Bake-Off Belgian Buns

    Belgian Buns puzzle me. On many visits to Belgium I have never seen Belgian Buns sold, not even in our favourite bakery in Ypres, which sells every variety of bread, bun and cake you can imagine. However, they were an ever present fixture  in the bakeries of my childhood. Cadena bakery always had them. Unlike the ones presented in the bake-off technical challenge, they were always done in a pan so they needed to be torn apart and always had icing thickly smeared (not elegantly trickled) on top. I couldn't resist having a go at baking some, not least because it is a while since I've baked and I knew Alan would enjoy them. Mine are a little different in texture because I used an enriched dough made with brioche flour, which is more yellow in colour, higher in protein because of the egg yolks added and has extra gluten. You don't have to do this - bread flour (or even T70) is perfect. I also reduced the amount of sugar to 2 tablespoons instead of four. They are covered in icing, so really don't need to be overly sweet. The end result was very moreish and certainly hit the spot for late afternoon tea.

 A word about tea. My own view, and I know it's not a popular one, is that leaf tea, pale in colour and delicate in flavour, should come in a pot (never a bag) and be freshly made and very hot with just a little milk. Our preference is for Oxford Afternoon, a blend of Darjeeling and Ceylon black teas, from Cardews of Oxford. They aren't paying me to say this, but if they want to they can pay in tea. Just saying. 

So, to the buns. 

 Ingredients

450g Bread flour, or brioche flour

a pinch of salt 

1 tablespoon of dried yeast

2 tablespoons of sugar

100g melted butter

200ml of milk

1 egg

1/2 jar lemon curd

120g sultanas, or other dried fruit

Icing

300g icing sugar

3 or 4 tablespoons of water. You want a thick icing.

Glacé cherries, halved 

Put the flour and salt into a bowl. Mix the yeast, sugar and a couple of dessert spoons of warm water in a bowl and allow the yeast to activate. Warm the milk, add the melted butter and beat the egg into it. Pour the yeast mix and the milk mix into the flour and work into a smooth dough. 

 Knead the dough for 8 minutes in the mixer with a dough hook, or 10 -12 minutes by hand. This should give a soft dough. Leave the dough, covered with a tea towel, in a warm place until doubled in size. In summer I would put it out in the sun, in a Normandie winter it needs to snuggle up next to the fire. It might take as little as an hour, or a couple of hours if the house isn't warm.

Take your risen dough and on a floured surface knock the dough back and knead lightly. Roll the dough into a square about 1 - 1.5cm thick. Spread evenly, right up to the edges, with the lemon curd, and sprinkle the fruit on top. Roll the dough tightly into a sausage. Cut into 18 even slices - into half, then each half into three and each third into three again. Put onto two lined baking sheets, cover with a tea towel and leave to rise - about 30 mins should do it this time, until doubled in size. They will look puffy and feel very soft to the touch.

 If you prefer the old fashioned look of pull apart buns, use a well buttered baking pan about 4cm deep. These rolls are very good tempered and although you space them apart, they will rise into each other and even if they look a little scruffy at this stage, will look much better once they are risen and baked.

Bake the buns for 20 minutes at 200c - although on my fan oven 180c is quite enough. Keep an eye on them to avoid overbaking (sorry Guiseppe). Cool your buns on a wire rack. Make a bowl of icing by simply mixing the icing sugar with a little cold water. Add the water a spoonful at a time, because you won't need as much as you think. I found that leaving the icing for 20 minutes gave me a much better texture - smoother and more easily worked. Decorate your buns in whatever way pleases you - either trickle artistically a la Paul Hollywood, dip the buns into the icing or (as I did) spoon & swirl. Top each bun with half a cherry. 

 

 

 

A couple of suggestions. If you can't get lemon curd (or are feeling too mean, which I totally understand) spread the dough with butter, sprinkle caster sugar and grated lemon zest on, with or without a sprinkle of juice. I've then gone further and made lemon buns in the past, using candied lemon peel instead of sultana type dried fruit. You could then happily make a lemon frosting for the top. These make excellent breakfast pastries.

  If you really enjoy a cinnamon bun (and who doesn't), spread the dough with butter, sprinkle with soft brown sugar and cinnamon and a handful of chopped pecans. Again, cut into evenly sized buns. Because my pan is square, I usually cut these into 16 (4x4). Bake in a deep buttered pan and voila, cinnamon buns for tea (or breakfast). Spread them with cream cheese frosting whilst they're still warm and I promise you will become a legend in your own kitchen. 

Belgian Buns are just the start - let your imagination take over.

 

Happy baking!

 

 

Onion Bhaji

Indian food isn't part of French colonial heritage the way Vietnamese isn't a British thing. Each country, apparently, takes away a rich heritage of cooking as part of the spoils of colonial rule. For our family, curry is an inherited taste. We enjoy a good curry (usually home made) and I'm not too fussy what I'm currying. Lamb is probably my favourite, chicken more often, beef occasionally, but my recent discovery is veal. It is at its most tender when cooked long and slow in spices and I admit I prefer it curried rather than as blanquette, for instance. Also I love to experiment with spices and I have a Tupperware spice box that has taken on all the smells of exotic places. 

Yesterday I cooked the veal all afternoon on top of the woodburner, in a sauce of red & yellow peppers, onions, garlic, ginger and tomatoes, spiced with a Madras curry mix. One of the few things I miss about living outside the UK is being able to pop into Waitrose (or whatever) for a wide and exotic range of ready made accompaniaments for my curry. Naan bread, puppadums and onion bhajis in particular. Naan is simple enough once you've got the knack, puppadums must be deep fried (don't even suggest microwaving them), and onion bhaji can be home-made without much difficulty. In fact, I suggest using the same oil as for puppadums and make & fry them whilst the rice cooks. Home made are so simple and delicious that it probably wouldn't be worth buying them even if they were available. 

I'm not going to claim I've been making them for years, I just suffered without for too long and finally found Gram flour (the essential ingredient) in my local supermarket's Bio section. The first time I tried them to a traditional recipe they were lovely, but lacked crunch. Then a friend, who was out of Gram flour said he had used a combo of other flours and that they were lovely and crisp. So I had a good thinki about what it is I want from my bhajis. Firstly I love the flavour of Gram flour. Chick pea flour is what it is and it gives that earthy, nutty flavour. I want some crunch, but also a soft interior. This doesn't mean undercooked or doughy, just that the crunch shouldn't be everything. As for onions, use the ones you enjoy. I use a yellow onion for every day cooking and these worked perfectly. 

I spiced the bhajis - a teaspoon of turmeric, a teaspoon of curry powder, salt to taste, cumin, a little chilli powder for heat. Someone told me that their local restaurant adds fennel seeds and I'm looking forward to trying that.

I recommend Colza oil for fryng. The key quality of this oil is it can be heated to a high temperature without burning, I us 3-4 cms at the bottom of a deep pan

 So, to business. 

Ingredients

6 tablespoons Gram (chickpea) flour

2 tablespoons Self-raising flour

a glass of water (this isnt a precise measure - it is how much you need to have to hand)

I medium onion, cut into four and sliced thinly

seasoning

1/2 tspn salt

1 tspn turmeric

1 tspn curry powder (or garam marsala) 

1/2 tspn cumin

a pinch of hot chilli powder, to taste

other spices as you wish 

Method

Stir all the dry ingredients (flours, spices, seasoning) together.

Add sufficient water to make a fairly stiff dough, but not too dry.

Add the onions and stir in.

Fry

In hot oil for 3-4 minutes, turning half way through. I shape mine into rough patties and flatten them slightly. Turn out into a dish or basket lined with a paper napkin and serve with chutneys and sauces of your choice.