Toffee Apple and Cinnamon Buns

I always admire lovely swirled buns whenever I see them online or in a bakery so I was excited to come across this recipe when I was considering what to make for Calendar Cakes this month as the theme is Bread, Rolls and Buns. I was however a little apprehensive about making them as I thought it might be difficult but it acutally turned out to be a lot easier than I thought!

Toffee and apple is a classic combination and these buns are no exception. They tasted delicious and just as a bun should....they were lovely and soft with a subtle hint of cinnamon. There was also the added bonus of the sticky toffee sauce on the bottom which complemented the apples perfectly. I really enjoyed these buns and would definitely make them again. They look rather unassuming in the photos but I don't think the pictures do them justice!

There were a number of different elements to this recipe but all were simple to do! First up was making the dough which consisted of milk, dried active yeast, golden caster sugar, strong white bread flour and butter. Only 5 minutes of kneading was required.

Whilst the dough was rising I stewed my apples down to a puree (the apples were Braeburns which didn't want to stew down without a fight), made the toffee sauce from butter, golden syrup and soft light brown sugar and finally I mixed up the cinnamon butter (butter, cinnamon and a little golden caster sugar).

The toffee sauce is poured into the bottom of a 23cm tin ready for the buns to be placed on top before baking. I was a little worried about the toffee leaking out of the bottom of the pan so I invested in a Push Pan from Lakeland. I've mentioned Push Pans before and they seem like a really good idea as there is a seal which prevents leakage...and it worked perfectly. The Push Pan would also be great for upside down cakes....I previously had an upside down cake leak and wished then I had one of these!

Once the dough had doubled in size (about an hour and a half) it was gently kneaded for 30 seconds before being rolled/stretched out to 50 x 30cm rectangle...I even had my ruler out! This was then spread with the cinnamon butter followed by the stewed apple before being tightly rolled up starting with the long side. The roll was then cut into 7 and each piece was then placed in the pan on top of the toffee sauce. This was then left to rise again. Finally, the buns were brushed with beaten egg and sprinkled with demerera sugar before baking.

The recipe for these Toffee Apple Buns is from BBC GoodFood and as it's rather long you can follow this link if you'd like to make the buns. The recipe would also be a great starting point for creating your own flavours. If I made these again I might add some sultanas and maybe some sugar nibs on top!

Inspired by Homemade Bread Day on November 17th, these Toffee Apple Cinnamon Buns are my first entry into this month's Calendar Cakes. The theme is Breads, Rolls and Buns. We'd love you take up the challenge, you can find out more here.

 

Hot Cross Buns & Traditional Easter Biscuits

I'm on holiday this week and I seem to have embarked on some sort of bakeathon! With regard to Easter baking I started with egg box mini cupcakes and have now moved on to hot cross buns and traditional Easter biscuits...but this seems to be just the tip of the iceberg...

This is the first time I've made Hot Cross Buns and I have to say I was rather pleased with the results! I used Paul Hollywood's recipe from the BBC GoodFood website. This recipe was quite time consuming as it involved leaving the dough for an hour, then adding the sultanas, leaving for another hour and finally shaping the buns and then leaving for a further hour to prove...so you really need an afternoon to make these. Strangely one of the main ingredients is also finely chopped apple, I guess to keep them moist and add a little more flavour.

The crosses are just a mixture of flour and water with the recipe specifying that a small nozzle should be used to pipe them...on my first batch I used a 2A which is massive, so some of the buns were more cross than anything else. For the ones above I used a much smaller nozzle and hence they look a lot better.

Next up I made some lovely traditional Easter biscuits with currants, mixed peel and spices. Apparently they are often given to guests on Easter Sunday, secured in bundles of three to symbolise the Holy Trinity. Most often, they are also slightly larger than normal biscuits, at up to 10 cm in diameter, however, I kept mine to about 7cm. They taste great with a cup of tea. You can find the recipe below.

The bakeathon continues tomorrow... :-)

Traditional Easter Biscuits

225g unsalted butter
140g caster sugar
1 egg yolk, lightly beaten
280g plain flour
1 tsp mixed spice
pinch of salt
1 tbsp mixed peel
55g currants
1 egg white, lightly beaten

Beat together the sugar and butter until it is light and fluffy, then beat in the egg yolk. Sift in the flour, mixed spice and salt, add the currants and mixed peel and bring together into a dough. Half the dough and wrap each ball in clingfilm before chilling in the fridge for 30-60 minutes.

Whilst the dough is in the fridge heat the oven to 190c/170c fan/gas 5. You should also prepare two baking trays by covering them in baking paper. After the allotted time take the dough out of the fridge and roll it out, if it starts to stick you could roll it out between sheets of baking paper or I know some people like to use clingfilm.

The biscuits should then be cut out using a 6cm fluted cutter...I think I used a 7cm as 6cm seemed a bit small! Place on the baking sheet and make sure they are well spaced. Place in the oven for 7 minutes, then take them out and brush them with egg white and sprinkle with sugar and then bake for an additional 5-8 minutes. The biscuits should be golden when they come out. Leave them on the baking sheet for about 5 minutes before moving to a wire rack.

* Adapted from Baking Heaven Magazine (Spring 2012)

Simnel Muffins

When I started blogging it was with the intention of trying new recipes and being a little more adventurous with my baking. I certainly think it has helped me to achieve this...however, with regard to these simnel muffins, I've made them for the last 4 years in a row and they really are delicious and a firm favourite...so I thought that I'd share them with you!

As the recipe says traditional simnel cake can be a bit too rich - instead, try these light little muffins with a gooey nugget of marzipan baked in the centre. Now I'm not the biggest fan of marzipan but these muffins just taste like they have a soft almond paste inside. They're also beautifully spiced and the fruit is infused in orange juice and the icing has orange juice in too. It all marries together perfectly to give a muffin that will surprise your friends and it will be sure to bring you compliments...have I sold them to you yet? ;-) Why not give them a try...there's still a week until Easter!

Ingredients

250g mixed dried fruit
Zest and juice of one medium orange
175g butter
175g golden caster sugar
3 eggs
300g self-raising flour
1 tsp mixed spice
1/2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
5 tbsp milk
175g marzipan

Icing

200g icing sugar
2 tbsp orange juice
Mini eggs

Put the mixed fruit and orange juice and zest into a bowl, you can then either leave it to soak for an hour or pop it into the microwave for 2 minutes on medium. Heat your oven to 180c/160c fan/gas 4.

Mix the sugar, flour, butter, eggs, milk and spices together in a separate bowl, the mixture should be nice and light and fluffy. This could take around 3-4 minutes. Once you reach this stage stir in the fruit.

Half fill each muffin case with a little mixture and then place a disc of marzipan on top of each. If you want to be really accurate/pedantic each ball of marzipan will be about 14g... but I think 10g could also be sufficient if marzipan is not your favourite. You should roll the marzipan into a ball and then flatten into a disc with your thumb. Make sure your marzipan isn't too close to the top, otherwise you'll end up with a marzipan volcano flowing out as they split asunder! Finally, spoon the remaining cake mixture over the top. Bake for 25-30 minutes...your muffins should be golden in colour.

Once cool you can then add the finishing touch. Mix the icing sugar and orange juice together, it should be a fairly thick consistency. Drizzle over each muffin and then top with a cluster of mini eggs.

* Adapted from 101 Cakes & Bakes (Tried & Tested Recipes) from BBC Books and GoodFood Magazine

Marmalade Loaf Cake

In case you don't already know, this week is the first ever National Marmalade Week (25th Feb- 3rd March), so what better excuse to make this gorgeous marmalade loaf cake. I am also entering this into the March AlphaBakes challenge hosted by Caroline Makes and The More Than Occasional Baker. The letter for this month is 'M', so this marmalade loaf is perfect!

"This delicious preserve was invented in Scotland, in the port of Dundee in the late 18th century when a local victualler, James Keiller discovered a cargo of oranges being sold cheaply. Thinking he could sell it for profit in his shop, he bought the whole cargo, only to discover the oranges were bitter and therefore unsellable.

In despair his wife took them home with the idea of making a jam. The resulting “jam” was hugely successful and was named Marmalade after Marmelos, a Portuguese word for a quince paste similar in texture to the orange spread. Marmalade is still produced today by the Keiller Company in Dundee" (About.com)

There was much Mmmmming from the taste testers upon receipt of their slice, and as one pointed out what's not to like about this cake! It was extremely easy to make, it's really marmaladey, very moist and extremely moreish...this is destined to be a firm favourite, especially when short on time. So in other words, it's highly recommended...delicious!

  

200g self-raising flour

1 tsp mixed spice

100g golden caster sugar

zest 1 orange

zest 1/2 lemon

100g mixed dried fruit

140g butter

5 tsp marmalade

125ml mil

1 tsp white wine vinegar

2 tbsp icing sugar

1 tbsp demerara sugar

Preheat your oven to 160c/140c fan/gas 3.

 

Prepare a loaf tin (2lb) with greaseproof paper. Then take the dry ingredients, flour, caster sugar, mixed spice, zest, dried fruit and a pinch of salt and mix well.

Put the butter and 2 tbsp of marmalade into a saucepan, melt together before adding in the milk. Add this mixture to the dry ingredients, mix well and then add the white wine vinegar and mix again. Pour the mixture into the tin and bake for 1 hour.

With about 10 minutes to go, you need to start on the marmalade glaze. This can be made using 2 tbsp of icing sugar and 2 of water and the final 3 tbsp of marmalade. Bring it to a simmer and let it bubble for a minute or two, it should become thick and syrupy. Finally, remove the cake from the oven and pour the glaze over the top and sprinkle with demerara. Leave to cool in the tin and then enjoy!

* Adapted from BBC GoodFood Magazine (March 2012)

Cake Club: New Year, New You

This Thursday was the second meeting of the Cakes 4 Fun cake club. Unfortunately the first rule of cake club is not to talk about cake club... however, as a baking blogger this could prove rather difficult!

The theme for this month was New Year, New You. I was a little short on time and imagination this month, so my healthy cake consisted of baking with blueberries and using low fat cream cheese! Some of the other cake clubbers were far more imaginative with cakes such as chocolate and courgette, as well as another chocolate cake which was butter and flour free!

My offering was a Blueberry Soured Cream Cake with Cheesecake Frosting, and you can find the recipe here on BBC GoodFood. I discovered a little too late that I didn't have the size of tin specified in the recipe, I only had a larger one. So I baked my cake for less time but it was rather shallow when it came out of the tin. I therefore made a second one exactly the same and sandwiched them together with lemon curd. In order to prevent my blueberries from sinking in the cake, I also washed and floured them... which seemed to work!

Overall, this wasn't a bad cake, a little sweet but certainly tasty! Next month's theme is 'Anything Goes... except Chocolate!'. So if you are around the London area and fancy joining us for cake, wine and chat, then check out the Cakes 4 Fun website.