Banana and cinnamon swirl buns

MMMMMM. Banana, cinnamon, apricot. YUM.

Just baking again, as per usual, and i’m sure you’d expect no less! My grandparents aren’t feeling well at the moment, so i’m hoping to lift their spirits a bit with these beauties.

I can’t wait for the end of june! All of my exams will be over, and there will be no more work to do, and i’m going on holiday to Spain with my mum and my sisters! YAY.

Sadly, my dad can’t come because he wants to stay here in England to watch over the building work for our new house! Yet another exciting thing that’s happening. Have I told you? Well, i’ll tell you again- we’re building our own house! And i get the biggest bedroom 🙂

INGREDIENTS:

• 300g strong white flour
• 150g malted granary bread flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp caster sugar
• 7g sachet easy-blend yeast
• 150ml warm milk
• 1 egg
• , beaten
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 100-150ml warm water
• 50g unsalted butter, melted
• 4 medium banana
• 200g dried apricot, chopped
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 100g light muscovado sugar
• 4 tbsp runny honey

METHOD:

1. Mix flours and salt together in a large bowl, then stir in caster sugar and yeast. Make well in centre of flour and pour in warm milk, beaten egg, olive oil and enough of the water to form soft, wet dough.
2. On lightly floured surface, knead dough for 10-15 mins until smooth. Put dough in lightly oiled bowl, cover with cling film, then leave to rise in warm place until doubled in size.
3. Lightly grease baking tin. On floured surface, roll half the dough into rectangle approximately 30cm x 25cm and brush with melted butter. Repeat with the other half.
4. Thinly slice bananas into bowl and mix in apricots, muscovado sugar, cinnamon. Spoon mix over the two rectangles of dough, leaving a finger-width border.
5. For each, roll the dough towards you from the long side of the rectangle, tucking in any banana that falls out. Press ends together to seal. With a sharp knife, cut into 9 pieces and place, cut side up, in the tin, just touching each other. Cover loosely with oiled cling film and set aside in a warm place to rise for 30 mins.
6. Heat oven to 200C/fan180C. Warm the honey in a pan or in the microwave on High for 5 secs, then brush half over the buns. Bake for 20-25 mins until golden. Allow to cool in the tin for 10 mins before removing to a cooling rack. Brush with the remaining honey then pull apart to serve.

ENJOY

Chocolate chelsea buns

Bored again today, so back to my turn to baking- Sweet bread! These buns are soft, squidgy and best of all; chocolaty!! If you don’t like chocolate, then there seriously must be something going on in your head, because it’s the most amazing substance on this earth!

 

It’s quite easy, just knead, spread, roll, prove and bake, and voila, heaven!

INGREDIENTS:

For the buns:

• 350g (12oz) strong plain flour
• 50g (1¾oz) caster sugar
• 1 level tsp salt
• 7g sachet fast-action dried yeast
• 50g (1¾oz) butter, melted
• 1 medium egg, beaten
• 150ml (¼ pint) milk, lukewarm

For the filling and topping:

• 6-8 tbsp chocolate and hazelnut spread, eg, Nutella
• 100g packet/carton dark or milk chocolate chunks/chips

METHOD:

1. Tip the flour into a bowl and stir in the sugar, salt and yeast. Mix together the butter, egg and milk, and add to the flour mixture. Mix the ingredients until they bind together to form a dough. Knead the dough, either in a food mixer with a dough hook or on a lightly floured surface, for about 10 mins until it’s smooth and elastic.
2. Roll out the dough to a rectangle about 25 x 35.5cm (10 x 14in) on a lightly floured surface.
3. Leaving one of the long edges clear, spread the chocolate and hazelnut spread over the dough and sprinkle half the chocolate chunks/chips over. Brush water along the clear edge, and then roll up the dough towards the clear edge, pressing well over the join.
4. Cut the dough into 12 even-sized pieces. Put them on their sides, so that you can see the spiral shapes, and place them in an oiled dish.
5. Cover the tin with oiled cling film or a clean tea towel and leave in a warm place for about 1 hour or until the dough has doubled in size. (i like to turn on one of my ovens and then put the bread in the other one because it will be warm but not hot- perks of a double oven!)
6. Set the oven to gas mark 6 or 200°C.
7. When the oven is hot, place the tin in the centre and bake for 20-30 mins, or until the dough is an even, golden colour and firm to the touch.
8. Remove the buns from the tin, leaving them in one piece, and transfer them to a wire rack.
9. Melt the remaining chocolate gently in a microwave oven or over a pan of hot water. Fill  a piping bag with the chocolate and then cut off the end of the bag to give a small hole. Drizzle the chocolate randomly over the buns. Alternatively you could just drizzle it over with a spoon.
10. Leave the chocolate to set before serving. Serve warm or cold, with the buns torn or cut into individual spirals.

DELICIOUS!

chocolate orange sweet bread twist ring

So this week’s yummy concoction calls for…. SWEET BREAD!!

I absolutely love making bread, there’s nothing like hand kneading it then watching it grow, makes me so proud!

I decided to make it with chocolate chips and orange extract- a jaffa-inspired treat!

When i make it, I glaze it with an egg wash, but you could also do it with sherry, for an extra kick! Some people think that milk and egg washes are interchangeable but this isn’t true because an egg wash causes a nice shine and golden colour where as a milk wash encourages browning, so is better for things such as scones, which would otherwise remain a very pale colour.

Its really handy that I have a double oven, because it means I can turn one on and the other one gets warm but not hot, the perfect temperature for rising bread!

INGREDIENTS:

• 250g Strong white bread flour 
• 25g golden caster sugar 
• 7g active dried yeast
• 50g Butter, melted
• 1tsp Orange extract 
• 100g Dark chocolate chips
• 1 egg for glaze, or 2tbsp of sherry

METHOD:

1. put the flour in a glass bowl and stir through the sugar, then the yeast, and then 1 tsp of salt, making sure to mix them through separately as the salt can kill the yeast if it comes into close contact with it.
2. mix in the melted butter with a palette knife and then gradually add in 150ml of WARM water, but you may not need all of it.
3. Bring together into a ball of soft dough, then tip onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 10-15 minutes until stretchy and silky.
4. place into a lightly oiled bowl and cover with cling film, then leave in a warm place to rise for 1-2 hours.
5. meanwhile mix the chocolate and orange together.
6. When risen, roll the dough out onto a surface about 35cm x 25cm rectangle, and then sprinkle the chocolate chip mixture over the dough.
7. With the longest side towards you, roll into a tight spiral, and then cut the spiral in two almost all the way to the end, as if to form a pair of legs. Twist the two legs together and join the ends to form a round spiral.
8. Put on a lined baking tray and cover with a tea towel, then leave again to rise in a warm place for another hour.
9. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 200C.
10. When the bread has risen a second time, brush with the whisked egg or sherry, sprinkle a little caster sugar over, and bake in the oven for 10-15 minutes, then take the bread out and cover with tin foil, then cook for another 10-15 minutes.
11. ENJOY