Dough delightful!

Look at the goodies I brought home on Saturday from college….brioche….hot cross buns….Challah bread and wait for it…..cinnamon sugar dusted doughnuts!
 

A baked goods bounty

Saturday saw me kneading a lot of dough, who realised the effort needed to add butter into a batch of dough? You have to make sure the temperatures are perfectly matched; the butter mustn’t be colder than the dough and if the butter is too soft it will melt in your hands before you can even get it into the dough.  It’s definitely a tricky combining the two but the results are more than worth it.

Brioche

Buttery Brioche

Ok I admit this is not the traditional ‘brioche’ shape but we had limited access to brioche tins so had to resort to baking them in these ever versatile foil cartons instead.  They may not look traditional but they certainly tasted it, a very light but buttery dough perfect for toasting and coating with a thick layer of jam. Blackberry jam for me please.

Challah Bread (or sweet yeast plait)

I love the crunchy almonds on top

Another buttery dough which was exceptionally easy to make.  The challah bread tasted delicious warm without the need for any topping and the almonds gave it a lovely crunch on top, the bread colours beautifully and it works well as a toasted slice for breakfast in the morning much the same as brioche.  I once worked as a waitress in a Jewish bakery a long time ago and I always wondered how they made Challah, it was at this bakery that I had my first experiences of working in a commercial baking environment and I always wished I was working in the background making the products.  The biscuits at the bakery were in always in abundance and tasted fantastic, I would always find myself wanting to help out and have fun in the kitchen rather than clearing the tables. Now the Challah mystery is somewhat gone and I now know how to make it, I cant wait to practice some more at home and I would like to attempt a wheat free version at some point to see if it works out. 

Hot Cross Buns

One a penny, two a penny...hot crossed buns....

Its a little early for easter breads dont you think?  I thought so too until I could smell these little treats in the oven and I was eager for them to hurry up and bake so I could scoff the lot.  The Hot Cross Bun dough was difficult to work with once the fruit had been combined into it.  You have to roll and roll the dough into small balls with the fruit rolled underneath so that it wont burn or pop out of the buns whilst its baking.  The end result was evenly baked buns but an aching arm.  The sugar syrup we brushed over the top once baked consisted of sugar, water, vanilla pods, lemon zest and star anise and it really did add another dimension and a certain wow factor to the flavour of the bread.

Cinnamon Sugar Doughnuts

I dont really like jam stuffed doughnuts. Dangerous statement - I know.  Im sure most people love the sticky mess that is often the inside of a doughnut but if im honest its all about the cinnamon sugar for me.  After deep frying the dough in hot oil it is lightly dusted in the cinnamon sugar, the hard part is waiting for it to cool down enough before taking a bite.  It was a good job we had guests this weeked to share all of the baked goodies with - its all just a little too tempting!