Soft Bread Rolls

I openly admit that I have become a little evangelical (some may say obsessional) about bread making but this is largely because it is so much simpler than I could have ever imagined! Whilst some of my breads may not look perfect when they emerge from the oven, they always taste delicious and are eagerly gobbled up by my gang. Until recently, I felt that bread making was something that I just could not achieve and that what I produced could never taste as good as the loaves that I bought.

I am so thrilled to have been proved wrong on both these points. I have discovered that it is actually relatively easy to make your own breads at home and that, in fact, they taste so much better than most of the breads you can buy. Furthermore, you also have complete control over the ingredients that are used and can ensure that your bread only contains the things that you want it to. Another aspect of bread making that I particularly like is that it gives you the chance to be quite creative in flavour terms. I love to include fresh herbs, spices, dried fruits, nuts in many of my breads and have been thrilled with some of the flavour combinations that I have discovered. I really feel like a whole new world has opened up to me.

 

My children recently asked me whether I would bake some soft bread rolls for them. Their requirements were quite specific; they wanted bread rolls that were soft, but not too airy and dry; something that you could use to split and stuff a burger into but also something that would taste delicious just simply buttered. After doing a lot of research and trying out a few recipes, this is what I came with. I am absolutely delighted with these bread rolls and how tasty they were.

 

The key to success, courtesy of a tip I picked up from the wonderful Tales from the Kitchen Shed, lies in placing the rolls relatively closely together on a baking tray prior to the final prove. This is because you want them to touch each other during their second rise and as they bake. As you tear the finished rolls apart, the wonderful pillowy soft interior will be revealed. Whilst the rolls should be served after they have cooled, I defy anyone not to have one (or two) still warm from the oven.

 

This recipe makes about 18 rolls and although this may seem like quite a lot, they keep relatively well for a couple of days because they have been enriched with the rapeseed oil. Due to my purist approach to making bread, I mix and knead the dough by hand but feel free to use a sturdy free-standing mixer fitted with bread hooks if you prefer. Finally, to ensure even-sized rolls, I weigh each roll so that they are the same weight before forming them into rolls but if this all seems like too much bother, just do it by eye.

 

Ingredients:

1kg strong white bread flour
15 g fine sea salt
20g fresh yeast

100ml rapeseed or vegetable oil (I use Donegal or Glen Field rapeseed oil)

600ml water
 

Method:

1. Place the bread and sea salt in a large mixing bowl and mix together with your hands. Crumble in the fresh yeast and mix this through as well.
2. Make a well in the centre of the flour mixture and pour in the oil and water. Mix everything together with your hands to form a dough and then tip out on to a clean work-surface. Resist the urge to flour your work-surface and be assured that as you work the dough it will become more manageable and won’t stick to the surface as much. I find a dough scraper invaluable at this stage.
3. Knead the dough for approximately 10 minutes until it is smooth and no longer clinging to your work-surface. Place the dough in a large, lightly greased bowl, cover with cling-film and set aside for 90-100 minutes or until it has doubled in size.

4. Turn out onto a clean work-surface and knock back the dough expelling the air. Divide the dough evenly into 18 portions and form into rolls using your hand in a cupping motion. Place, relatively closely together (a couple of centimetres apart) onto a large baking tray lined with parchment paper and cover loosely with oiled cling-film. Allow to rise for about 50 minutes until doubled in size.

5. While the rolls are rising, preheat your oven to 200C/Fan Oven 180C/Gas Mark 6.

6. When the rolls are ready, place into the preheated oven and bake for approximately 25 minutes until they are golden brown and well risen. Remove from the oven and allow to cool before breaking apart.

Makes 18.
 

Rhubarb & Ginger Almond Tart

This is a variation on the frangipane tart theme and a perfect example of how, once you understand and are confident with a making a basic recipe, it can be adapted to incorporate seasonal ingredients.

Whilst beautifully pink, forced rhubarb is in season during the winter months, common rhubarb is in season now and believe me is growing like a weed in my garden with all the rain we have had recently! Not that I am complaining, because I love rhubarb and look forward to pulling my first few stalks every year.

The tart is topped with fresh rhubarb but a layer of rhubarb & ginger jam is also included under the almond sponge/frangipane. You can leave out the jam if you prefer, but I love the extra flavour kick it gives to the finished tart.

 

This can be baked as one individual tart, as I have done, or you can bake smaller, individual tarts.

 

I am giving my recipe for rhubarb & ginger jam, as it is incredibly tasty and a great way of using up a glut of rhubarb, but you can always use a store-bought version. The recipe that I use is based on one that I came across in BBC Good Food Magazine and which I have been using for years.

 

Rhubarb & Ginger Jam

 

Ingredients:

1kg rhubarb, cleaned, trimmed and chopped into 2-3cm lengths
1kg jam sugar (i.e. with added pectin)

1 lemon, zest and juice

3 balls of stem ginger, finely chopped

5cm piece of ginger, peeled and finely grated

Method:

1. Place 2 or 3 small saucers in the freezer to use later when testing for the setting point of the jam.

2. Place the prepared rhubarb into a large bowl and add the sugar, lemon zest and juice, the stem ginger and grated fresh ginger. Mix everything together and leave aside for 2 or 3 hours until the sugar dissolves into the rhubarb juices.

3. Tip the fruit and juices into a large heavy saucepan or preserving pan and place over a moderate heat. Stir the mixture to make sure all the sugar has dissolves and bring up to the boil.

4. Reduce heat slightly but make sure that the mixture is bubbling away fairly briskly. (Note: you only need to give it an occasional stir at this stage).

5. Allow to bubble away for about 15 minutes or until the fruit is soft and setting point has been reached.  To test for setting point: Drop about ½ teaspoon of the jam onto a cold saucer and leave it for 30 seconds before gently pushing it with your finger tip. The jam will wrinkle if setting point has been reached.

6. Remove the saucepan from the heat and allow the mixture to rest for 5 minutes, before ladling into sterilised jars. Seal immediately.

Makes 4-5 x 450g jars approximately.

 

Rhubarb & Ginger Almond Tart

 

Ingredients:

Pastry:
175g plain flour
50g icing sugar

100g butter, cubed

1 large egg yolk

1tblsp water

Frangipane:

125g butter, softened

125g caster sugar

125g ground almonds

2tblsp plain flour

1tblsp Amaretto (optional)

To finish:

100g rhubarb & ginger jam

5-6 thin stalks of pink rhubarb

50g apricot jam

2tblsp Amaretto (or water)
 

Method:

Pastry:

1. Sieve the flour and icing sugar together into a large mixing bowl. Add the cubed butter and rub into the flour and icing sugar using your fingertips until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.

2. Make a well in the centre and add the egg yolk and water. Mix using a fork until the mixture comes together to form a dough. Turn out on to a lightly floured work-surface and knead briefly. Form into a ball. Wrap in cling-film and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes in order to give the pastry a chance to relax.

Frangipane:

3. Place, the butter and caster sugar into a mixing bowl and, using a hand-held electric mixer, beat together until light and fluffy. Add the ground almonds and mix until fully incorporated. Mix in the eggs and then add the flour and Amaretto and mix these through also. Set aside until required.

To finish:

4. Preheat the oven to 190C/Fan Oven 170C/Gas Mark 5. Roll the pastry out thinly on a clean lightly floured work surface and use to line a 20-23cm round fluted tin with removable base or as I have a used an oblong tranche tin.

5. Spoon the rhubarb and ginger jam onto the pastry and level out so that it covers the pastry in a thin layer.

6. Spoon the frangipane on top of the jam and spread out evenly to the pastry edges.

7. Cut the rhubarb into even lengths and if using a tranche tin, place military fashion on the frangipane. (Alternatively place like the spokes of a wheel, radiating out from the centre if using a circular tin).

8. Bake in the pre-heated oven for 35-40 minutes until golden brown and the frangipane has risen slightly and feels spongy to the touch.

9. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 10 minutes before brushing with some of the apricot glaze.

To glaze:

10. Place the apricot jam and Amaretto (or water) in a small saucepan and heat until just bubbling. Allow to bubble gently for 2 minutes and then strain through a sieve into a small clean bowl. Discard the solids that collect in the sieve.

Brush the glaze on top of the baked tart using a pastry brush. Set aside to cool completely before serving at room temperature.

Serves 8.

Amaretto Cherry Fruitcake

I’ve always had a bit of a soft spot for fruit cakes and bemoan the fact that due to competition from extravagant, ‘glamorous’ cakes they seem to have fallen from popularity. Don’t get me wrong, I love a good layer cake and delight in eating all sorts of iced and frosted creations, but there is something so reassuring and familiar about a fruit cake that you just don’t get with other cakes.

 

This is a light fruit cake flavoured with nothing more than the fruit itself and a generous splash of Amaretto. I am a great fan of Amaretto with its lovely almond flavour and always have a bottle in the house as I think it is an incredibly useful ingredient, particularly in baking. In fact, I recommend soaking the sultanas in a small amount overnight, before baking the cake. This serves two purposes; firstly it plumps up the fruit and makes it more luscious to eat and secondly, it imparts a lovely almond flavour to the fruit and finished cake. Granted, you don’t have to soak the fruit, but it is something that I have got into the habit of doing and which, I find, definitely adds that extra little something! If you don’t have Amaretto, don’t despair, soak the fruit in a little orange juice and use milk in the cake batter instead so that you reach the correct ‘dropping’ consistency.

 

I brushed the finished cake, whilst still warm with a glaze which I made by heating some apricot jam and Amaretto together. Although, this is not absolutely necessary, it does give the cake a lovely shine and further imparts a subtle almond aroma and flavour.

 

To avoid the glacé cherries sinking as the cake bakes, I use the time-honoured trick of washing them first to remove the sticky glaze. I then dry them using some kitchen paper and dust them with a little flour before folding them into the cake batter. I don’t know why this works, but it does and the fruit should be evenly distributed through the baked cake.

 

Ingredients:

Soaking the fruit:
65g sultanas

2tblsp Amaretto (or orange juice)

Cake:

175g butter, softened

175g caster sugar

3 large eggs

210g plain flour

40g self-raising flour

25g ground almonds

25ml Amaretto (or milk)

50g glacé cherries, halved and rinsed to remove syrup and then dried on kitchen paper

½ tblsp plain flour

25g flaked almonds

To glaze:

50g apricot jam

2tblsp Amaretto (or water)
 

Method:

The night before:

1. Place the sultanas and Amaretto in a small bowl, cover and leave aside to give the sultanas a chance to absorb the liqueur.

To bake the cake the following day:

2. Grease and line a 900g loaf tin with some baking parchment and set aside. Preheat oven to 160C/Fan Oven 140C/Gas Mark 3.

3. Place the butter and sugar in a large mixing bowl and using a hand-held electric mixer, beat together until light and fluffy. Add the eggs gradually, mixing well after each addition.

4. Sift the plain and self-raising flours together and fold into the butter mixture, making sure that everything is incorporated. Add the ground almonds and Amaretto (or milk) and mix these through.

5. Dust the dried cherries with a little flour and add these to the cake mixture along with the sultanas which should have absorbed most of the Amaretto they were steeping in.

6. Spoon the mixture into the prepared tin, levelling out the surface and sprinkle over the flaked almonds. Bake in the pre-heated oven for 50-60 minutes or until the cake is golden brown and well-risen and a thin skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.

7. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool in the tin for a few minutes while you make the glaze.

Glaze:

8. Place the apricot jam and Amaretto (or water) in a small saucepan and heat until just bubbling. Allow to bubble gently for 2 minutes and then strain through a sieve into a small clean bowl. Discard the solids that collect in the sieve.

9. Brush the glaze on top of the cake using a pastry brush. Allow to cool for another 10 minutes and then remove the cake from the tin and transfer to a wire-rack to finish cooling completely.

Serves 8-10.