Sticky, sticky goodness

I'm getting a bit lame at posting things as soon as I do them and this one has taken almost a week to reach the online community. Apologies, I shall try and get my work/personal life priorities realigned.

So this was last weds/thurs creation (the overnight technique strikes again) and is a well known English favourite, Chelsea Buns. For those of you who haven't had the pleasure of sampling their delights it is basically a sweet yeasted bread containing currants and spices and covered all over with a sticky sugar glaze; it should look something like this:

During the preparation it is important to space them apart enough to allow for rising, but not so far that they don't join together when they have risen sufficiently. There are some extra pics below to illustrate this. The glaze is also a very important element to this recipe, although they taste good without it (and might be better for those watching their waistlines), they are a little dry and the glaze really makes them sweet and special. Make it using two tablespoons of Golden Syrup to one large teaspoon treacle (molasses to our American cousins), and heat that in a mug in a microwave or pan on the hob to make it nice and runny so it mixes together and brushes over the hot buns easily.



This recipe makes twelve buns, which is a bit much for just two people as they don't keep particularly well, so either decrease the measures and the dish they go in or, as I did, take the rest to work and be your colleagues' favourite person for a day.

Stick that in your lunch box and munch it.

A Well Baked Dessert

After a week of the 'Old Favourite' and raiding the stocks in my freezer, Sunday dinner brought the opportunity for baking another dessert that ranks high amongst the classics of English baking. Bakewell Tart is a delicious almond flavoured pudding that always goes down well with family and guests alike, and this one was no exception. Having a slightly larger topping than is traditionally used, and never skimping on the jam filling, makes it something special to finish off a meal with. Its quick preparation also means it is possible to prepare it as the rest of the dinner is cooking away, and it can always be left in the fridge for a few minutes until the oven is ready. The base is a simple shortcrust pastry, which I have covered here before, so there really is no excuse for not making the entire thing from scratch (even I buy the strawberry jam though!).

Over the course of the weekend I also made a couple of focacce (Italian plural of focaccia, in case you're wondering) and also some chocolate orange cup cakes for a birthday party I was attending; these are simply the usual sponge mix divided into baking cases and baked at the same temperature, but for just 10-15mins.

So although there has not been a lot of note over the last week, I'm sure you'll all be glad to hear that I continue to bake on a regular basis.

Go thou and do likewise.

Sunday's Baking

Sunday, while the oven is on for the roast dinner, is another day that finds me flouring the kitchen and baking up a storm. This week I wanted to try something new (and use up a few olives left over from the pizza evening on Saturday) so I attempted an olive bread. This bread is based on a 2:3 ratio of water to flour, flavoured with olives added before proving. It is useful to get used to this method of gauging loaves of bread, as the ratio of flour and water has a big effect on consistency and will allow the expert to recreate breads sampled elsewhere. It will be advantageous if you have seen the post where I formed a bloomer to get an idea of how to shape this bread, and it is slightly unusual in that it is slashed before proving rather than baking, giving you the opportunity to fill those slashes with olive oil and make a crisp and golden crust when brushing prior to baking. The photo was taken by my wife and the loaf is cut because I only remembered we needed a photo when we were already sat down for tea!




No Sunday tea is complete without a nice slice of cake, and it is a sticky-topped chocolate cake I chose to make on this occasion. This is similar to the ginger cake mentioned earlier, using the same technique, but with cocoa instead of ginger for the flavouring. This one also benefited from the vanilla essence I brought back from Zanzibar, the like of which I have never tasted before.

I hope this tickles your fancy and encourages you to get up from the computer and bake either something new or something sweet, it was this blog that encouraged me to do something out of the ordinary this weekend, having baked my standard breads all week (not worth posting again) and going without cake (a crime).

Bye-bye bakers.