Walnut and Raisin scones

One of my first experiments on making scones happened long time ago. I was an ardent fan of Australian

 Women´s weekly and they had a special edition on scones. The photographs were so captivating , that I was tempted to bake a batch of basic scones. Because I was so inexperienced in baking, coming from a South Indian home, i thought that the amount of soda bicarb was so less in the original recipe. I decided that was a typing error (!!) and so I doubled the quantity of soda bicarb. I was so happy when I looked through the oven glass door, to see my scones rising and rising. The moment I opened the oven door, the scones collapsed and went flat on me !

And they tasted awful.

From that day on wards  I learned to trust Australian Women ´s weekly recipes. And trust me, not even a single recipe has ever failed. In fact, till date, the most awesome cakes and pies I ever baked, are from their cook books.

Here is a walnut and raisin scone, which is a modification of basic scones. 

Walnut and raisin scones
sugar - 1 tablespoon
raisins - quarter cup
walnuts, chopped - 1 tablespoon
yogurt - 2 tablespoons
milk- a couple of tablespoons, to knead
sesame seeds - 1 tablespoon
cake flour - 1 cup
baking powder - one and a half teaspoons
butter - 1 tablespoon

Preheat oven to 220 degrees. Sift the flour and baking powder into a bowl. Rub the cold butter in the flour.
Add the sugar, chopped raisins and walnuts and yogurt. Mix to form a soft dough, not sticky. If it is sticky add more flour, if it is tough add milk just enough to form a soft dough.
Roll out on a floured surface to 1 cm thickness. Cut rounds using a cookie cutter ( 5 cm cutter).
Place the rounds on a lightly greased baking sheet. Brush with milk and sprinkle with sesame seeds. Bake for 15 to 25 minutes, checking frequently until well risen and light brown.
Cool, split and serve with jam and cream.
Preheat oven to 220 degrees. Sift the flour and baking powder into a bowl. Rub the cold butter in the flour.
Add the sugar, chopped raisins and walnuts and yogurt. Mix to form a soft dough, not sticky. If it is sticky add more flour, if it is tough add milk just enough to form a soft dough.
Roll out on a floured surface to 1 cm thickness. Cut rounds using a cookie cutter ( 5 cm cutter).
Place the rounds on a lightly greased baking sheet. Brush with milk and sprinkle with sesame seeds. Bake for 15 to 25 minutes, checking frequently until well risen and light brown.
Cool, split and serve with jam and cream.

Spiral Apple Bread

Today I wanted to bake a slightly sweet bread, since I baked the garlic bread rolls yesterday. I had some apples and thought of baking this awesome looking apple bread. You all know that apples go well cinnamon, so I used cinnamon sugar to spice up my bread. Next time, I will try cardamom powder instead of cinnamon, I know from my past experience with cardamom flavored apple pie, that cardamom is an excellent companion to apples, but I am not sure if it will go with the yeasty bread. Any way I have already made up my mind to try for once.

This bread filled my house with the most delicious aroma while it was baking in the oven.. The aroma was so intense that I couldn't wait to try it.But when I took the bread out of the oven, it was so stunning that I didn't want to cut it and spoil the look !!! I used red delicious apple, so it was still crunchy when we tasted the bread. Maybe Granny Smith might have been a better choice .

So here is the recipe.

Flour - 2 to 2 and a half cups
softened butter - 1 teaspoon
yeast - 1 teaspoon
sugar - 1 teaspoon
warm milk- half a cup
salt - half teaspoon
apple - 1
Egg, beaten - 1
1 table spoon sugar mixed with half a teaspoon cinnamon powder

Dissolve yeast in warm milk and add sugar. Keep it aside till frothy.
Rub the butter into the flour in a bowl. Make a well in the centre and add the milk-yeast mixture and half the beaten egg. Reserve the remaining egg.
Using a spatula, gather the flour till it comes together. Dust a work surface with flour and transfer the flour to the surface.
Knead the dough till soft and smooth. Keep in a lightly greased bowl, cover with cling wrap and leave in a warm place till doubled.
Preheat the oven to 200 degrees.
Punch back the dough and knead for a minute. Divide into two and roll each half into a thin circle. cut the circle into 3 cm wide strips.
Slice the apples and mix with the cinnamon sugar.
Take a strip of dough, place a slice of apple and roll it.. Place the roll in the middle of a lightly greased pie dish. Continue using up the strips by arranging them around the first spiral, with slices of apple between the strips.
Once all the strips are used up, brush with the remaining beaten egg and bake for 20 to 30 minutes, checking in between, till golden brown.

Garlic bread rolls

Say garlic bread and my son rushes in to finish it, be it morning, noon or night. He loves garlic bread so much that I bake garlic bread of all shapes and sizes to satisfy him. Well, may be not just for him. Baking bread is as much a passion to me as baking a cake.
There was a time not long ago, that I try to bake bread and ends up disappointed. I will sweat myself out, kneading the dough to satiny soft finish, but will invariably end up in a loaf as heavy as a brick. I was convinced that the bread never comes out soft due to lack to machinery. So with the meagre income I had at the time, I bought a hand mixer with a dough hook and straight away proceeded to knead the dough. To my horror, I watch the hook go still, because a long , unending strand of dough, somehow managed to enter the machine through the space between the hook and the body !! I tried to remove as much dough as possible, but the mixer wouldn't turn on again. I couldn't afford to buy another mixer at that time, so I sadly said good bye to bread baking.
Later I bought the classic bread book by Bernard Clayton and didn't put the book down for days, Though I don't fancy reading cook books without colour photos, I loved this book and till today is my Bible. The same problem followed me here also. Though I had an excellent kitchen processor by now, I was so scared to try the kneading hook !! Instead I started banging the dough with a roller pin. And to my surprise, I got the softest breads ever !!
I use my roller pin on a everyday basis now, because I bake my own bread . It gives me immense satisfaction every time I break a piece of my bread.

Garlic bread rolls

Warm milk - half a cup
yeast - 1 teaspoon
sugar - 1 teaspoon
beaten egg - 1
softened butter - 2 teaspoons
salt - quarter teaspoon
white flour - 1 to one and a half cups
whole meal flour - half a cup

Dissolve the yeast in the warm milk and add sugar. Keep it aside till frothy.
Sift one cup of white flour and the whole meal flour together into a bowl. Replace the husks into the sifted flour.
make a well in the center an add the yeast-milk mixture, one teaspoon of butter and half the beaten egg. Using a spatula, gather the ingredients  till it comes together. Add more milk or flour if needed. Transfer to a floured surface and knead till soft ( I use the rolling pin to beat the hell out of the dough !! ).
Keep the dough in a lightly greased bowl , cover with cling wrap and keep in a warm place till doubled in size.
Preheat the oven to 190 degrees.
Punch down the dough, knead again and roll into a rectangle. Starting from the long side, roll the rectangle to form a cylinder. Then cut the roll, as shown in the photo.

Place the cut pieces on a lightly greased tray. Push the middle of each piece with your finger tip, so that the sides, kind out bulges out. Cover with a moist kitchen towel and keep it aside to rise for about 20 minutes.
Bake in the oven till golden brown. ( about 20 to 30 minutes).
I promise you, you will bake these often.

Fanned Bread Rolls

It was raining almost every evening here in Mexico City for the last one month. And when it rains, along comes bitter cold. Naturally the nights are cold and no one in my family wants to get up from under the duvets. Then I put the bread in the oven and the aroma of baking bread gradually wafts through the house, forcing the bed huggers to get up.
Ever since I have seen photos of fan bread in flickr, I have been waiting to bake some. I searched my recipe books and got this recipe. I have modified the recipe because the original recipe appeared too sweet to my palate. I have changed it to a savoury roll.
The rolls were really soft and when you pull apart the fan slices, you will amazed at the softness of the bread.
We had it with butter and scrambled eggs. Enjoy.

Fanned Bread Rolls

White flour - 2  to 2 and a half cups

yeast - 1 teaspoon

sugar - 2 teaspoons

milk - 1 cup

salt - 1 teaspoon

cold butter -2 tablespoons

softened butter 2 teaspoons

egg - 1 large

mixed herbs - 1 tablespoon

Warm the milk. Dissolve the yeast and sugar in half a cup of warm milk and keep it aside till frothy.

Sift the flour into a bowl and rub the cold butter into the flour, till it resembles bread crumbs. Make a well in the centre and add the beaten egg , salt and the yeast mixture. Knead well for 10 minutes until the dough is soft.

Lightly grease a bowl and place the dough in it. Keep it in a warm place until doubled in size (about one and a half to two hours ).

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees.

Knock back the dough by punching it down and then roll the dough to a rectangle.

Mix the mixed herbs with the softened butter and spread it over the rectangle.

Cut the rectangle to 6 long strips.

Place the strips one on top of the others and then cut the piled strips to 12 equal pieces.

Place the pieces in a 12 hole muffin tin, cut side up. Leave it to rise, for about 30 minutes.

Bake for 20 minutes or until the rolls are golden brown.