Hot cross buns

Tim got lucky today. Although possibly not in the way you may be imagining... 

After allowing myself to be dragged out of bed at some uncivilized hour (for a public holiday), I went for a long walk with Tim and Ladybug down streets, across ovals, over hills and through fields. I did this clad in exercise gear. Yes, I know it's Good Friday! Once we got home I remembered the tasty treat lying dormant in the fridge, just waiting to be taken out and made into something truly wonderful for a crisp, clean autumn morning - hot cross buns!

Apparently you're meant to eat hot cross buns on Good Friday, so I did the right thing. At this time of year with a slight chill in the air, I could happily eat them hot with real butter on any morning. I was especially determined to make home made ones this year because I haven't for about two years and I feel a bit slack. I don't think I even bought ones last year. On the last occasion I made them,  and try and imagine how this went down with the lycra bandits, Tim blew of his riding buddies for a morning ride, texting them with "I can't come out this morning. Julia's making hot cross buns." They haven't forgotten.

Since the last time, I discovered spelt so I can now partake. And I have. Several times, including one for dinner tonight, this being the only thing I could manage after a huge Good Friday lunch of Atlantic salmon, bbq'd with coriander, chilli and lemon, various salads, hot and cold entrees beforehand and to finish properly, a decadent chocolate gingerbread cake served with double cream (recipe coming). Shared with a group of good friends as well as some newer ones, it was a good day. Tim has only just started the washing up. 

But back to the buns, they're a bit involved in that you have to make the dough the night before and let it prove in the fridge overnight. It's not a big thing but it does mean you have to prepare in advance and be a bit patient. In other words, you can't just decide you feel like hot cross buns for afternoon tea and whip some up. I promise they're worth it!

I've altered a Nigella Lawson recipe and have used spelt. I've found in the past that spelt doughs don't necessarily rise as well as regular flour if you work them too much, so I used a dough hook in the mixer and didn't go nuts after I'd punched the dough back in the morning. Also, I warmed the dough up a bit to get it going. I did this by putting the trays of dough balls over a large bowl of boiling water for about 5 minutes. It does help and they rose really well and were brilliant with butter, straight out of the oven. Supermarket buns these ain't! 

Ingredients:

150ml milk

50g butter

zest of 1 orange

1 cardamom pod

400g spelt flour

7g dry yeast

125g mixed fruit (I used currants, sultanas and mixed peel)

1 tsp ground cinnamon 

1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

1/4 tsp ground ginger

1 egg

Heat the milk, butter, orange zest and cardamom pods in a saucepan until the butter melts, then turn the heat off and leave to infuse.  

Measure the flour, yeast and fruit into a bowl and add the spices. When the infused milk has cooled down a fair bit (but not cold), remove the pods and beat in the egg. Pour this liquid into the bowl of dry ingredients. 

Knead the dough either by hand or with a machine with a dough hook until you have a silky, elastic dough. Remember the fruit will mean this doesn't come out exactly smooth. Place it in a buttered (or lightly olive-oiled) bowl and cover with cling film. Put it in the fridge overnight.

The next day, take the dough out of the fridge and let it return to room temperature. Or do what I did with the bowl of hot water. Punch it down and knead it for jut a little bit again until it's smooth and elastic. Divide into 16 pieces (or less if you like bigger buns) and roll them into balls. Place them on a lined tray closely but not touching. Cover and let them rise a little in a warm place for up to 45 minutes. 

Make up an egg wash: 1 egg beaten with a splash of milk. Brush the buns over with this. Score a cross on the tops of each bun with a butter knife. Make up the cross mixture: 1 tbsp plain flour, 1/2 tbsp caster sugar, 2 or so tbsp water or enough to make it runny but not too thin. Dribble this into the crosses scored.  

Bake for 15-20 minutes. Eat immediately with some good, salty butter and a cup of decent coffee. 

If you want to get fancy, you can make up a sugar glaze to brush on them when they come out of the oven (1 tbsp caster sugar and 1 tbsp boiling water) but I don't bother. I don't like my buns sticky. But we're all different.

Wedding cupcakes

As promised, here is one of the two wedding cake recipes I used. The photo isn't brilliant (just with my little digital compact after several champagnes) but you get the picture -  a lot of cupcakes!!! 

The beauty of the cupcake tower is that first, it's a bit different from the traditional wedding cake and it can look terrific. Second, there are no cake plating issues that sometimes attract an additional cost. People can just be given one each or invited up to help themself. Third, based on one per person, you know exactly how many you need. And last of all, if you're at all capable and organised time-wise, you can do it yourself and this is extremely helpful if you're on a tight budget. Cupcakes can range from about $2 to $15 each if you buy them. No disrespect to the pros, but they're cupcakes! In about three bites, they're gone.

I used a really basic vanilla cupcake recipe because I think vanilla is a flavour that most people like or at least take no offence from. Also, done right, vanilla can have such a dainty and yet decadent feel to it that you don't get from chocolate or fruit cake. Don't worry - there was also fruit cake for all, but this was taken home in little grease paper bags as is the tradition. And yes, the recipe for that is coming!

Ingredients

115g butter, soft but not melted

115g caster sugar

2 large eggs, at room temperature

115g self-raising flour

4 tbsp good quality vanilla essence

With an electric mixer, beat the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time and beat until smooth. Add the vanilla, and then sift in the flour. Mix  until everything is blended together, but don't overdo it.

Divide into twelve paper cases - this really does make exactly twelve perfect sized cupcakes. Bake in a 170ºC oven for 15-20 minutes. Cool on a wire rack and ice however you like.

I put together a very basic butter cream icing for this (icing sugar, a little water, soft butter), but instead of all water to moisten the icing sugar, I used Cointreau. Really, really good. My sister helped me do the icing the day before the wedding (simple piping) and honestly, I am surprised any of the icing made it on the cupcakes. I haven't included the icing recipe as I tend to just throw icing together. When it's the right consistency, it's done. Do try and use a good quality butter though because I think it helps the flavour. 

For the hearts, I coloured marzipan with quite a lot of pillar-box red food dye, and used a tiny heart shaped cookie cutter. When the hearts had dried a bit, I painted them with confectioner's varnish for shine. Final thing, these freeze really well. 

The honeymoon's almost over... but not quite!

Back to real life tomorrow after a very fun few weeks. Our wedding was fantastic, even if predictions came true and we didn't really get a chance to eat. We got back on Friday from the honeymoon and went to another wedding last night, this time at the Kurrajong Hotel in Canberra. The gorgeous food and Helm wines served were all magnificent. Thanks guys! Lunch at the godparents' place today and more wine. Delicious. 

So basically, we've been eating for the nation for the last week and enjoying a thoroughly decadent life that has no resemblance to reality. I highly recommend it.

This morning, since there was no fresh bread in the house and I was really hungry but too lazy to bake, I found a solution. I had scrambled eggs and avocado on a couple of corn Cruskits (so sad), but for Tim, I made a special 'end of honeymoon' cooked breakfast - crumpet french toast. So simple and really delicious. I know I've seen something like this done before. I think it was Jamie Oliver. Wherever I saw it, it certainly worked a treat today. 

I've put down the ingredients but the principle is exactly the same as normal french toast so you can make up an egg mix however you normally do, dunk the crumpets instead of bread, and cook on both sides in a little butter or olive oil. Serve with banana and maple syrup (or a rasher of bacon) or have plain if you prefer. For the cyclists amongst you, it covers all the essentials - carbs, protein, sugar, fat. A great thing about these is that they keep really well as a snack if you let them cool and then refrigerate them. I can see these being sent to work in someone's lunchbox...

Ingredients:

4 fresh crumpets

2 large free-range eggs

Splash of milk (about a 1/4 cup)

1 tbsp melted butter

pinch of salt & pepper

banana and maple syrup to serve

Vigorously whip up the eggs, milk, butter and salt & pepper and let it sit for a few minutes. Soak the crumpets and cook. 

A couple of things - be patient and let the crumpets soak for a good few minutes and then let them cook slowly, rather than flinging them into a really hot, bubbly pan. This way the egg has a chance to be absorbed and then cooks right through evenly, rather then you winding up with a crisp outside and raw centre. Unless you like it that way. 

Wedding done. Now back to food...

Well, almost!

We literally just got back from our honeymoon where we did exactly nothing for almost a week. It was wonderful. Truly wonderful. I slept for whole nights without waking up. I drank a lot of nice wine. I ate a lot of really beautiful food in stunning coastal surroundings. My freshest memory is last night's dinner which was an entree of poached pear, prosciutto and walnut salad followed by a chilli crab risotto. THE BEST risotto I've had at a restaurant outside of Italy. No kidding. If you're interested, try the Tipsy Fig in Milton, NSW. Gorgeous.

Recipes to follow, including wedding cake. (Still officially on honeymoon!!!)

Hen's Night Antics

First thing's first: I have photos but to share them may result in me being sued.

More importantly, the hen's night was a blast. Imagine this: around 20 women, dressed up to the nines and looking forward to catching up, eating well and dancing the night away. We did all of that and then some. And no penis paraphernalia in sight. I think one or two were slightly disappointed with that, but oh well. I didn't organise it. My beautiful sisters did and they did a good job. 

Also the Harem Turkish Restaurant in Kingston is great. The food was fresh, tasty and plentiful. We started with a series of flavoursome dips that tasted like they'd just been made. Plenty of fresh Turkish bread was provided and even a pancake/flat bread sort of thing for me who couldn't eat the bread. I think it was made from chick pea flour. This was followed by what I'm told are Turkish lady fingers - flaky pastry with cheese inside and absolutely beautiful, or so I heard, and zucchini balls. Also a sort of a chicken dish in sauce, plenty of rice, salad and kebabs. This was followed by proper Turkish delight and I think baklava. Vegetarian meals were provided for those who asked. The servings were generous and the service was good. I plan to go back asap!

Half way through the meal a belly dancer showed up  to entertain the guests. At this point my mother with her broken foot and godmother with no broken feet decided that they could show the dancer a trick or two. I swear they got more male attention than the pro (possibly not for the right reasons but hey, it was that kind of night). And from that point, there was no going back. 

Thanks everyone who made it such a great night! 

The Wedding Cake Saga

With less than three weeks to go until the wedding, the time has come to 'get real' as Dr Phil would say, and admit that I do not have time to learn how to do white icing for the wedding cake. I've prepared the cake without a problem and I'm fairly proud of it. It's a rich, wheat-free, fruit cake that I've been dousing in brandy once a week. However, despite my best intentions, I've come to the conclusion that icing it with the required skill is best left to an expert.

Thank goodness I found myself pondering this out aloud at work last week. Linda from my office very helpfully suggested someone she knew who has set up a business and who is apparently brilliant. We shall see, but I really do have a lot of faith. It certainly could not be any worse than my efforts which could actually be pretty awful. I just don't know and the immediate weeks before one's wedding is no time to find out!

The decoration will be simple - I found a quirky cake topper that just suits me and Tim. The rest of the cake will be cupcakes organised in a number of tiers, but that I can manage without a drama. Haven't quite decided yet on the flavour but I'm thinking some sort of chocolate would be good. I guess I'll decide on the Thursday beforehand when I actually have to make cupcakes for 72 people. (What is wrong with me???!!!)

For now, think about this - in August of last year, a slice of Princess Diana's wedding cake sold for one thousand pounds. Will mine achieve the same greatness? I think not, but it should last until either our first wedding anniversary, or first child. Whichever comes first. 

Chocolate mud cake (a food group of its own)

In one week and three days, I will be on leave for a whole month. Not that I hate my job, because I actually love it, but I am counting down the days, hours and minutes until my freedom touches down at Canberra airport on Friday night. My last day will be the longest - a day-trip to Melbourne with the boss. I can hardly contain my excitement.

Today was a particularly long and treacherous day in the office; one that required careful maneuvering to avoid prickly obstacles such as colleagues best avoided (arch nemesis getting out of the lift) and the extra work that seems to flow into our pod like maple syrup onto Tim's cornflakes. (Yes. He really does that). My stance on the matter is that I can't tidy everything up before I leave if I keep getting new stuff. So far, nobody has pressed the point. 

It was also a day that required chocolate. I was soooo good too. I turned down my favourite choc-hazelnut brownie from the deli down the street, I didn't cave when I saw a new batch of double chocolate chip gluten free cookies at the coffee shop across the road. I didn't even open the box of chocolates I have stashed for the honeymoon (don't bother looking Tim - you'll never find them) or dip into the Italian hot chocolate mix. 

Only now have I cracked and it's been in the pathetic form of four Nestle dark chocolate melts. I have officially resorted to cooking chocolate. I hang my head in shame. 

I hope to salvage some self respect by sharing why the really good, organic, $40 a kilo dark chocolate is gone. I put it in a killer chocolate mud cake for my sister's birthday. This is divine, although Tim didn't find it sweet enough, but then he does eat maple syrup on corn flakes. You can really taste the luscious, good quality chocolate and cocoa in this cake and I think it goes brilliantly with the olive oil flavour. In fact, in the past I've used virgin olive oil and I think it tastes fantastic. If you don't like the flavour, just use unsalted butter and if you don't want to use liqueur, use milk instead. 

Ingredients

375g olive oil spread (or butter), softened

1 1/3 cup brown sugar

2 cups spelt flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

2/3 cup cocoa powder

200g dark chocolate, melted

3/4 cup creme de cacao (or milk)

3 eggs

Beat butter and sugar with an electric mixer for about 10 minutes, or until light and creamy. Add eggs in one by one. Beat the whole thing until well combine. Fold through the flour, baking powder and cocoa. Combine well. Then fold through the chocolate and stir in the liqueur or milk. 

Spoon the mixture into a 22cm spring form tin lined with baking paper and bake in a 160º C oven for about 1 1/4 hours or until cooked - use the skewer test. Cool it in the tin. I decorated with little hand-rolled truffles, but you can just dust with cocoa or icing sugar or leave it plain. I wouldn't ice this one personally, but it might suit the super sweet-tooths to do so.