Happy Easter, Mom and Dad (mostly Dad on this one, really)!
My in-laws are residents at the Plaza at Punchbowl. I am so relieved that they are in a safe place and they are well taken care of. It's hard to converse on the phone because Dad doesn't hear very well and we haven't seen them since mid-March; we wanted to make sure they know we are thinking of them.
Since it's Easter I bought my MIL some chocolate eggs; she's a fiend for chocolate! My FIL doesn't have as big a sweet tooth but he is passionate about bread--smart guy, my FIL! I initially thought about hot cross buns but decided to go the secular route instead. Teacakes, it is!
This is from Paul Hollywood's "How to Bake"--yeah, I chose it because it's Paul but also because I knew I had the ingredients.
Bread flour with salt, sugar and cinnamon on the right and yeast on the left.
The supporting cast members. Forgot to pull out the mixed peel...it was hanging in the fridge.
The butter and about 3/4 of the water gets added and swooshed around. The idea is to see if the dry mixture will incorporate itself into the mass. If it doesn't add a little more water at a time.
I added a bit more water and the dough was interesting--shaggy but also with a slightly stringy feel.
Once all the flour was incorporated, I tipped it onto a lightly oiled counter. I think I did add a little too much water because the dough was a little wet.
I remembered to remove my ring and bracelets before kneading this one and it's a good thing, too. The dough was quite sticky and it took several minutes of hard kneading to get it to a point where I felt confident the gluten was building up and a smooth dough could be achieved. It was too bad that I removed my FitBit because I really think this was a short but hard cardio workout!
A few more minutes and the smooth ball was achieved! I popped it into an oiled bowl, covered it with a towel and went off to do other things for a bit.
After an hour, a nice airy dough!
The filling is a mixture of sultanas, AKA golden raisins, and mixed peel, AKA the candied-fruit-in fruitcake-that-most-of-us-don't-like. I actually do. This was a mixture of citrus peels. Hence, mixed peel. It all makes sense...
The fruit gets added while the dough is still in the bowl. That way you can use the firmness of the bowl's sides to help you push the fruit into the dough.
Once the fruit is mostly incorporated, the whole mass gets tipped onto a lightly floured surface and kneaded to distribute the fruit evenly.
This was a bit tough--the fruit has a tendency to want to pop out or congregate with its friends.
The the dough needs to be cut into 8 pieces and shaped into balls. Once again, my issues with proportioning dough is obvious!
The dough balls are flattened down, brushed with an egg wash and allowed to rise until they are doubled.
They baked at 400 for about 15 minutes. I would definitely not have won points for an even bake...I think the extra water created a softer texture dough that the yeast had a hard time with. As it is, the yeast had the heavy fruit to contend with. That affects the rise.
But it had great aeration and texture. It tasted pretty darn good, too! The guys gave them a thumb's up and I was especially surprised that Eric enjoyed them so much; he's not as much of a bread guy as his dad is! I will make adjustments to the water I add the next time. Five turtles!
Here's the promised link:
Teacakes by Paul Hollywood
Since it's Easter I bought my MIL some chocolate eggs; she's a fiend for chocolate! My FIL doesn't have as big a sweet tooth but he is passionate about bread--smart guy, my FIL! I initially thought about hot cross buns but decided to go the secular route instead. Teacakes, it is!
This is from Paul Hollywood's "How to Bake"--yeah, I chose it because it's Paul but also because I knew I had the ingredients.
Bread flour with salt, sugar and cinnamon on the right and yeast on the left.
The supporting cast members. Forgot to pull out the mixed peel...it was hanging in the fridge.
The butter and about 3/4 of the water gets added and swooshed around. The idea is to see if the dry mixture will incorporate itself into the mass. If it doesn't add a little more water at a time.
I added a bit more water and the dough was interesting--shaggy but also with a slightly stringy feel.
I remembered to remove my ring and bracelets before kneading this one and it's a good thing, too. The dough was quite sticky and it took several minutes of hard kneading to get it to a point where I felt confident the gluten was building up and a smooth dough could be achieved. It was too bad that I removed my FitBit because I really think this was a short but hard cardio workout!
After an hour, a nice airy dough!
The filling is a mixture of sultanas, AKA golden raisins, and mixed peel, AKA the candied-fruit-in fruitcake-that-most-of-us-don't-like. I actually do. This was a mixture of citrus peels. Hence, mixed peel. It all makes sense...
The fruit gets added while the dough is still in the bowl. That way you can use the firmness of the bowl's sides to help you push the fruit into the dough.
Once the fruit is mostly incorporated, the whole mass gets tipped onto a lightly floured surface and kneaded to distribute the fruit evenly.
This was a bit tough--the fruit has a tendency to want to pop out or congregate with its friends.
The the dough needs to be cut into 8 pieces and shaped into balls. Once again, my issues with proportioning dough is obvious!
The dough balls are flattened down, brushed with an egg wash and allowed to rise until they are doubled.
They baked at 400 for about 15 minutes. I would definitely not have won points for an even bake...I think the extra water created a softer texture dough that the yeast had a hard time with. As it is, the yeast had the heavy fruit to contend with. That affects the rise.
But it had great aeration and texture. It tasted pretty darn good, too! The guys gave them a thumb's up and I was especially surprised that Eric enjoyed them so much; he's not as much of a bread guy as his dad is! I will make adjustments to the water I add the next time. Five turtles!
Teacakes by Paul Hollywood
Comments
Post a Comment