Blueberries & Cherries...

I love all the fruits we're seeing in stores during summer ... especially cherries, ever since I learned this interesting new technique to pit them I've been addicted to pitting cherries for pies, cakes, and even just freezing batches for future goodies.

Here is a bit of baking that I've done over the last week...

Blueberry boy baits - see Smitten Kitchen for recipe here (leftover edges turned into biscotti! Baked on 160 F in the oven until crisp and dry), Polish fruit buns called Jagodzianki and also a batch of roasted cherry brownies from last week's cherry sundae.

Jagodzianki (see recipe + video here courtesy of the lovely Ania's kitchen)

Dough:

2 cups of white all purpose flour

1/3 cup of white granulated sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp of pure vanilla extract

Pinch of salt

1/2 cup of lukewarm milk

1 1/2 tsp of instant yeast

2 tbs of white all purpose flour

2 tbs of white granulated sugar

1/4 cup of melted butter

Filling:

2 cups of blueberries (I did 1 cup of each blueberry and pitted cherries and divided the remaining ingredients for both)

1/3 cup of sugar

2 tbs of flour

Topping:

1 beaten egg

2 tbs of sugar

In a small mixing bowl add milk, 2 tbs of sugar, 2 tbs of flour and

yeast. Mix until well combined. Set aside to start foaming. ( around

20 minutes)

In to the bowl of your stand mixer add all the ingredients for the

dough except melted butter. Add yeast mixture and mix with a paddle

attachment until all is well combined. Add melted butter and mix for

another couple of minutes.

Spray with oil and cover with a kitchen towel. Let rise until doubled

in size ( around 2 hours).

Mix your blueberries with sugar and flour.

Sprinkle the dough with a little bit of flour and knead with a dough

attachment until the dough is smooth and elastic. (around 5 minutes).

Transfer the dough on to your working surface sprinkled with some

flour. Knead it few more times and then roll into 0.5 cm thick

square. Cut squares around 5 to 7 cm in size.

Fold around 1 tbs of blueberries in to the dough squares forming nice

buns. Place them on the baking sheet covered with parchment paper

leaving them space to rise. Spray with non-stick spray.

Let them rise for about 20 minutes.

Paint with beaten egg and sprinkle with some sugar.

Bake in preheated oven to 180 degree Celsius for 20 minutes.


Roasted Cherries:

Pitted cherries roasted in the oven on 425 F for 30 minutes. Add a squeeze of lime, lime zest and a drop of balsamic vinegar and some water. Stir from time to time.

Cooled and mixed into the batter of my favourite brownie recipe.

My favourite brownie recipe

3/4 cup vegetable oil (or sunflower)

1 1/2 cup white sugar

1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

3 eggs

3/4 cup all purpose flour

1/3 cup cocoa plus 3 tbsp

1/4 tsp baking powder plus 1/8 tsp

1/4 tsp salt plus 1/8 tsp salt

3/4 cups chopped walnuts (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). If using a glass pan put oven on 325 F.

(Grease a 8x8 inch baking pan.)

2. In a medium bowl, mix together the oil, sugar, and vanilla. Beat in eggs. Combine flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt; gradually stir into the egg mixture until well blended. Stir in walnuts, if desired. Spread the batter evenly into the prepared pan.

3. Bake for 30-40 minutes (this is just approximate time so keep an eye out!) or until the brownie begins to pull away from edges of pan.

Let cool on a wire rack before cutting into squares or frosting/glazing it.

A nice ganache topping with a sprinkling of salt makes this brownie just a bit more special!

(recipe adapted from Allrecipes.com Mmm-Mmm Better brownies)

Hot Cross bun day

Sunday is hot cross buns day! Here's a lovely recipe - super easy and perfect results yielding a fluffy delicious bun.

Hot Cross Buns (recipe from Tablespoon)

2 ¼ tsp active dry yeast

3 to 3 ½ cups unbleached all-purpose flour

4 tbsp butter, softened

¾ cup warm milk (100º)

¼ cup sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp cinnamon

½ tsp nutmeg

4 tsp all-spice

1 tsp salt

1 cup raisins (or half cup raisins and half a cup dried black currants)

1 tbsp lemon zest

Egg wash (1 egg whisked with 1 tsp water)

Glaze (1 tsp milk and 3-4 tbsp powdered sugar)

Directions:

Heat milk to 100º F and dissolve yeast in milk for 10 minutes, until mixture is foamy.

Meanwhile, mix 3 cups of flour, sugar, spices, zest and salt in a stand mixer.

Add yeast mixture and mix until combine. Add eggs one at a time until combined. Add softened butter.


Mix with dough hook attachment until dough is smooth and elastic. Add remaining flour if dough is too sticky. Kneed dough by hand and mix in dried fruit).

Shape dough into a ball and place in a lightly greased bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise until doubled, about 2 hours.

Punch down risen dough and divide into 12 equal pieces, rolling each piece into a ball.

Place dough pieces on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet about 1-inch apart. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise another two hours.

Preheat oven to 375º.

Remove plastic wrap from buns and score the tops of each bun with a cross shape, about ¼-inch deep. Brush the tops with egg wash and bake for 15 minutes or until deep golden brown.

Allow to cool completely before drizzling a cross shape with glaze on the tops of each bun.

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For more fun foodie holidays check out this awesome site that I've been following for over a year now! Foodimentary