Calendar Cakes Round Up - November

Welcome to this November's Calendar Cakes round up. This month it was a bit more challenging with the theme being Bread, Buns and Rolls...but I have to say that our bakers excelled themselves wth all manner of beautiful breads, bountiful buns and ravishing rolls!

 

Quick off the mark this month was my co-host Rachel from Dolly Bakes. These were her first attempt at Hot Cross Buns...and I think you'll agree she did a grand job.

Next up my offering of Toffee Apple and Cinnamon Buns. I've had my eye on these for a while and I finally got round to making them...they were really tasty and there's a gorgeous caramel layer lurking underneath the buns you can see in the picture.

An adventurous bake next from How to Eat an Elephant who brings us Chocolate and Cherry Bagels which turned out perfectly. Bagels are definitely on my 'to-bake' list after watching the GBBO this year...and I hope they turn out as well as these...and what a gorgeous flavour combination.

Our next entry is winging it's way all the way from Austria. The Charmed Cupcake produces some gorgeous bakes and this is no exception...it's a Danish Chocolate Streusel-Swirled Coffee Cake. Despite the name this is more of a bread as it contains yeast. A slice of this of a morning would certainly set you off on the right foot for the day!

Laura from How to Cook Good Food brought us her Dark Chocolate Plaited Prune Loaf. Laura is a keen advocate of homemade bread and even attended a course to hone her skills. This loaf is particularly splendid as it's plaited which gives it that great appearance.

Another fabulous plaited loaf next...this one is from Lottie at Lottie's World of Cakes and Bakes. It's a Paul Hollywood recipe and there's eight strands in total. This loaf was inspired by the challenge from the recent GBBO episode...and I think Lottie's loaf certainly wouldn't look out of place on the series.

Choclette from Chocolate Log Blog entered these wonderful chocolate cinnamon rolls. The recipe is from Green and Black's second chocolate recipe book...Ultimate. Chocolate is just the thing to jazz up a cinnamon roll and I can only imagine that these would taste heavenly straight out the oven!

Having only made one bread product previously I went crazy this month and made two within a few weeks of each other. I wanted to make something chocolately as the We Should Cocoa challenge this month was also (chocolately) bread. So I decided to make these chocolate brioche rolls, inspired by a visit to a Parisian boulangerie!

This luscious looking loaf is from Karen at Lavender and Lovage. This is Lincolnshire Plum Loaf with the recipe being randomly selected from England’s Heritage Food and Cooking Book, Karen then combined it with another recipe she had lurking on a scrap of paper...and the happy result was this festive loaf.

Apparently Bara Brith is Welsh for speckled bread which I didn't know before reading about this Welsh speciality on Food Glorious Food. It certainly looks good and perfect with a cup of tea.

How about a Spiced Chocolate Breakfast Loaf from Jen at Blue Kitchen Bakes. Another tasty breakfast treat and this one would certainly give you a kick in the morning as it contains chilli powder! Jen also added some wholemeal flour and to achieve the swirl the dough is rolled before being popped in the tin.

Caroline from Caroline Makes was very brave and attempted pain au chocolat in her breadmaker... and what a fab job...they turned out really well.

Ros at the More than Occasional Baker made this fab Apple Cinnamon Chocolate Braid. Ros has never made bread before but she conquered her fear to make this great bake. It's a lovely combination of apple, cinnamon and chocolate and you can see how she braided it on her blog.

Next up we have another spicy entry from Liv a Little Bakery...Jalapeno Cheese Bread. As Liv says "This cheesy bread has a fiery kick and be warned it will leave you craving a second slice!". This is an unusual loaf but it's sure to be a winner. 

Helen from @HudsonBakery has just started a baking business and she made us these Pear, Gorgonzola & Walnut breads. They look fab...and I bet they'd be divine warm with that melted cheese...yum!

Thanks once again for all your lovely bakes...and keep your eyes peeled for the December Calendar Cakes theme...which will be announced on Saturday 1st December. Happy Baking! :-)

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.