Pistachio Fudge Bars

Not sure if any of you can tell, but I’ve been a bit down with the pistachio bug lately. It’s almost unhealthy. A few mornings ago, I was relishing one of my favourite, unbeatable toast combinations: homemade pistachio butter, honey and coarse sea salt. Curiosity arose from this delicious ritual, and I researched recipes with the dominant theme of pistachio (and other random facts, such as how these guys have a 14% saturated fat content, and a chemical named aflatoxin may be found in poorly harvested kernels. Did you know that the pistachio tree can survive in 50C weather? Anyways). I decided, the toast fiend that I am, to kick the current bar/brownie game up a notch.

Anything, my friend, can be turned into bars.

I can see how this recipe may come across as inaccessible. It’s true, the main component of these bars is pistachio butter, but I insist that you try making the stuff at home. It’s like bread. Make a loaf at home and you’ll never turn back to the packaged stuff. I’m lucky enough to have a supply of this divine concoction at home, since my mum occasionally makes a batch, and what you essentially do goes as follows: you roast a large batch of pistachios (around 200g is enough for this recipe, and you will have quite a bit leftover, which is perfect!), skin the babies, and grind for a good while in a food processor or other professional grinding device (cough a blender cough) with sugar and salt to taste. If any of you have experience making any sort of nut butter, then you know that the procedure is simple and completely worth it. This nut butter will make all your mornings golden and glimmering. It makes Skippy cower in fear.

The little air bubbles you see are thanks to a bout of carelessness; I recommend dropping the pan containing the batter before actually baking it, in order to rid your batter of excess air bubbles. Yes, mistakes are abound in this one woman kitchen.

This is a pistachio fudge bar. ‘Fudge’ because of its texture and prominent pistachio flavour. Dense, squidgy, with a slight chew around the edges, the pistachio offering an earthy, naturally sweet touch. I topped it with a simple dark chocolate drizzle to highlight these notes and add a chimerical flair to the otherwise plain pistachio base.

Pistachio Fudge Bars (makes 16 in an 8×8-inch pan)

70g all-purpose flour

2 eggs

113g (half a cup, or one stick) melted, unsalted butter

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

120g (around half a cup) pistachio butter

190g light brown sugar

half a teaspoon of salt

Preheat your oven to 177C (350F). Grease and line an 8×8-inch baking pan and set aside. In a large bowl and with a wooden spoon, mix together the pistachio butter and sugar. The mix should look clumpy, but will come together after a few seconds of mixing (see above). Add the melted butter, eggs and vanilla extract. Mix until smooth. The mix should be sticky and easily drop off your spoon. Add your flour and salt, and mix until combined. That’s it! That’s all there is to it. Pour the sticky gloop into your greased and lined pan, and drop the pan onto your counter a few times to get rid of any air bubbles. Pop it into the oven for 18-20 minutes. My batch was done after 18, so check it at this point. A wooden skewer inserted into the middle should come out dry, but the presence of little clingy crumbs at the tip are fine.

Let the pan cool on a cooling rack. Meanwhile, melt 70g of milk/dark chocolate in the microwave, using 20 seconds bursts and mixing in between, to prevent the chocolate burning and causing an unnecessary temper explosion in the kitchen. Put the melted chocolate into a small ziploc bag. Once the bars are cool, snip the tip off one of the two corners of the ziploc bag and drizzle the chocolate all over the cooled bars. Slice the batch into 16 equal pieces. These bars can be kept at room temperature for up to 3 days. Store remaining in the fridge and reheat whenever necessary, or store them in the fridge after the bars have cooled, if you wish.

Posted on April 2, 2015February 21, 2022 by alexcrumb 0

Chelsea Date Buns

So I have just a few weird habits.

1. Occasionally listening to Phil Collins and Westlife late at night when nothing else seems to appeal to my senses as much.

2. Burning toast on purpose.

3. Eating properly burnt toast with a knife and fork.

And lately, it’s been trying to perfect a specific recipe which is both nutritious and spectacularly delicious– a date lemon glaze!

But more on that a little later. I’ll get to the real meat (or should I say, crumb) of the whole situation first. I’ve been wanting to make chelsea buns for a while now, after coming across Paul Hollywood’s (anyone else here a massive Great British Bakeoff fan?) recipe online. It all seemed simple enough. I modified it a little, using a different proportion of dried fruit, as well as dates, and softened instead of melted butter for the filling. Chelsea buns are traditionally flavoured with lemon zest, cinnamon and dried fruit, but I incorporated the lemon more so in the glaze rather than the actual dough. If you’re giving this a shot, there’s no harm going all traditional as well.

I’ll tell you now– this dough is a dream to work with. Probably the best ‘roll dough’ I’ve worked with in quite a while, and kneading was a pleasure even in this 38C weather. Is it just me or has it been extra sauna-like here recently? Once baked, the bun itself is soft, white and fluffy, though not as buttery as a brioche cinnamon bun or something of the sort. It’s a little headier, denser, but nevertheless upholding a tender, moist crumb. Those punch marks made my knuckles feel like they were in heaven, by the way.

You can use any sort of dried fruit here, but I knew dates might be a little different given their soft, squidgy, texture, and I didn’t want anything too sickly sweet either. I was rather afraid of creating a mess of melting dates, but that fear was quickly replaced with hope ad excitement because it’s just these dates, not the cranberries or apricots (top), that, when mixed with the brown sugar, butter and cinnamon, created the most glorious soft, caramelised inner filling. The bottoms were dripping with toffee-hued, sweet goodness. So yes, dates were a terrific idea, a sublime encounter.

Pretty much a date caramel, now that I’m sitting here recalling its texture and taste. All it is is dates, hot water, and a squeeze of lemon. Oh wait, and just a touch of cream. My my, it’s healthy (??). These chelsea buns aside, it can also be drizzled on fruit and whipped cream, or ice cream. Quite versatile, so easy and forgiving.

Chelsea Date Buns with a Date Lemon Glaze (makes 10-12)

For the dough:

500g white all-purpose flour

7g instant yeast

3/4-1 tsp fine salt

300ml milk of choice (I used whole)

45g unsalted butter, melted in the microwave

1 egg

For the filling:

30g unsalted butter, at room temperature

2 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

80g brown sugar

170g dried fruit (I used a mixture of dried apricots, dried cranberry, and chopped, pitted dates)

For the date lemon glaze:

10 dates, pitted (I used medjool)

juice of half a lemon

250ml hot or boiling water

1 tbsp heavy cream

Make the dough. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour and salt, then add the yeast on one side of the bowl. In a medium bowl, mix the melted butter and milk together. Add this milk-butter mix to the flour-yeast mix, then crack in the egg, and mix everything together with a wooden spoon, or in a mixer if you’re using one.

Flour your work surface and turn out the dough. Sprinkle a little more flour on top. Knead the dough for a good 5-10 minutes, until it’s no longer sticky and it looks smooth, pale and elastic. After kneading, put the dough back into the large bowl, cover with cling film or a damp cloth and leave to rise until it has visibly doubled in size, around 60-90 minutes. Grease two baking sheets and set these aside. Preheat your oven to 190C.

Whilst waiting, make the filling. In a medium bowl, mix the cinnamon, sugar and dried fruit together. Take the butter out so it can soften to room temperature during this period. After the dough has proven, lightly flour your work surface and tip it out. Lightly punch down on the dough, and with a floured rolling pin, roll the dough into a rectangle roughly 12×8 inches. Using a pastry brush, brush the softened butter all over, leaving a small border round the edges. Sprinkle on the mix of cinnamon, sugar and dried fruit. Roll the dough starting with the long side, so you end up with a 12-inch log. With a serrated knife, cut off the jagged ends (if you have any), then cut the log into 12 rolls. You may have more or less, but you should end up with 12 1-inch thick rolls. Put the rolls swirl side down on the baking pans, with a little space between each one. Cover the rolls with a piece of aluminium to prevent the tops from burning, then pop in the oven (you can do one baking sheet at a time) and bake for 18-22 minutes. Mine were perfect after 20.

Make the date lemon glaze. Take your dates and put them in the hot water, then add the lemon juice. Let this mix rest for 15 minutes. After waiting, put them in a blender (I have a Vitamix, so I used that), and blend for a full minute. The mix would look like it has already been fully blended after around 15 seconds, but don’t stop here. The dates thicken the glaze once they fully break down, and this only occurs a few seconds later. So don’t stop blending. Once a minute is up, pour the glaze into a bowl. It should be smooth, almost lump-free, and golden-brown. At this point, add the tablespoon of heavy cream.

Once the buns are baked, let rest on the baking pan and a cooling rack for half an hour. Drizzle the buns liberally with the date lemon glaze and, if you wish, top with slivered almonds.

Posted on March 26, 2015February 21, 2022 by alexcrumb 0

Mini Orange Layer Cakes With Blackberry Lavender Buttercream

I’ve learnt a few things in the past few days. Firstly, it is actually impossible for me to do a tripod headstand. I’m sure this is a familiar term for all you yogis out there. I’ve been practicing yoga for years (to be fair, not so much during the later years of high school) and I still haven’t mastered it. It bothers me to no end.

Secondly, 1984 is almost blowing my mind. Not the literal 80s, of course, but Orwell’s magnum opus. I’m almost done and can’t wait to get my hands on Animal Farm. Sadly, I’m pretty slow with the classics.

Thirdly, right about this time of year, I feel completely and utterly at ease. Yet, I’m perfectly aware of the fact that way, way too much suffering is going on in the world to be ignored. Everyday I go about my business– practicing yoga, journalling, a little revision for my future course here and there, baking (what’s new!), fretting about hair and makeup… And all around me, bombs are dropped, little ones suffer, the clocks stop ticking for thousands, millions. With all the privileges that surround me, it’s easy to take things for granted. To continue living in a bubble of selfishness and oblivion. I just hope most people in the world are more.. aware. That’s all. Me included.

I shall now proceed to wax lyrical about my favourite (orange) cake recipe in the world. And that says something because I’ve made a fair bit of cake in my lifetime.

Oranges, oranges. I initially thought lemon, but lemon and blackberry is already a kill-me-classic, and with fresh, sweet oranges in the pantry, what’s there to fear? The citrus note of the cake using these was indeed milder, yet the flavour and goodness of that pulp and zest did all the talking. It still feels odd to have so much free time with the holidays in full bloom. Experimentation takes flight all the time, anywhere. Ideas flying left, right and centre. If I’m not thinking about what biology/biochem or fiction book to buy next, I’m recipe brainstorming, and goodness does it feel good. I was dying to sculpt mini layer cakes, because they’re the epitome of simple, refined, easy bakes. The blackberry lavender buttercream sandwiched between three layers of incredibly light, orange sponge adds aesthetic and textural oomph. The sweetness hits the palate just before you enjoy the moist and tender cake crumb. It truly is one of my favourite cake recipes.

You added actual blackberries…? With the… seeds?

Alright, that part is optional. Though most recipes state the addition of blackberry puree sans all the gritty bits, I personally prefer the addition of the seeds for added flavour and texture. Combined with the dried lavender, each bite is like pink fairy dust. Pink and purple aren’t exactly up there on my list of favourite colours (which actually just comprise black and burgundy), but the saccharine delicacy of each little cake is irresistible. I had to adjust the initial buttercream recipe because it yielded too thin a consistency. It all worked out pretty well in the end. If anything, I might just add a touch more tang, be it salt or cream cheese, to the buttercream.

Mini Orange Layer Cakes With Blackberry Lavender Buttercream (makes around 4 mini 3-layer cakes)

For the cake:

188g (1.5 cups) all-purpose flour

3/4 tablespoon baking powder

large pinch of salt

113g (half a cup) of soft, unsalted butter

225g (1 cup) sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

zest of one small or medium-sized orange

160ml (2/3 cup) whole milk

50ml freshly squeezed orange juice

For the blackberry lavender buttercream:

226g (one cup) unsalted butter at room temperature

500 grams icing sugar

1 tbsp vanilla extract

large pinch of salt

1-2 tablespoons of dried lavender (optional)

55g fresh or frozen blackberries (around half a cup)

Preheat your oven to 177C (350F) and grease a 7×9-inch (or 8×8-inch) baking pan. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. In a larger bowl and with either a normal or electrical whisk, beat the butter and sugar for at least a couple of minutes, until light and fluffy. Beat in the zest of the orange, 2 eggs, and vanilla extract. Add a third of the flour mix, stir briefly with a spatula (no need to fully incorporate), then add half of the milk. Fold in briefly again. Add another third, the rest of the milk and the orange juice. Fold in briefly for a few seconds, before adding the rest of the flour. Mix until just combined. That part is so important, for there is a fine line between tender crumb and dull, dense, bleh. Don’t forget to scrape down the sides of the bowl and make sure the flour at the very bottom is well incorporated.

Pour the batter into the pan and bake in the preheated oven for 19-22 minutes. Put 21 to be safe (that’s how long it took mine). While you wait, make the buttercream.

In a large bowl and with an electrical whisk, beat the butter until it looks lighter and, well, fluffier. Add half of the icing sugar and vanilla, and beat. Take your blackberries and microwave on high for around 20 seconds, until you can see the juices seeping out and they are easy to mash. Mash them with a fork. Add to the mixing bowl, together with the remaining icing sugar. Beat until all is well combined. If you wish, fold in the dried lavender with a spatula. Place most of the buttercream in a piping bag fitted with whatever tip you like. Leave all the buttercream in the fridge for later use.

Assembly:

Once the cake is done, remove from the oven. It should be light brown and ever so slightly domed on top. Let cool in the pan on a wire rack. It will take at least half an hour to fully cool.

Once cool, take a 3-inch round cutter (or scallop-edged, up to you) and cut out little circles. Remove the buttercream from the fridge to let it warm up a little. Save the cake scraps for your family, before you eat everything yourself. You should get around 6-7 little circles, around 2 inches thick. Using a serrated knife, cut each little cake in half horizontally so you end up with two thinner cake discs. Pipe a circle of buttercream on the centre of one half, and press down with the other half. Pipe another circle on this half and then take a half from another cake and press down on that, so you end up with a mini 3-layer cake, each layer around 1 inch thick. Using a normal or palette knife, smear the sides and top with buttercream (reserved from the bowl) for make the crumb coat. Leave the cakes in the fridge to set and firm up for at least 2 hours, or overnight.

Take your piping bag and pipe more buttercream on top, then sprinkle with extra dried lavender.

Ah, life’s a playground.

Posted on March 18, 2015February 21, 2022 by alexcrumb 3

Chocolate Cinnamon Challah

I get all jittery and excited when attempting something new, although instinct forces me to revert to the safety net, a quantum of familiarity. Challah was one of those ideas which I wrestled with in my head. I wanted to feel good about turning it into something like french toast/ some flavoured version/lay on the stuffing options, please, that kind of thing. I came across a recipe for double chocolate chip challah quite a while ago but stuffed it in the back of my mental archives; I’m always timid when it comes to doing something old and traditional justice. The first attempt yielded too dry a texture (second photo below), though the taste and crumb itself wasn’t too far off the mark because the cocoa and decent amount of sugar incorporated into the batter made it more flavourful than expected. One does love surprises. So I adjusted the oil quantity to bump up the moisture, took it easy on the flour.

If you wish, you can attempt a chocolate gradient version– to each of the sections in the braid, you can add different quantities of cocoa, then adjust the remaining flour quantity from there. Who wouldn’t hit that stuff with a good knob of butter and honey? Please tell me, do.

Chocolate Cinnamon Challah (makes one large or 2 small loaves)

600g all-purpose flour

12.5g active dry yeast (1.5 tbsp)

300ml warm water

1 tsp white sugar

35g cocoa powder (Hershey’s Special Dark works wonderfully here)

2 eggs

170g sugar

1 tsp salt

1 tbsp cinnamon

2 tsp vanilla extract

65ml vegetable oil

1 egg (for the egg wash)

pearl sugar (for sprinkling before baking)

In a small bowl, mix together the yeast, sugar and water. Wait 6-10 minutes for the yeast to activate, forming a thick layer of light brown foam on top.

Weigh out the flour and cocoa and put the two in separate bowls. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together 200g of the flour (a little more than 1.5 cups), the salt, sugar and cinnamon. Once the yeast has foamed up, add it to the flour mix and stir in briefly using a wooden spoon. Then, mix in the vanilla extract, eggs and vegetable oil. Add 125g of the remaining flour and stir into the dough. If using a mixer, switch to the dough hook attachment, but otherwise make like Simpleton Alex and use a wooden spoon or your hands to incorporate the flour. At this point, the dough will still be a little wet and shaggy. Almost limp.

Take the dough and roughly divide it into three. I just used my hands and eyes to guesstimate here. If you’re feeling very scientific, you may use a weighing scale for precision. Put each dough third into separate medium bowls (re-use your mixing bowl for one of them). To one of the dough thirds, add half the cocoa powder, a tablespoon at a time, and 60g of flour, give or take. I needed 60g but you might need a little more of less. I say a tablespoon at a time because it really depends how dark you wish to go with your bread. Do the same for another third. To the remaining third of dough, add the rest of the flour, though you might not need all of it. All thirds should have a similar texture after kneading for around 5-10 minutes– smooth, elastic, with a little bounce when you press its surface. Let the dough thirds rise in their individual bowls (greased first) for 2-3 hours.

Preheat the oven to 177C (350F). Remove the dough thirds, which should have at least doubled in size, from the bowls and place them on your work surface. Roll each to at least 12 inches or more in length. If you’re making 2 smaller loaves, divide each in half first before braiding. Press the tops together and start braiding like how you would do with your hair. Left over middle, right over middle, you get the gist. Once you reach the tails, brush the loaf (or loaves) with one beaten egg, and sprinkle with pearl sugar. Let rise for an hour, before baking in the preheated oven. The challah should feel fluffy to the touch, still retaining that bounce. Bake for 25-30 minutes. I took mine out at 17 minutes and it was perfect by then. The top of the chocolate part should be dark and shiny, and the plain part of the braid will be golden-brown. Mmm.

Freeze this loaf and slice whenever you want. It reheats wonderfully in the microwave! 20 seconds straight out the freezer to return to room temperature, then toast for maximum pleasure. Butter and jam/honey. Life is sweet like chocolate and cinnamon.

Posted on March 16, 2015February 21, 2022 by alexcrumb 1

Banana Bread Pancakes

Processed with VSCOcam with f2 preset — topped with pistachio butter, ripe banana, strawberries and maple syrup

The world has invented a myriad different types of pancakes. You get thick and fluffy, thin and fluffy, thick and dense with sparse holes for maximum stodge factor in each bite, crepes (if you’re talking all English, that is)… And you get pancakes which are basically hybrids between cake and fluff. Like this. I termed it banana bread because that’s the first thing which popped into my head when I took my first bite, warm and fresh off the stove. It tastes like the stuff– thick, bread-like without being dense or packed, tender and fluffy. Look at how thick each one is! Solid yet soft, like fat lazy men (was that a bit too much? Oops). Gives way to the fork as it glides easily down the stack. The best thing? You can whip up a whole load of these and freeze them for more pleasure in the following days of the week.

Banana Bread Pancakes (makes around 10, adapted from here)

170g all-purpose or whole wheat flour (I used whole wheat here)

2 tsp baking powder

1 tbsp brown sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1.4 tsp ground nutmeg

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 tablespoon honey

2 mashed, ripe medium bananas (or 3 small, or 1.5 large)

1 cup whole milk (or buttermilk if you have that on hand)

45g melted butter (a little more than 3 tablespoons), cooled to room temperature

In a large bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients– flour, baking powder, brown sugar, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the milk, melted butter, egg, vanilla, honey and mashed banana. Add this mix to the dry mix and, using a spatula, fold until just combined. Which means there will be lumps. It won’t be smooth and that’s what you want.

Butter a pan or griddle on low-medium heat. If the heat’s too high, the bottom will brown too quickly but the insides will remain raw. Using a quarter cup measurement, dollop on the batter and spread into circles or whatever shape you like, because it’s too thick to spread freely by itself. Wait to see a few little bubbles come to the surface, around 1-2 minutes, before flipping and waiting for another 30 seconds or so. The second side always takes a shorter time. If serving for many people, put the ones you’ve cooked in a heated oven, until all the batter is used up. If not, just set aside a few for yourself and put the cooked ones on a kitchen towel to absorb excess moisture.

Top with whatever you want, be it butter and maple syrup, or fruit, nut butter and honey/maple syrup (my personal favourite combination).

Posted on March 12, 2015February 21, 2022 by alexcrumb 5

alexcrumb

recipes, catering, creativity

alexcrumb

Tag: baking

Pistachio Fudge Bars

Chelsea Date Buns

Mini Orange Layer Cakes With Blackberry Lavender Buttercream

Chocolate Cinnamon Challah

Banana Bread Pancakes