Cinnamon Buns

Currently my family's most favourite baked good!

My own version of the Brioche recipe from the Thermomix EDC p116.

Ingredients

100g sugar (I used raw sugar)

330g warm milk

2tsp dry yeast

80g butter

650g bakers flour

1tsp salt
1 egg

Cinnamon sprinkle

2/3 cup brown sugar (can use more if desired)

2 tsps of cinnamon (can use more if desired)

Method

Place sugar in TM bowl and pulverise for 3 seconds on speed 9.

Place warm milk (I heat it up in the microwave on high for 1 minute), yeast, butter, flour, salt and egg in TM bowl.  Mix to combine for 10 seconds on speed 7.

Set dial to closed lid position.  Knead for 3 minutes on Interval speed.

Remove dough and let prove for 60 minutes in bowl covered with cling film to double in size. It can be left to prove for longer if you have the time. (I have left it up to 2 hours or even overnight in the fridge.  If left overnight in the fridge it would need at least an hour on the benchtop  to come back to room temperature and to rise to double in size).

After dough has doubled in size, remove from bowl and divide into two.

Take one portion and roll it into a rectangular shape of 3mm thick. (Usually makes a rectangle of about 30cm x 50cm). Sprinkle 1/3 cup of brown sugar evenly over the dough (but leaving 1 to 2cm at the top of one long edge).  Then sprinkle 1tsp cinnamon over the dough. Starting from one long edge roll the dough tightly to the other edge.  Press the dough together at the end to make sure it doesn't unravel.

With a sharp knife cut the dough on the cross section into 2 to 3cm scolls (depending on how fat you want your buns!)  Repeat with remaining portion of dough.

Place the scrolls spaced evenly apart into lined cake tins / oven trays (can do it without the greaseproof paper but just a bit sticky to clean up!) 

Let prove for 30 to 60 minutes to let them double in size.  Again you can leave them to prove longer than this if you have the time (it will make them fluffier!).  

Bake in a hot oven at 200C for approximately 20 minutes until they are golden brown and delicious!

Best eaten whilst warm!

Leftover tip (if there are any!): These freeze really well and are great for lunchbox snacks for the kids.  Just take them out of the freezer and pop them into the lunchbox and they will defrost in time for morning tea. For extra deliciousness at home you can pop them into the microwave for 5 seconds to warm them up a bit and make the brown sugar a bit oozy again! 

Oat Crunch Cookies

Cookbook Adventure #2 - "Cakes and Cookies"

Boulangere Potatoes

Cookbook Adventure #1 - "Du jour"

This cookbook is one of the most stylish in my collection. Gorgeous hardcover with beautiful layouts featuring metallic textured wax paper as dividers and "I wanna lick the page" food photos! The cover page says it all: "easy but glamorous recipes for every occasion".

I wanted to start off easy and this potato recipe caught my eye.  A different take on Potato Au Gratin (good for those who are lactose intolerant or are on a cream-free diet!).


Ingredients
400g royal blue potatoes
2 onions (I reduced this to one onion)
salt and pepper
300g chicken or vegetable stock (I used 1tbsp of the Vegetable Stock Concentrate from the Thermomix EDC p17 with 300g of water)
25g butter (replace with margarine for dairy free)


Method
Cut the potatoes into 2mm slices, keeping the best slices for the top.  Peel, halve and finely slice the onions.  Mix the onions and potatoes together and season with the salt and pepper.  Place in a well-buttered shallow oven-proof dish or roasting tin.  Barely cover with the stock.  Neatly arrange overlapping slices of potato on top.  Add several knobs of butter and place in a hot oven at 200C for about 20 minutes until lightly coloured. Reduce the heat to 170C and allow to cook steadily for about 40 minutes, pressing down the potato firmly from time to time with a fish slice (I only did this once and it still turned out fine).  When ready, all the stock should have been absorbed by the potato (I found it did take about 10 minutes longer for this to happen).

I was tempted to do the American thing and sprinkle it with grated cheese, but glad that I didn't as the kids loved eating the crispy ones on the top!  The slices inside were tasty and moist.  Definitely a recipe to make again!

2011 Cookbook Adventure

I was tidying up my bookshelves the other day and found that I had 80 or more cookbooks (!), none of which I bought myself, and half of which I have never cooked from (the pic to the left is but a small sample!). 

Those who know me, know that I abhor "dust collectors" and a recipe book that isn't being used is nothing more than a dust collector.
So my new year's resolution is to cook at least one thing from one cookbook every week and to the maximum extent possible - using my Thermomix!