Herbed Leek, Carrot, Broccoli and Potato Stuffed Buns

Stuffed bread or buns make an easy one dish meal. They are portable and can be easily taken along on day trips. I have a stuffed bun recipe with paneer filling here. I make them often but today I decided to try something different. I had one leek and some broccoli in the refrigerator that I wanted to use up. So I made some dough with the newly fed wild yeast starter and stuffed it with the herbed vegetables. The results were delicious.

I made the filling based on look and feel rather than a recipe. Actually the dough was mixed up based on look and feel too. I let the dough ferment overnight, shaped and stuffed it in the morning. I baked the buns in the evening. I used mostly whole wheat flour so the buns are a little dense. 

After I had added the turmeric powder, some basil, crushed black pepper, some thyme and cayenne pepper powder I decided I needed something sour. I thought of adding lemon juice but settled on mango peel powder instead. A pinch of sugar and the flavor profile was complete. The family enjoyed the buns a lot. At 110 gm each they were pretty filling too.

You will need (for 6 buns)

For the bun

100 gm 100% sourdough starter

190 gm water

20 gm sugar

30 gm olive oil

330 gm white whole wheat flour

8 gm salt

For the filling

2 tbsp. olive oil

1 leek, white part only

2 medium potatoes

2 carrots

1 small head of broccoli

1 tsp. thyme

1 tsp. basil

1 tsp. cayenne pepper powder

1 tsp. crushed black pepper

1 tsp. turmeric powder

1 tsp. amchur or mango peel powder (or use juice of half a lemon)

1 tsp. sugar

salt to taste

The night before combine all the ingredients for the buns in a mixing bowl and form a soft dough. Cover and keep aside for 30 minutes. Uncover, reach down to the bottom of the far side, pick up the dough and fold it over the top towards you. Turn the bowl 90 degree and repeat. Continue until you have gone around twice. Cover and keep aside. Repeat this stretch and fold procedure two more times every half hour. Finally cover and keep aside for at least 4-5 hours. Alternately, keep refrigerated overnight. 

In the morning prepare the filling. Clean the leek and discard the green. Dice the white. Heat oil in a pan and saute the leek. Meanwhile peel and dice the potatoes. Add them to the pan. While they cook, peel and dice the carrots. Add them to the pan. Sprinkle some water if the mixture if too dry. Cover and let it cook. Meanwhile clean and break up the broccoli heads in tiny florets. Add them to the pan. Cover and allow the vegetables to cook completely but do not let them get mushy. Add the herbs and spices. Mix well, cover and cook for another few minutes. Turn off heat and allow it to cool completely.

If refrigerated, take the dough out and place it on the counter. Allow it to come to room temperature. Transfer it to a floured working surface and divide it into 6 portions. Using your fingers flatten each portion. Stuff with the filling.

Pull the sides up together and form a ball. Roll the ball in a little flour to help seal the bottom. Then place it on an un-floured board and pull it towards you letting the bottom slide on the board. This is done to increase surface tension and give them a smooth top. Repeat for all the portions.

Place the prepared buns on a baking tray and allow them to proof for 4-6 hours. You could refrigerate them overnight. When you are ready to bake preheat the oven to 375 F. Brush the top with a little milk, or egg white or butter. Bake for 30-35 minutes.

Cool the buns on a cooling rack for a few minutes. 

They taste best when hot out of the oven.

Enjoy!

Pao de Queijo

This month's Daring Bakers' Challenge took us on a trip to beautiful Brazil! Renata of Testado, Provado & Aprovado! taught us how to make Pao De Queijo, tasty cheese buns that make the perfect snack or treat, and that will make your taste buds samba!

I had never heard of this treat prior to the challenge. I had seen tapioca powder in Whole Foods before but had never bought it. The only other pure starch recipe I had tried is dudali a dessert made with arrowroot powder. Pao de Queijo is a tea time snack popular in Brazil. It is light and fluffy light a cheese puff and a lot more flavorful. One is never enough!

I bought barely two cups of the tapioca powder. I decided to cut the recipe in half. Normally I copy the ingredient list, cut each one by half and then follow this new list. Since there were only a handful of ingredients I did not do this. Unfortunately, I forgot to cut the milk by half and added a whole cup. I realized what I had done only when I had added it to the tapioca powder. Instead of a crumbly mixture I got a soft dough. I had no tapioca powder to fix the problem so I continued with the recipe.

The texture may have been affected a little but otherwise no harm done. The puffs were light and delicious. There were bits of cheese browned on the surface that enhanced the taste. Thank you Renata for an awesome challenge!

You will need
250 gm or 2 cups tapioca starch
1/2 cup whole milk (I used 1%)
2 tbsp. unsalted butter
1 tsp. salt (do not use if using salted butter)
1 1/2 cups Monterrey Jack cheese
1 large egg

In a pan add the milk, butter and salt and bring to a boil. In a bowl sift the tapioca. Mix the milk mixture into the tapioca. Combine with a fork to form a crumbly mixture. Add the rest of the ingredients with the eggs and mix until all the ingredients are combined.

Preheat oven to 400 F. Pull small portions of the dough and form small balls. Place them on a parchment paper lines baking sheet. Bake for 20-25 minutes.

If you plan to bake them later place the baking sheet in the freezer until the dough is frozen. Transfer to a freezer safe ziploc and store in the freezer until needed. When ready to bake preheat the oven and place the dough on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake as directed earlier.

Cook slightly on a rack and eat them warm with tea or coffee.

Enjoy!

Savory Eatonian Kringle

I chose the Estonian Kringle bread because of how pretty it looked. The dough is rolled into a flat rectangle, filled with cinnamon sugar, rolled tightly into a roll, slit and shape.

On baking just before I was getting ready to make the filling my family revolted. They did not want another sweet bread. In the last few weeks I have made a few sweet breads like the beautiful bread, the Swedish coffee bread and the cinnamon swirl bread. So I gave in and switched to a savory version of this bread.

Instead of cinnamon bread I used goat cheese, basil pesto and sun dried tomato. My daughter does not like nuts in bread so I made the pesto with just basil and olive oil. I mixed all the filling ingredients together and used them just like the sweet version. The end result was pretty, very tasty and disappeared very quickly.

This recipe was adapted from here.

You will need
For the dough
2 tbsp. butter
1 tbsp. sugar
1 egg yolk
3/4 cup warm milk
2 1/4 cup bread flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 oz. instant dry yeast

For the filling
3 tbsp. olive oil
4-5 leaves basil, chopped
2 tbsp. creamy goat cheese
a handful sun dried tomatoes (not soaked in oil), chopped

1 tbsp. milk

In a mixing bowl beat the melted butter and sugar. Add the egg yolk and beat. Add the milk and beat until combined. Sift in the flour, yeast and salt. Combine to form a soft dough. Knead for about 10 minutes until it forms a soft elastic dough.

Keep aside until it doubles in volume, about one hour.

In a blender blend the chopped basil with the olive oil. In a separate bowl combine the basil oil mixture with the goat cheese and sun dried tomatoes. Keep aside.

Preheat oven to 400 F. Transfer the risen dough to a floured working surface. Using a rolling pin roll it out in a large rectangle about a quarter of an inch thick,

Spread the filling all over the flattened dough leaving a half inch border all around.

Starting from one of the longer sides roll tightly into a roll.

Using a sharp knife cut the roll in half leaving it attached on one side.

Braid the two ropes ensuring the cut edge is facing outwards. Seal the edges together forming a wreath. Brush with milk.

Bake for 20-25 minutes. If the top browns tent with foil and continue to bake for another 15-20 minutes or a tester inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Serve hot.

Beautiful Bread

This challenge was inspired by the design creations of Valentina Zurkan. The end result was intimidating.

I baked a sunflower bread a couple days earlier. It is easier to shape and I wanted to get an idea of how shaping the dough affects the final result. I am glad I did that but I was nervous nevertheless. Surprising, I thoroughly enjoyed playing with the dough and molding it to the desired shape. The house smelt of cinnamon and freshly baked bread. I think I found a new hobby.

The bread was a treat with evening tea. My daughter walked through the door with her nose in the air asking what smelt so good. She even asked if she could take a piece to school for her mid-morning snack.

The recipe was easy to follow but I tweaked it a little. I used mostly bread flour in place of all purpose flour, cut down on the cinnamon and did not drizzle anything on the bread after it was baked.

You will need
For the dough
1/4 cup water
3/4 cup milk
1 large egg
2 oz. butter
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 oz. Fleischmann yeast
2 1/4 cup King Arthur bread flour
1 cup all purpose flour
1/4 tsp. cardamom powder
1/2 tsp. salt

For the topping
2 tbsp. milk
1 tbsp. sugar

Between the layers
2 oz. butter, divided
3 tbsp. cinnamon powder
1/2 cup sugar

Leave the egg and the butter on the counter top at least an hour before you start. Shell the cardamom and pound the seeds to a powder. Mix the water and milk in a bowl and heat in the microwave for about 25 seconds. In a large mixing bowl whisk the egg. Add sugar, softened butter, yeast and the warmed milk and water. Whisk it together. Add the cardamom and salt. Mix in the flour a little at a time. Knead well to form a soft dough.

Oil the bowl, cover it with plastic wrap and let it rise to double its original size.

Flour a working surface and dump the dough on it. Break away a small piece of dough for the center. Divide the rest into four portions.

Roll out the portions to about 9-10 inches. Save a tablespoon of butter and in a small bowl mix the remaining butter, cinnamon powder and sugar to be applied between the layers. Place one of the rolled out portions and spread a third of the cinnamon mixture all over the top.

Place another rolled out portion of dough over the top of the first. Apply half of the remaining cinnamon mixture over it and place the third portion of dough over the top. Apply all of the remaining cinnamon mixture over it. Place the last portion of dough over the top. Brush the top with the butter that was kept aside earlier.

Shape the layers into a circle doing the best you can. The better the circle the prettier the baked bread will look. Using a pizza cutter or a sharp knife cut the four layer thick disc into 8 wedges. Using a knife cut a slit in each of the triangles as shown in the picture.

Take one of the triangles and fold the narrow edge over the top and into the slit.

Pull it from the bottom and spread it out again as shown in the picture.

Repeat for all the triangles.

Grease a baking sheet large enough to hold all the pieces. I used a pizza sheet. Place the triangles on it to form a circle. Retrieve the little ball of dough put aside earlier. Roll it into a thin rope. Starting from one side coil the rope to the end. Place it in the center. Pinch the open ends of the triangles together. Mix the milk and sugar for the topping and brush it liberally over the top.

Let the dough rest for 15 minutes. In the meantime preheat the oven to 450 F. Bake the bread for 5 minutes at this temperature. Reduce the temperature to 390 F. Bakes for about 10-12 minutes. The bottom of the bread should be brown. The top can be covered in foil if it browns too early. Alternately it can be broiled if it does not brown enough.

Let the baked bread rest for 5 minutes on the pan. Transfer to a wire rack and let it cool completely before storing. The bread can be stored at room temperature in an air tight container for 2-3 days.

Baumkuchen (German Tree Cake)

The January 2014 Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Francijn of "Koken in de Brouwerij". She challenged us all to bake layered cakes in the tradition of Baumkuchen (tree cake) and Schichttorte (layered cake).

I had seen pictures of Baumkuchen on the web and my impression was that of a very complex cake too difficult to attempt. Then I found the group Daring Bakers. I liked the concept and decided to join in. January was my first month and Baumkuchen my first challenge with the Daring Bakers. If it had not been for this group I would never have attempted to bake this cake.

Baum Kuchen is German for Tree cake. Just like growth rings on a tree the cake has rings. The authentic Baumkuchen is made on an open spit on a log and truly resembles the tree rings. The version I baked is broiled in layers that can be clearly seen when the cake is sliced.

The batter was easy to prepare. It was the baking process that was very time consuming. I got about 10 layers excluding two layers of apricot jam. Each layers had to be broiled for about a minute and a half. A few seconds over and you risked burning the layer which would ruin the entire cake. But for all the effort the end result was awesome. I was thrilled when I cut into the cake and saw the layers.

Usually the Daring Bakers provide the recipe which the challengers are to follow. However, this month we were supposed to bake a layered cake. It was not mandatory to use the provided recipe. Hence I adapted the recipe from Global Adventures.

You will need
For the batter
6 oz. almond paste (I got it at Whole Foods)
3 tbsp. half and half
6 tbsp. unsalted butter, softened
1/2 sugar
5 eggs
3/4 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 cup cake flour (I used King Arthur unbleached cake flour)
1/4 cup and 2 tbsp. cornstarch

5 oz. apricot preserve

To prepare the batter
Bring all the ingredients to room temperature. Break up the almond paste into pieces and add the half and half to it. Beat it until combined and creamy. Add the butter and beat some more. Add the sugar and beat until frothy. Separate the egg yolks from the egg whites. Keep the egg whites aside. Beat in one egg yolk at a time into the almond mixture. Add the vanilla extract. Sift in the flour and corn starch a little at a time.

In a separate bowl beat the egg whites until they form soft peaks. Fold them into the almond flour batter. Now you are all ready to prepare the cake.

The layering process
Use an 8" springform pan lined on the bottom with parchment paper. Put butter on the pan, place the parchment paper on it and then put some butter on the paper. Once the batter and the pan is ready, set the oven boiler on Low.

Use a 1/4 cup measure to place batter on the parchment paper in the pan. Spread it around evenly with a round pastry brush. Place the pan on the top rack under the broiler. Set the timer for a minute but watch it like a hawk. When the top turns brown take it out of the oven. If needed add another minute under the broiler. I was very surprised to see it done in just over a minute.

Add another layer of batter and spread it around evenly. You have to ensure you are building a level flat cake. Put the pan back in then oven. It took the batter a little over a minute to brown in my oven. You will figure out the time it takes in your oven in a few layers. Continue building the cake one layer at a time until a third of the batter is gone. Put in a layer of apricot jam and broil for about 30 seconds. Add another layer of batter. Continue building the cake adding a layer of apricot jam after every few layers until all the batter is gone. I got two apricot jam layers in this cake.

Take it out of the pan and place on a cooling rack or a parchment sheet. When cool remove the parchment paper and using plastic wrap cover the cake completely. Place a large inverted mixing bowl over it and leave on the counter top overnight.

Cover it with chocolate glaze. I used my own recipe for the chocolate glaze that you will find here. Pour it over the cake and let it dribble over the sides.

Enjoy!