Hackney Chelsea Bun for SHF

We have this thing at work when Friday comes when we treat ourselves to something sweet. It's frequently me who brings the cakes or biscuits (no offense to my colleagues), or who just reminds everyone that it's their turn to do this. I call it the "Friday Treat".

So last month when I discovered SHF on the amazing Foodbeam blog, I wanted to know more. Once i discovered what it was, i thought why not contribute to it?

This month's subject is Spices. Just the sound of it reminds me of my last holiday in India with my sweet boyfriend (who, for the story, became my fiancé during that trip). So many memories and smells that I now associate with spices. An other place I have visited which has become my home 4 years ago is England. This country also has its own heritage when it comes to Spices. As such it didn't take me long to find a recipe for using spices. I thought Chelsea buns could do the trick!

Just to warn you, this recipe takes a little bit of time (about 3 to 4 hours from start to finish) so you have to love England and cakes (and English men!) to find the patience it. Although they may not be perfect the first time, the more you make them the better they'll become.

Makes 12 buns

For the ferment:
1 egg
215ml of warm water
25g of fresh yeast (as default, use dried fast action yeast)
125g of white flour
15g of sugar
For the dough:
400g of white flour
1 pinch of salt
75g of caster sugar
50g of softened butter
Some melted butter for brushing over
Some granulated sugar for sprinkling
Some ground cinnamon and nutmeg
75g of Sultanas (and or currants)

First you have to work on the ferment which is quick and easy.
Mix together the beaten egg with the warm water. Take out about 3 tablespoons of this liquid and mix them to the yeast to create a smooth paste.
Add the remaining liquid and slowly add the flour and the sugar. Stir everything well until you get a smooth batter.
Cover and leave to rise in a warm place for 30 minutes.

Now your ferment is ready to be used, you have to work on the dough. This is, I think, the best part as you'll have to work on the dough using your hands.
In a mixing bowl, sieve the flour and create a well in the middle.
Pour into the well the sugar and slowly the ferment (who should have at least doubled in size).
Stir until the sugar has completely dissolved in the ferment.
Now, little by little draw in the flour and mix vigorously to make a soft dough.
Now it's time to dirty your hands!
Knead in the dough the softened butter (cut into cubes). You want to end up with a smooth, silky dough so you'll have to knead it for a few minutes. Even if this step is rather hard on the arms, I find it therapeutic!
Once you reach the desire consistency, leave the dough to rise for a good 45 minutes.

The final stage.
Knead the dough for few seconds in order to knock out any air bubbles trapped in it.
Roll it out on a flour surface to a rectangle of about 30 x 25cm (these measurements are just given to help you. No need to get your ruler out! Just do as you feel like).
Brush over the dough with the melted butter leaving a little line of about 2 cm on one of the narrowest side. This thin strip must be brushed with water.
Sprinkle some granulated sugar and the spices over the buttered rectangle (you can be generous with the amount of spices you'll sprinkle).
Disperse the sultanas (and/ or currants) over the dough. Same as above, be generous with the sultanas. If you feel 75g is not enough (or too much) adjust at your convenience.
Now is a delicate step.
Roll the dough tightly on itself starting from the opposite end of the water strip (this one will be used to seal the dough at the end).
Press the water strip onto the rolled dough.
Cut the rolled dough in about 12 pieces (2 to 3 cm thick).
Arrange them in a baking dish, cut side uppermost (sultanas facing you) with a little gap between each one (this will give them enough space to rise even more while cooking).
Leave to rise for an other 40 minutes (I told you these little buns take a long time to make).

Preheat the oven (220ºC/ gas mark 7).
Bake the buns for about 15 minutes or until brown.
As soon as they are cooked, sprinkle them with sugar.
Leave to cool down and separate them once they are almost cold.

Yummyaourt questionnaire

Are you looking for my yogurt questionnaire? Don't worry it is still here.
While you're here, feel free to go around my recipes and leave a comment. I'd like to know what you think about Yummyaourt.

Merci!

What's in yogurt?

Have I already talked about my love for yogurts? I am not too sure.

One of the great things about France are supermarkets. I know it may sound strange and doesn't really match my love for local, small shops but supermarkets are great for the yogurt lovers. You know how much French people like their food and how food is almost a "religion" for us. I remember when I was young, one of the highlights of my week was to go to the supermarket with my mum to do the weekly courses (shopping). It always bored her (it still does) but for me it was a great moment especially since I didn't have to pay for anything!

Now when I go back to a French supermarket I have to make my way to their yogurt shelves. Absolutely amazing! For the yogurt lovers, this is heaven! So many choices, types and brands to choose from... mousses, thick, creamy, low fat, flan, fruity, chocolate.......; this page wouldn't fit all of them.

One of the reasons why I love yogurts is simple: they are good for you.
First, they are a great source of Calcium and therefore essential to both children and adults, especially those with Osteoporosis problems. Then, they can be eaten by most lactose-intolerant people. This is because the fermentation process and the cultures used to set the milk into yogurt make the yogurt more digestible than milk.

Natural plain yogurts often have a dominant taste; you know, the one that gives you a strange face, "une grimace" as we would say in French. Without going into to much detail (Wikipedia will explain it better than me), the slight sour taste comes from the fermentation process. Without this step, milk on its own cannot make yogurt. What it needs is the addition of bacteria (cultures) which are usually a minimum of 2 (Streptococcus salivarius and Lactobacillus delbrueckii) (I know they look out if this world so don't bother remembering them! ) Once these funny named cultures are added, the milk is left to ferment under a constant temperature for about 10 hours. During this time the bacteria will release lactic acid which will cause the milk to set and become yogurt. By transforming lactose into lactic acid, the bacteria make yogurt more digestible to those who are lactose-intolerant.

In conclusion, don't be scared of eating yogurt. If you like them plain but you're not a big fan of its sour taste, mix it with jam or honey. If you really love them but are easily bored with what is on the British market, you've got 2 choices:
1. Go to a French supermarket, fill a big refrigerated van with yogurts and bring everything home.
2. Be patient while I experiment and post new yogurt recipes on my blog. Once posted you can have a go at making them.

Save the bees!

More or less everyone knows that honey comes from honeybees but are we all aware that this rich nectar is getting rarer?

The amount of honey produce in the UK (and in the rest of the world) is directly linked to the weather during our Spring and Summer months. So no surprise that this year honey production is pretty small!

The reason why I want to make a small point about honey is first because I love it (on toast, in yogurt or just on my finger!) and because it is so important to the environment.
A few weeks ago I went to the Food and Drink Festival in Ludlow, Shropshire (if you love food, go there next year!). There I learnt a few things about honey which I didn't know before.
To keep it short, we need to love our honey and protect our bees. They are the ones who help pollination between plants and without them who knows what is going to happen to our natural environment?

Unfortunately, on top of scaring some of us they are the victims of several diseases, one of which is raising particular awareness - the Colony Collaspe Disorder (CCD). No one really knows what this is exactly and where it comes from. It is thought it could either come from a mite called Varroa destructor or be due to stress caused by the environment and weather. What is certain is that this years' production of honey is small.

What I want to say is please save our bees! If by any chance you speak to a beekeeper who asks you to sign a petition, do it. Most of them will be about asking DEFRA to put more money into researching this issue. But for the moment, try to find artisanal British honey (or French, if you happen to be in France). And believe me it is much, much nicer than its industrial cousin.

So please, help save our honey!