The Hairy Bikers were on. Before I knew it I was perched on the couch with a cuppa in hand intently watching them make Lincolnshire Plum Bread.  It looked wonderful and I had to taste it straight away.  Of course this meant a trip to the shops to get the required prunes.

Lincolnshire Plum Bread
225g prunes, roughly chopped
50g currants
50g sultanas
150ml Earl Grey tea
450g strong plain flour
125ml milk
6 tbsp soft brown sugar
110g butter, melted
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 tsp ground allspice
1/4 tsp salt
15g dried yeast

Place the dried fruits in a bowl and pour in the Earl Grey tea (I used Lady Grey).  Mix well and leave to soak for 10 mins.

Sift the flour into a large bowl.  Pour the milk into a separate bowl, add the sugar, butter, eggs and vanilla extract, then whisk well to combine.  Add the spices, salt and yeast, whisk once more, then pour on to the flour.  Mix well to form a soft dough.

Strain the fruits, discarding the tea, and add them to the dough.  Knead for 3-6 mins until the dough is smooth and elastic.  Put the dough into a clean bowl, cover with a tea towel and leave to rise until doubled in size - about 1-2 hours.  Take the dough out and knead again lightly to knock out the air.  Place in a large loaf tin and leave to rise for another hour.

Preheat the oven to 190C.  Bake the bread for 40-50 mins until golden and risen.  Allow to cool before slicing and serve with the butter and cheese.

Makes 1 loaf (serves 6-8)
The Hairy Bikers Food Tour of Britain

This bread is quite yummy and I couldn't wait for it to cool before slicing, I always think bread tastes the best when it is still warm from the oven!  We had it with marg spread over and Hubby had some yesterday toasted with jam for breakfast.  It is similar to the Fruit Bread that I usually make, obvious differences are the types of fruit and that one uses yeast while the other doesn't.  Both are firm favourites with us though, especially in the depths of winter with a cuppa ;0)