If you missed Part One of our baking day, you would want to go back. In part one, I posted about making Kouign Amann. A Breton flaky, buttery sweet pastry that I first saw on The Great British Bake Off. Since then, I found a local bakery that makes them, but I rarely can get there before they are gone for the day. So if you missed it, take a look back. But today I will share the savory German roll that Craig made and the sweet, gluten-free breakfast roll that my sister made. Lastly, I will share the shortbreads that I also made that day.
Craig’s Baking Broetchen
(German Bread Rolls)
When Craig said he wanted to join us for our baking day, he said he wanted to bake a savory German dinner roll that he used to make by the hundreds when he worked in the kitchen at a summer camp during his college days. Sounded good to me. Here is the recipe which he found on allrecipes.com. Please go here to print out the recipe.
Ingredients
2 1/4 cups whole wheat flour, or more as needed, divided
Salt, 1 teaspoon
Dried sage, 1 teaspoon
1 cup warm water, divided
Honey, 1 teaspoon
1 (.25 ounce) package quick-rise active dry yeast
2 teaspoons olive oil, divided
1 egg white, beaten
Preparation
- Mix flour, salt, and sage together in a large bowl. Form a well in the center.
- Mix 2 teaspoons warm water, honey, and yeast together in a small bowl.
- Pour mixture into the well without mixing — cover the bowl with a cloth; set in a warm area for 15 minutes.
- Pour the remaining water and 1 teaspoon olive oil into the flour-yeast mixture; stir with a wooden spoon until dough sticks together.
- Cover with a cloth and keep warm. Let rise until doubled in volume, about 1 hour.
- Punch down dough and turn onto a lightly floured surface. Knead until smooth, using the remaining flour as needed. Return to the bowl; cover and let rise until doubled in volume, about 40 minutes.
- Grease a baking sheet with the remaining olive oil; lightly dust with flour.
- Punch down the dough; divide into 12 equal parts. Shape into ovals and cut a cross on top of each roll with a butter knife. Place rolls on the prepared baking sheet.
- Cover with a cloth and let rise until doubled in volume, about 40 minutes. Brush the rolls with egg white.
- Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.
- Bake rolls in the preheated oven until golden, about 15 minutes.
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My Sister is Baking
Gluten-Free Cranberry Walnut Sweet Rolls
Makes 18 rolls.
Ingredients
For the dough
3 cups gluten-free all-purpose flour
1 tbsp instant active dry yeast
1 teaspoon xantham gum
1-1/4 cups whole milk
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup unsalted butter (5 1/3 tablespoons); cut into large pieces; more for greasing the bowl 1/4 teaspoon table salt
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract.
For the filling
1/4 cup of granulated sugar
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
2/3 cup finely chopped dried cranberries
1/2 cup finely chopped walnuts
2 teaspoons finely grated orange zest
1/4 cup or 4 tablespoons of unsalted butter melted.
For the icing
1 cup confectioners sugar
1-1/2 teaspoons fresh orange juice
1-1/2 teaspoons unsalted butter, melted
1 teaspoon of finely grated orange zest.
Preparation
Grease two 8 inch round baking pans with unsalted butter and set aside.
In the bowl of a stand mixer, using a wire whisk; combine 1 cup of the flour, yeast and xanthan gum until well blended; set aside.
In a small saucepan combine the milk, sugar, butter, and salt. Heat over medium-low heat constantly stirring constantly just until the sugar is completely dissolved; the butter is melted, and the temperature of the mixture reads between 120ºF and 130ºF on an instant-read thermometer.
Add to milk mixture to the flour mixture; then add the eggs and vanilla.
Using an electric stand mixer fitted with the flat paddle beater, beat the mixture on the lowest speed for 30 seconds. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl. Using the next highest speed, beat the mixture for 2 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Gradually add remaining two cups of flour and beat until the flour is fully Incorporated. Beat for an additional 2 minutes. The dough will be sticky.
Turn the dough out onto a board moderately dusted with gluten-free all-purpose flour and knead by hand for 1 minute. Shape the dough into a ball and place it in a large greased bowl and turn over to coat all sides of the dough. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a damp towel and let rise in a warm place for 1 hour or until doubled in bulk.
While the dough is rising, make the filling.
In a medium bowl combine the granulated sugar and brown sugar until evenly blended. Stir in the dried cranberries, walnuts and orange zest. Set aside.
Once the dough has doubled in bulk; turn the dough out onto a board or other flat surface; lightly dusted with gluten-free all-purpose flour and knead by hand for 1 minute to remove the large air bubbles. Loosely cover the dough with plastic wrap or a damp towel and let the dough rest for five minutes.
Once rested, on a board or other flat surface, lightly dusted with gluten-free all-purpose flour, roll the sweet roll dough into a 12 by 20-inch rectangle.
Brush the dough with half of the melted butter. Sprinkle the filling evenly over the butter, leaving 1/2 inch border along the long edges of the dough. Drizzle the remaining melted butter over the filling. Starting with one of the long sides roll up the dough jelly-roll style. Pinch the seam together to seal.
Cut the roll into 18 even slices and arrange 9 slices in each prepared pan. Cover the pans with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until the roles are nearly doubled in size about 45 minutes. Meanwhile, heat the oven to 350ºF.
Bake the rolls until they are lightly golden brown and a wooden pick inserted into the dough in the center of the pan comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes. (Be sure to insert the pic into the dough and not into the filling.)
While the rolls are baking, make the icing.
In a medium bowl combine the confectioner’s sugar, orange juice, butter, and orange zest. Beat until smooth and spreadable.
When the rolls are done, immediately invert the pans onto heatproof serving plates and remove the pans. Be careful – the pans and rolls will be very hot. Let cool for 5 to 7 minutes.
Spread or drizzle the icing over the warm rolls. Serve warm.
Download Recipe Here: Gluten-Free Cranberry Walnut Sweet Rolls
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Rick’s Baking Pecan Shorties
and Almond Cardamon Shorties
I had quite a bit of downtime while making the Kouign Amann with several breaks for rising dough and chilling butter. For this reason, I decided that I would attempt another recipe. I made two batches of the shorties because the recipe from this book makes so few. If you want the complete recipe as done on the show you will need to buy the cookbook as I could not find it online anywhere and it is not mine to share. My modified recipe is below.
Ingredients:
Pecan Shorties
75g pecan halves, toasted and rough chopped
250g plain flour
175g unsalted butter – softened
85g icing sugar -sifted
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Almond Cardamon Shorties
75g Almonds, toasted and rough chopped
Cardamon seeds from 10 pods – crushed with mortar/pestle
250g plain flour
175g unsalted butter – softened
85g icing sugar -sifted
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Preparation
- Heat the oven the 350°F. Tip the nuts into a small baking tray and toast in the heated oven for 5-7 minutes until slightly colored. Leave to cool, then roughly chop. Mix with the flour in a large mixing bowl. (If making the Almond Cardamon version add the cardamon here too.) Set aside.
- Put the soft butter in another mixing bowl (or the bowl of a free-standing electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment). Beat with the mixer until the butter is as smooth and creamy as mayonnaise.
- Beat in the icing sugar a tablespoon at a time (use the lowest speed of the mixer). Once all the sugar has been worked in, add the vanilla and beat well for a couple of minutes until the mixture becomes almost white in color, and light and fluffy in texture (about a minute in the mixer).
- Add the flour and nut mixture and stir in with a wooden spoon or plastic spatula to make a firm dough.
- Line a large baking tray with some greaseproof paper. Divide the dough into 20 even sized pieces. Lightly flour your hands and roll each piece into a ball. Set the balls on the lined baking tray, spacing them apart to allow for spreading. Gently squash each ball with your fingers to make a disc about 1cm thick.
- Bake in the heated oven for 14-16 minutes until pale gold in color with slightly darker edges, rotating the baking tray halfway through so the shortbreads bake evenly. Once removed from the oven, set the baking tray on a heatproof surface to allow the shortbreads to firm up for 5 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.
Download Recipe Here: Pecan Shorties and Almond Cardamon Shorties
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That is enough for today.
Cheers,
rick