Articles for the Month of April 2022

Preheat fan forced oven to 170C.

Mix dry ingredients in a large bowl until well combined.

Add cubes of butter and golden syrup into a small saucepan. Heat on medium until the butter is melted.

In a small bowl, mix the bicarb of soda with the boiling water and stir. Add this mix into the saucepan of melted butter and golden syrup. The mix will start to foam and increase in volume. Using a spatula, add this wet mix into the bowl of dry ingredients and stir everything together until well combined.

Make roughly 20 balls of dough from this ‘dough’ (about the size of a heaped tablespoon each). Place each ball evenly across 2-3 baking trays lined with baking paper. Lightly press down on each ball to make a disc. They will continue to spread when they bake so allow a 5cm gap between each disc.

Note: the thicker the disc, the chewier your biscuit will be. The thinner the disc, the crispier it will be.

Bake for 10-11 minutes. Check on them around 9 minutes. These biscuits will be darker than your usual ANZAC biscuit because of the brown sugar. Leave the biscuits to cool on the tray. They will firm up more on cooling so take the trays out of the oven just before your desired level of chew. Garnish biscuits with rosemary the moment they come out of the oven. Their temperature will help release the oils in the rosemary and impart the scent into the biscuits. Sprinkle with sea salt flakes.

Measure out ingredients to make the buns and leave out on the bench top to come to room temperature.

Attach dough hook onto your stand mixer and add the dough ingredients in this order:

Cream

Milk

Egg

Sugar

Cake Flour

Ground Cinnamon

Bread Flour

Yeast

Salt

Turn on your stand mixer and mix on low for 12mins.

Now add in the dried cranberries and mix for another 5mins

Lightly dust the benchtop with bread flour.

Remove the dough from the stand mixer onto your prepared bench and quickly knead with your hands to form a ball. Place this ball of dough (seam side down) into a large lightly oiled bowl.

Cover with cling film and leave in a warm and dark spot to prove for about 1 hour.

Line the bottom of a 29ccm round baking tin with baking paper. Place a small ramekin or heat proof bowl in the centre of the tin.

Weight your dough then divide into 25 evenly weighted pieces of dough (you can divide into 26 if you want the middle hole filled with a bun as well). Cover the pieces of dough with a clean tea towel or cling film while you shape them.

Shape each piece of dough into round balls and place evenly around the baking tin. You should aim for two concentric circles of dough spaced evenly around your ramekin:

9 balls in the inner circle

16 balls in the outer circle

Cover with cling film and leave to prove for another hour (leave the ramekin in the centre of the baking tin. It should stay there until you finish eating all your hot cross buns).

Preheat fan-forced oven to 175C.

Make the Butterscotch Sauce

In a small pot, add cream, sugar and butter. Heat on medium heat until sugar dissolves.

Allow the sauce to simmer for a few minutes before turning off the heat.

Add the vanilla and pinch of salt.

Prepare to Bake

Mix the flour and water together in a small bowl until well combined and you have formed a loose paste.

Transfer to a piping bag/zip lock bag.

Pipe a cross onto each bun.

Bake at 175C for 28 mins or until buns are golden and sound hollow when tapped.

Finishing Touches

Once the buns come out of the oven, give them a shiny glaze by brushing the tops with warm butterscotch sauce.

Pour the remaining warm butterscotch sauce into the ramekin which is in the middle of your baking dish.

Serve warm.

Prepare the Salsa

Depending on the size of your tomatoes, slice them in quarters or eighths. 

Place in a medium mixing bowl.

Add in other ingredients and mix to combine.

Leave aside to allow the flavours to develop.

Prepare the Bruschetta base

Cut the baguettes on the diagonal into slices.

Add minced garlic into the melted butter

Brush each side with melted butter and arrange in single layer on lined baking trays.

Bake in a 160C oven for about 5-10 minutes or until golden.

Turn each piece at the halfway mark and continue to bake so that both sides are golden.

The bake time will change depending the type of baguette you use. Dense sourdough baguettes take less time and light -Vietnamese style baguettes take longer. You basically want a crunchy bread base to hold your topping.

Assembly

Taste the salsa and season if necessary.

This salsa is best eaten at room temperature to get maximum flavour from the tomatoes and avocados.

Spoon salsa on top of prepared bruschetta base.

Top with a grilled prawn (optional).

You can prepare this salsa hours in advance and chill until needed. Bring it out to room temperature and grill the prawns and assemble just before serving.

Mix all ingredients together until well combined. 

Fry up a 1 tsp of this prepared kofta mix and taste for flavour and seasoning. Make any necessary adjustments then refrigerate for at least one hour to firm up. 

Divide mix into 12 portions and shape onto skewers. 

Refrigerate for at least one hour to set. 

Cook koftas on the bbq for maximum flavour, or on the stovetop/grill.

*dried herbs can be used a replacement if you don't have fresh herbs