Saffron Bread Revisited

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Apricot, Cardamom, Chelsea Buns, Knotted Rolls, Orange, quanti modi di fare e rifare, Saffron

 Nota per lettori italiani/e: troverete una versione italiana della ricetta qui.

I was delighted that Anna and Ornella, the lovely organisers of Quanti Modi di Fare e Rifare decided to use my Three Kinds of Saffron Bread for their baking challenge this month.

Although I was only too happy to revisit the rich and colourful world of saffron bread, I did not want to repeat myself and so I decided on another two variations on the theme.

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Pane allo Zafferano per Quanti Modi di Fare e Rifare

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albicocche, arancia, cardamomo, panini, quanti modi di fare e rifare, zafferano

An English version of this post will be found here.

Mi ha fatto tanto piacere che Anna e Ornella, le carissime organizzatori di Quanti Modi di Fare e Rifare abbiano deciso di utilizzare il mio post Three Kinds of Saffron Bread (Pane allo Zafferano) per la sfida di questo mese.

Non volevo ripetere la stessa ricetta, quindi ho deciso di fare ancora due variazioni sul tema.

Rowies (Aberdeen Butteries)

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Aberdeen, Scotland, Scottish

Although I was born and brought up in Devon, in the south west of England, my parents came from Aberdeen, that lovely sparkling granite city in the north of Scotland. It is almost as far from Devon as you can get without actually leaving the UK, so we only made occasional visits there, to visit the relatives and be feasted with endless cups of tea accompanied by home baked cakes and biscuits.

One of my favourite Aberdonian things were these rolls, which we always called Rowies, although their official name is Butteries.

Puccette Pugliesi – Puglian Rolls

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puccette, puccia, Puglia, quanti modi di fare e rifare

These round rolls from the “heel” of Italy were the subject of this month’s challenge from the on-line Italian cooking group Quanti Modi di Fare e Rifare. From my researches it appears that they can be made with a number of different flours, and with or without the addition of ingredients such as olives, tomatoes or potatoes. So I felt I had a fairly free hand in adapting the gluten free recipe provided by Vale in order to make a non-GF one. My dough ended up rather like one for Ciabatta, but with the addition of the mashed potato she recommended.

The resulting rolls were light in texture and tasty. I don’t know if they were authentic but they were certainly good to eat.

Questi panini rotondi sono stati il soggetto della sfida di questo mese di Quanti Modi di Fare e Rifare. Dalle mie ricerche risulta che possono essere fatte con diverse farine, e con o senza l’aggiunta di ingredienti come olive, pomodori e patate. Così ho pensato che avessi mano libera per adattare la ricetta priva di glutine fornita da Vale per farne una versione con glutine. Il mio impasto è stato un po’ come quello per la ciabatta, ma con l’aggiunta delle patate schiacciate come raccomandato da lei.

Non so se le mie puccette fossero autentiche, ma erano certamente leggere e gustose.

Rosemary and Sultana Bread

Tags

Breakfast Loaf, Fresh from the oven, Honey, Rosemary, Sultana

This light textured bread is subtly flavoured with rosemary and honey, and although it contains a lot of sultanas, is not overly sweet. I thought it would be ideal for this month’s challenge on Fresh from the Oven, hosted by La Cuisine de Sarah, which was to make a fruited breakfast bread.

Although Rosemary is often thought of as a savory herb, it works beautifully in sweet recipes too. In this bread, it plays a quite understated role, and if you didn’t know it was there, you might wonder what exactly was lending that interesting undertone to the smell and flavour of the bread.

Rum Plum Buns (Cross but not so Hot)

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Cinnamon, Easter, Fresh from the oven, Hot cross bun, Prunes, Rum, sour cream

This variation on hot cross buns was inspired by a visit to the Felin Fach Griffin pub in the Brecon Beacons (highly recommended, both for the accommodation and for the food). We stayed overnight, and at breakfast there was a bowl of prunes which had been poached with quartered oranges, complete with their peel, and cinnamon. With a dollop of thick, creamy yoghurt, these were truly delicious, and completely changed my previously lukewarm opinion of stewed prunes. I have tried to capture those wonderful flavours in these buns.

Hot Cross Buns

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Crosses on hot cross buns, Easter, Hot cross bun, Tea Time Treats

Although in our 24 x 7 x 365 society Hot Cross Buns are available all year round, it still seems appropriate to make an effort to make them for yourself at Easter. I must say that my previous attempts have always been disappointing in one regard. That is the crosses. Call me obsessive, but I do want them to be distinct and neat, like the ones on the buns you buy. But I had never yet achieved that.

Don’t Knead: Work the Dough!

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Bertinet, Bread, dough, Kneading, Working

I have been baking bread on and off since I was a teenager, but it was only in the last six months that two things happened that revolutionised my bread making. The first was buying a plastic scraper (or two actually). Far more radical was buying a copy of Richard Bertinet’s Dough. This has completely transformed the way I make bread, and has made me into a breadmaking fanatic, whose weekends don’t seem complete unless some new challenge is underway.

Panettone Teacakes

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Aroma Panettone, Panettone

I  love Panettone and intend to make it some time – I’ve even bought the cases already – but I get the impression it takes an age, is quite complicated, and is prone to failure (sometimes collapsing after you’ve proudly extracted it from the oven). Not that that will deter me. In the meantime, these buns are far simpler and still have the authentic texture, aroma and flavour, just in a smaller package. Not that they’re that small. In fact one would make quite a mouthful for just one person.

Bagels

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Aniseed, Bagel, fennel seed, Fresh from the oven, poppy seed, Sesame

Despite its name, this blog will not just be about things Italian, and you certainly couldn’t get much less Italian than this recipe.

“The oddest thing you are ever likely to do to a piece of dough”. So says Daniel Stevens in his introduction to the recipe I have adapted here. He was referring to the way the bagels are poached before being baked. Odd it may be, but the unexpected reward was the delicious aroma that wafted up from the simmering water. Not only that, but the finished bagels were delicious too.