Savoury Hot Cross Buns

Easter is fast approaching and I've been thinking about what I want to bake this year. I've never made my own hot cross buns mainly because I'm not too keen on eating them. However, Stork have a blogging competition at the moment looking for Hot Cross buns with a modern twist so I thought I'd give it a go. 

My secret to better Easter Baking with Stork is giving Hot Cross Buns a modern twist by making them savoury! I decided to use pancetta, mixed herbs and cheddar with herbs. I made the cross for the bun using cheddar cheese flavoured with herbs and it worked really well. This is my first time baking a yeasted dough and I was really impressed at how well it turned out. The buns were really tasty and were best served slightly warmed with butter. You can clearly taste the herbs and cheese and the hidden bits of pancetta were a bonus. The bun was light and had a good texture to it.

 adding yeast and sugar to warm water 

 lightly fry pancetta with some mixed herbs 

 this smelt amazing! 

 activated yeast, after about 15 minutes

 cheddar with herbs 

 dough ready for proving 

 it really did double in size! 

 ready to bake 

 trying to create the cross - slightly messy! 

 savoury hot cross bun 

An original recipe by bakingaddict

1 cup warm water

7g dry yeast

1 teaspoon sugar

450g plain flour

1 teaspoon sea salt

1 teaspoon dried mixed herbs

75g stork, melted

1 egg

130g cubed pancetta 

1 teaspoon dried mixed herbs

50g cheddar cheese with herbs, grated

100g cheddar cheese with herbs (to make the cross for the buns)  

• Start by placing warm water in a jug. Add the yeast and 1 teaspoon of sugar and set aside for at least 10-15 minutes. It will become frothy as shown in the picture above.
• Lightly pan fry the pancetta cubes with 1 teaspoon of dried mixed herbs and allow to cool slightly. 
• In an electric mixer with a paddle attachment, mix the flour, sea salt, dried mixed herbs, stork and egg.
• Add in the fried pancetta and herbs and grated cheese and continue mixing.
• Knead the dough until firm and smooth. 
• Place in a lightly oiled bowl and cover with cling film.
• Leave in a warm place for 1-2 hours or until the  dough has doubled in size. 
• Punch the risen dough and knead for a few minutes.
• Divide into 12 even pieces (I weighed the dough then divided by 12)
• Place on a baking tray spaced apart and cover with cling film that has been sprayed with cooking oil or non stick spray. 
• Leave for about 30 minutes or so until the dough has risen further.
• Preheat the oven to 180C. 
• Using a pair of kitchen scissors, make a small 'x' shaped cut on top of each bun.
• Brush with egg wash and then bake for about 10 minutes.
• Place the cheddar and herb cheese in a ziplock bag and melt in the microwave for about 10-15 seconds until soft and pliable. Snip off the end of the bag.
• Take the buns out of the oven and pipe a cross on top of each bun with the soft cheese. 
• Return to the oven and continue baking for a further 10 - 15 minutes or until golden brown and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. The cheese would have melted and should leave the shape of a cross.
• Remove from the oven and cool on a wire rack or eat warm straight from the oven with some butter. 

Disclaimer: I was sent some basic baking ingredients from Stork to help create this recipe. I paid for all additional ingredients to make a modern twist to my hot cross buns. 

Cherry and Almond Cake

Recently, I was sent a lovely selection of products from Opies to review.  I looked on their website for recipes and came across this cherry and almond cake. It's a classic combination and one that I knew would be a crowd pleaser. It's a simple recipe but I managed to burn it as I didn't keep a close eye on my temperamental oven! Fortunately, the cake still tasted fine. It has a lovely texture and the juicy cherries in the middle are particularly delightful. The cocktail cherries would also be lovely in a cocktail!  

 small range of Opies products - look out for more recipes in the future 

 

 coat cherries in a tablespoon of flour 

 adding the cherries to the cake 

Recipe from Opies website 

Disclaimer: I was sent a selection of Opies products for review purposes. I was not required to write a positive review and all opinions expressed are my own. 

No Bake Chocolate Peppermint Slice

Today is St Patrick's Day which commemorates Saint Patrick and the arrival of Christianity in Ireland. It is customary to wear green on St Patrick's day and I'm sure the blogosphere will be awash with green desserts, Baileys and/or Guinness treats. I baked 2 chocolate Guinness cakes but as I've shared the recipe a few times on this blog, I thought I'd make something a little different. I decided on a no bake recipe as I was short on time and pretty much made this up as I went along. I'm really pleased with the final results as it looks good - the perfect green in my eyes and it tastes amazing. It's not the healthiest treat to eat and it's also very difficult to cut a small slice but it's absolutely delicious. 

I made an oreo biscuit base followed by a mint cream cheese filling with chopped up mint aeros covered in a layer of chocolate and finished with little Aero bubbles. If you like chocolate and mint then you will love this dessert. It has a crunchy biscuit base with a creamy mint filling and a mint chocolate topping. 

I'm sending this to Treat Petite hosted by Kat from the Baking Explorer and co hosted by Stuart from Cakeyboi. The theme this month is Ireland.

 oreo cookie base 

 mint cream cheese filling with chopped mint aero 

 chocolate topping and aero bubbles 

An original recipe by bakingaddict

For the base
3 packs oreo cookies
150g butter

For the filling
400g cream cheese
100g butter
200g icing sugar
5 teaspoons mint extract
green food colouring
2 bars mint Aero - chopped

For the topping
270g dark chocolate
100g butter
4 teaspoons mint extract
1 pack of mint Aero bubble

• Grease a square baking tray -mine is 21cm x 27cm.
• Place the oreo cookies in a food processor and blitz until it resembles fine crumbs. Alternatively, place in a ziplock back and bash with a rolling pin.
• Melt 150g butter and stir into the cookie crumbs.
• Press into the base of your tin and allow to set in the fridge for 10-15 minutes.
• Make the filling by placing the cream cheese in an electric mixer and beating on a medium speed until smooth.
• Add in butter and icing sugar and continue beating.
• Finally add in mint extract and green food colouring.
• Spread the filling over the chilled cookie base and press the chopped mint aeros on top.
• Place in the fridge to set for another 10 - 15 minutes.
• In the meantime, melt the chocolate and butter and mint extract in a bowl over a pan of simmering water.
• Allow to cool for a while before spreading it on top of the mixture. Tip the tray from side to side until you get an even covering of the chocolate.
• Place the mint aero bubbles on top - green side up at random intervals.
• Place in the fridge to set completely.
• Use a warm knife to slice. 

Salty & Sweet Fudgy Brownies

These are seriously good brownies and I mean really, really good! I have been wanting to make these for a while now and I'm glad I finally got round to making them. I used my favourite fudgy brownie recipe and added in this M&Ms salty&sweet snack mix that I bought from America. It contains roasted peanuts, crunchy pretzels, chocolate chip cookies and M&M's. 

The brownies were gooey and fudgy and you can clearly taste the different components of the snack mix. It had the right balance of sweet and salty and definitely satisfied my chocolate craving! Everyone thoroughly enjoyed it and I'm sure there will be repeat requests for this one! 

 adding the salty & sweet snack mix 

 ready to go in the oven 

 I love the flecks of colour from the m&m's 

200g butter, chopped into smallish cubes
375g sugar
170g chocolate, roughly chopped
165g flour
80g cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
4 eggs
1 pack of M&M's salty & sweet snack mix (226g)

• Preheat the oven to 180C.
• In a medium sized pan, melt the butter and chocolate.
• Then whisk in the sugar, salt and vanilla extract. 
• Continue mixing until you get a smooth mixture then remove from heat and set aside for a few minutes.
• Whisk in the eggs one at a time and then the flour and cocoa powder until you get a fudgy mixture as shown. 
• Stir in the M&M's salty & sweet snack mix 
• Pour the mixture into a square baking pan. 
• Bake for approximately 30-35 minutes until the top is crisp and the edges are cooked. 
• Allow to cool in the pan. 
• Slice and enjoy!

Lemon and Poppyseed Muffins

I had a baking urge last week but I couldn't decide what to bake! I looked at my cupboards and cookbooks for inspiration but couldn't decide on anything. In the end I made some cookies which will be revealed later and I made these muffins as I had a real craving for something lemony. I found this recipe online which Lorraine Pascale posted on twitter. I added lemon juice and more zest and a lemon glaze and they turned out beautifully. 

I'm entering this to the Biscuit Barrel Challenge hosted by Laura from I'd Much Rather Bake Than... The theme this month is spring and lemons definitely feel very spring like to me! 

And to Calendar Cakes hosted by Rachel from Dolly Bakes and Laura from Laura Loves Cakes. The theme this month is 'Spring into Action'

 adding poppyseed to the mix 

 ready to go in the oven 

 drizzle with a generous amount of lemon glaze 

Makes 14 - recipe adapted online from Lorraine Pascale 

For the muffins

350g self raising flour

1 teaspoon bicarbonate of flour

225g golden caster sugar

350ml milk

2 eggs

140g butter, melted

zest of 2 lemons

juice of 1/2 lemon

50g poppyseed

For the lemon glaze

Juice of 1-2 lemons - adjust to the right consistency

150g icing sugar, sifted

• Preheat the oven to 180C 
• Mix all the dry ingredients except the poppyseeds in a large bowl.
• Add in the wet ingredients and mix well.
• Finally stir in the poppyseeds.
• Divide the mixture into muffin cases and bake for about 18-20 minutes or until brown and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.
• Make the lemon glaze by sifting the icing sugar into a large bowl then adding in the lemon juice 1 teaspoon at a time until you get the consistency required.
• Drizzle a generous amount of glaze over each muffin. 

Upside Down Peaches and Cream Cake

The letter for this month's AlphaBakes is U and my thoughts immediately turned to an upside down cake. I decided to make something a little different to a traditional pineapple upside down cake and came across this recipe on BBC Good Food. It's a simple sponge recipe topped with peaches and filled with a clotted cream filling. The sponge was light and moist and I loved the peaches and cream combination. It was so good that I made the cake again shortly after with different fruits which I will blog about later. 

As mentioned, I'm entering this to AlphaBakes which is hosted by myself this month and co hosted by Caroline from Caroline Makes. The letter is U for upside down cake. 

I'm also sending this to Made with Love Mondays hosted by Javelin Warrior where the idea is to make everything from scratch. 

 toss peaches in brown sugar 

 arrange peaches in a single layer then cover with cake batter 

 spread a generous layer of clotted cream filling on the plain cake then place the peach-topped cake on top. 

 

Recipe from BBC Good Food 

AlphaBakes March 2014

Welcome to the final AlphaBakes challenge for this round. I can't believe we've gone through the whole alphabet and that's it's been 25 months since we first started AlphaBakes. Don't worry this is not the end of the challenge as we have something exciting planned for April to kick start the new round of AlphaBakes. If you haven't already seen the "Z" roundup, do check it out on Caroline's blog. 

There is only 1 letter left that we've not used so far which is U. I look forward to seeing your recipes with U as the main ingredient or name of bake/dish. 

We have a special prize lined up for 1 lucky entrant which is sponsored by French Glace Cherries. Caroline and I recently attended a French Glace Cherry Masterclass which you can read about here and here.  The lucky winner will receive samples of both colours of cherries and a kitchen scale. The prize is only available to those with a UK address so if it's not clear on your blog, please mention in your email if you have a UK address for prize delivery.  

A quick reminder of the rules is listed below. Please remember to email alphabakes@gmail.com by 25th of March.

1. Post your recipe on your blog and link it to The More than Occasional Baker and Caroline Makes, stating the relevant month's host. If you do not have a blog, email us a picture and a brief description of your entry which we will include in the round-up at the end of the month.

2. You can use your own recipe or someone else's recipe. The recipe can be sweet, savoury or a mixture! Anything goes as long as the random letter is predominantly featured in the recipe as one of the main ingredients or flavours or in the name of the bake itself (i .e . not as a garnish , or using 'flour' for the letter F!) You can also republish old posts/recipes but you must include the information for this challenge as stated in these rules.

3. Add the logo to your post and add 'alphabakes' as a label to your post.

4. Email your entries to alphabakes@gmail.com by midnight (GMT) 25th of each month. Please include:

• Your name (that you want included in the round up or we will use the name of your blog)
• Your blog post URL
• Recipe title
• Photo of recipe (to be included in the round up)

5. You can submit as many entries as you like.

6. You do not have to participate every month to join in.

7. You may submit your entry to other challenges as long as it complies with their rules.

8. If you use twitter, please use the tag #alphabakes and mention @bakingaddict and @Caroline_Makes. We will retweet all those that we see.

9. Have fun! :)