Cinnamon pecan sticky buns

Posted: November 17, 2012 | Author: | Filed under: Pastry and Baking, Vegetarian | Tags: , , , | Leave a comment

A big cooking fail, but nevertheless edible. The beasts my lovely coworkers ate them all with great speed and delight. They even thanked me and asked for more….  Will try it again, but unless you find someone that bakes this for you, don’t believe Emma when she claims this is ideal for a lazy Sunday morning. It is actually hard work to put these thinguies together.

Cinnamon pecan sticky buns (adapted from Emma Lewis’ entry in the BBCGoodFood)

Ingredients

For the buns

  • 450g white flour
  • 50g caster sugar
  • 85g butter , cut into small pieces slightly melted
  • 7g sachet dried yeast
  • 2 eggs , beaten
  • 150ml full-fat milk
  • vegetable oil , for greasing

 For the filling

  •  2 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 85g light brown sugar
  • 100g pecans

 For the topping 

  • Melted butter
  • 100g pecans roughly chopped

Method

Heat oven to 180C

Put the flour, sugar and 1 tsp salt in a mixing bowl you can put in the kitchen aid. Add in the butter and mix with your hands until all the butter in incorporated into the flour (it feels like bread crumbs)

Add the yeast and the beaten eggs and mix them with flour.  Finally, pour in the milk and carry on mixing until you get a soft dough

Put in the kitchen aid with dough hook for 7 mins, until the dough is smooth, soft and springy. If you feel brave enough, you do it by hand  – it will take about 15min).

Put the dough into a lightly oiled bowl and  cover with a clean tea towel. Leave in a dark warm place ( about 1 hr or until doubled in size).

While the dough rises, make the filling.  In a food processor put thee cinnamon, sugar and pecans. Buzz in the nuts are finely ground.

When the dough has reached twice its size, punch it until the air bubbles are gone, and then split the dough in two.

Roll and stretch each piece to form a rectangle in a floured kitchen top.

Brush each rectangle with the melted butter and then sprinkle half the filling mixture. Press into the dough, using the rolling pin if necessary. Tightly roll each rectangle up from one of the long ends to get a thick log, then pinch the ends together to seal. Cut each log into 8 pieces.

Place the rolls on the tray, leaving a gap of at least 2cm around each roll. Brush again with butter and sprinkle the chopped pecans. Cover with a tea towel and leave to rest for about 30min  in a warm place for about 30 mins.

Bake for 30 mins until the buns are lightly browned and feel firm.

Carrot ginger soup

Posted: November 10, 2012 | Author: | Filed under: Soup, Vegetarian | Tags: , , | 1 Comment

 

Apparently, my first chemical overexposure was to β-carotene. If legend is true, I convinced one of my Aunties to fed me with so many carrots I become orange, much to parents dismay. Unfortunately, I can no longer ask my  Auntie whether this might have been slightly exaggerated for dramatic effects or indeed this was the beginning of a delictive career… In any case, the truth is that I love my carrots. Specially, if they come in the form of  a colorful, light and soothing soup.

Carrot ginger soup 

Ingredients

  • 2  kg of onions, peeled and sliced
  • 5 medium sized  yellow  yellow onion roughly chopped (about 1 kg)
  • 2 large thumbs of  fresh ginger, peeled and grated
  • about 1 liter of  chicken stock (or water)
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • olive oil or butter as needed (enough to cover the bottom of the pan with a thick film)

Method

1. Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. When is pipping hot, toss in the onion and generous pinch of salt and pepper. Let cook stirring occasionally, until soft (about 10min)

2. Add the carrots and the grated ginger and let them sweat for about 20min, until soft and fragrant

3. Add enough stock to cover the vegetables and increase the heat to medium-high to bring to a boil. Then reduce the heat to low, cover the pan, and let simmer until the carrots are very tender. It will take about 45 minutes.

3. Remove the pan from the heat and using a hand held mixer , puree the soup. (if you prefer a smoother texture, strain the pure  through a sieve)

4. Bring the soup to the heat, add another spoon of olive oil and check for salt. Let simmer for about 15min.

5. If you wish, add  some nutmeg.