Holiday Bakes Archives - I camp in my kitchen

Eggless Mocha Oats Loaf | Whole Wheat Tea-Time Loaf | Chocolate & Oats Loaf Cake

Priya_Srinivasan — Wed, 10 Dec 2025 19:16:28 +0000

Delicious and healthy Oats and Chocolate Loaf recipe. Perfectly moist, mocha flavored, loaded with oats. A wholesome loaf, perfect for breakfast, tea-time or a guilt-free dessert.

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Raisin Scones - Daring Baker's Challenge, January 2012

Priya_Srinivasan — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 15:12:00 +0000

Its been a long time since i attempted Daring Baker's Challenge. This New year onwards i m planning to try it every month. This Month in DB we were Challenged by Audax from Audax Artifex to Bake Basic Scones She gave us a whole lot of information on Scones, and a number of choices to bake from. I chose to bake a Raisin Scones with a Combination of Wheat and All Purpose Flour. They Came out so Beautifully, We enjoyed them warm with a blob of Cherry Jam.

Ingredients

½ cup All
Purpose flour

½ Cup Whole
Wheat Flour

¼ Cup Raisins

1 tablespoon Sugar

2 teaspoons baking
powder

¼ teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons frozen
grated butter

Approximately
½ cup cold milk

Optional 1
tablespoon milk, for glazing the tops of the scones

Method

Preheat oven to very hot 240°C
Triple sift the dry ingredients into a large bowl.
Rub the frozen grated butter into the dry ingredients until it resembles
very coarse bread crumbs
Add Raisins and Sugar and Combine well.
Add nearly all of the milk at once into the flour mixture
and mix until it just forms a sticky dough The wetter the dough the lighter the
scones (biscuits) will be!

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface, lightly
flour the top of the dough and knead very gently about 4 or 5 times (do not
press too firmly) the dough until it is smooth
Pat or roll out the dough to form squares or wedges as you
desire. I rolled it out as a ½ inch thick Circle and cut out 8 wedges using a
biscuit cutter.
Place the rounds just touching on a baking dish if you
wish to have soft-sided scones or place the rounds spaced widely apart on the
baking dish if you wish to have crisp-sided scones. Glaze the tops with milk if
you want a golden color
Bake in the preheated very hot oven for about 10 minutes
until the scones are well risen and are lightly colored on the tops. The
scones are ready when the sides are set.
Immediately
place onto cooling rack to stop the cooking process, serve while still warm
with Some Jam Preserve.

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Whole Wheat Savory Kugelhopf - We Knead to Bake#7

Priya_Srinivasan — Sun, 24 Nov 2013 05:06:00 +0000

We Knead to bake, an bread baking group, kick-started by Aparna of My Diverse Kitchen. We are going to complete one year and it means we have learnt to bake 12 new breads this year!!! Wohooo!! that is some achievement, that too for someone who had a bad relationship with yeast!!!! 🙂 It was all in the past now, yeast is like my good friend now, we can get along anytime for a cup of tea/coffee!!! 😉
Kugelhopf is a yeasted sweet cake well known in the Alsace region of France, as well as in Germany, Switzerland, and Austria, and variations of this are also found in some countries of Eastern Europe. There are many stories surrounding this bread, it will be reaaly long posst!!! The most commonly told story about the Kugelhopf is that Marie Antoinette (the same lady of the "let them eat cake" fame!) brought it from her home country Austria, to France upon her marriage to King Louis XVI.

Since it is a yeasted cake, the Kugelhopf has a dense bread-like texture and is made from a somewhat enriched dough like brioche but is not as rich. It is considered similar to a coffee cake that might be eaten for or with breakfast, or could be part of an afternoon snack with coffee.
Aparna chose to bake the lesser known version of the Kugelhopf its savoury Alsatian version called the Kugelhopf aux Lardons. “Lardons” is the French word for bacon, and this version is typically made with onions, ham/ bacon, walnuts and herbs. I made the vegetarian version of the Kugelhopf using carrots, corn and tomatoes along with cheddar cheese. Feel free to use any combination of veggies and don't forget the cheese!!!!

Ingredients

1.5 Cups of Whole Wheat flour + ¼ Cup extra (for dusting and kneading)

1 teaspoon instant yeast

½ teaspoon salt (or to taste)

50gm butter, at room temperature

¼ Cup + 2 tablespoon milk

¼ Cup Yogurt (replacing 1 egg)

½ teaspoon oil

Stuffing (Savory Ingredients)

1 small onion, chopped

1 small tomato, chopped

1 small carrot, chopped

2 tablespoon corn, i used frozen

¼ teaspoon red chili powder

½ teaspoon coriander powder

¼ cup of Cheddar cheese, chopped into cubes

2 tablespoon of melon seeds

Method

Take flour, yeast, and salt in a bowl. Mix well to combine. Then add butter, a little at a time, mix well.
Add the warm milk, yogurt and knead to a soft and sticky dough. Knead some more, adding flour(from the extra ¼ up), a little at a time and just enough till the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl. Do not be tempted to add more flour than absolutely necessary.

Your dough will be very soft, elastic and just short of sticky. Transfer the dough to an oiled bowl, cover and let it rise until double in volume. This can take from 1 ½ hours to 2 ½
In the meanwhile, heat ½ a teaspoon oil in a pan. Add the chopped onion, tomatoes and the spice powders, saute till the rawness disappears. Next add chopped carrots and corn mix well to combine with the added spices. Let it sit on the stove for 5-8 minutes. Remove and keep aside.
Grease an 6" kugelhopf mould or bundt pan well especially around the centre (or whatever pan/ tin you plan to use). I used a 6"bundt pan. Place some melon seeds in the bottom of the mould/pan.

Once the dough has risen, deflate it. Then flatten the dough out and spread the stuffing over the surface, fold the dough over and then knead it. This will ensure a more uniform incorporation of the "filling". The dough will be a bit sticky, so use a scraper to help you with the kneading. Do not add more flour!
Roll the dough into a longish log, long enough to fit into the mould comfortably. Lift the "log" of dough and place it in the mould in a circular fashion and pinch the two ends together to close the "circle" of dough. Cover and let the dough rise for about an hour or so, until it reaches the edge/ rim of the mould.

Bake the Kugelhopf at 200C (400F) Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees for about 35 to 40 minutes until the top is golden brown and sounds hollow when it is tapped.
Unmould the Kugelhopf and let it cool on a rack. Slice and serve . Makes a perfect Brunch or Lunch with a hearty salad and warm soup.
We enjoyed it as such as a snack and i packed some for my hubby breakfast too and kuttu's lunchbox.

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM#34

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Fougasse - Sweet bread with Orange-blossom water and Orange zest

Priya_Srinivasan — Mon, 26 Jan 2015 12:11:00 +0000

Fougasse is a flat bread from the region of Provence in Southern France, though you can find regional variations across the country. Fougasse can be either sweet or savoury and is somewhat similar to the Italian Focaccia. Traditionally this sweet version of the leaf-shaped bread was one of the 13 desserts served after Midnight Mass on Christmas eve, signifying the 13 participants at the Last Supper.
An essential component of this meal, the Fougasse (pompe a l'huile), a sweet bread made of olive oil and flavored with orange flower water and citrus zest.It should be torn apart when served, in the same way Christ broke the bread, and not cut with a knife, as they believe that the latter incurs bad luck during the coming year.
While searching for the recipe, i came across lot of varieties of this artistic bread. Rosemary and olive savory fougasse is the most popular among-st that list and they are such a treat to eyes too. Since i didn't fresh rosemary or olives in hand and also not sure how the taste would be welcomed at home, i tried my hands with this traditional sweet fougasse flavored with anise seeds and orange-blossom water. We loved the taste, i made 3 loaves, 1 vanished right from the oven. One loaf i have freezed for later use. if you plan to freeze, just cling-wrap it tightly and wrap again with aluminium foil and put it in a zip-loc with the date marked on.

Source : epicurious
Video for shaping the fougasse
Ingredients

For starter

1 teaspoon sugar

½ cup warm water

2 teaspoons instant yeast

½ cup Wheat flour

For dough

1.5 Cups All Purpose flour

1.5 Cups Bread Flour

2 tablespoon sugar

1 &¼ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon anise seeds or fennel seeds, lightly crushed

⅔ cup water

2 tsp orange-flower water or orange juice

1 teaspoon finely grated fresh orange zest

⅓ cup extra-virgin olive oil + 1 tablespoon for brushing

1 ½ teaspoons flaky or coarse sea salt

Method

Make starter/Biga/Ferment

I used my food processor to make the dough so made the starter in the processor bowl itself and left it until ready tomake the dough. If kneading by hand, use a large bowl, that can hold about 4 cups of flour.
Take flour, sugar, yeast and pulse twice to mix well. Add water and mix well with a spatula. Leave it untouched for 45 minutes.
Since the bread used a starter, i have used wheat flour, as wheat flour gives better textured bread with a biga/ferment. You can very well make the ferment/biga with all purpose flour also.

Make dough

Take crushed anise/fennel seeds, olive oil, orange zest, orange-flower water in a bowl, add water to this and mix well. Add sugar, salt and half the flour to starter along with the liquid and beat at medium speed until smooth. Mix in remaining flour, ½ cup at a time, at low speed until a soft dough forms.
Knead for around 5-8 minutes to get a smooth and elastic dough. If kneading by hand you need to knead for around 10 minutes. The dough will still be sticky to touch but wouldn't stick to the surface.
Form the dough into a ball and transfer to a lightly oiled large bowl, turning dough to coat with oil. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let dough rise in a draft-free place at warm room temperature until doubled in volume for about 1 to 1.5 hours.

After the required time, take the dough out of the bowl and transfer it to a well-floured surface. Punch down dough, do not knead it. Divide the dough into 2 equal parts. I divided one half of the dough into two equal parts. So, totally i had one half and 2 quarter parts of the dough.
Pat out each half into an oval (about 12 inches long and ¼ inch thick), then transfer to 2 lightly oiled large baking sheets.
Using a very sharp knife, make a cut down center of each oval "leaf," cutting all the way through to baking sheet and leaving a 1-inch border on each end of cut. Make 3 shorter diagonal cuts on each side of original cut, leaving a 1-inch border on each end of cuts, to create the look of leaf veins (do not connect cuts). Gently pull apart cuts about 1 ½ inches with your fingers. Let dough stand, uncovered, until slightly puffed, about 30 minutes.

The cuts should be wide, since they tend to close while resting. The trick is to make the cuts and lift the dough by the corners to widen the cuts and lay them on the baking sheet. Watch this video for shaping the fougasse.
Preheat the oven to 180C. Brush the loaves with olive oil and sprinkle sea salt and bake for around 30-40 minutes or until golden brown. Transfer the loaves to cooling rack and serve warm.

Sending this to Bake Fest #39, happening @ +Cooks Joy's space.

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM#45

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Estonian Kringle/Russian Rose Bread/Braided Cinnamon Wreath #BreadBakers

Priya_Srinivasan — Tue, 13 Dec 2016 08:00:00 +0000

I m baking an yeast bread almost after 6 months, for someone who was in huge love with yeast and bakes every week, this was a sad record😞. After coming back for vacation in September, i just didn't my mojo to bake with yeast. I literally pushed myself to give a title for this month's bread bakers so that, i will kick myself and bake. Finally, i did and feel so relieved😊that i broke the ice with my lovely friend Yeast.

This month's host Stacy wanted us to bake a sweetened yeast bread that sounds festive. I wanted to bake this Kringle for a long time, i originally bookmarked it for the last week of the Baking Marathon happening here, But then, i happily advanced the schedule and made this fabulous looking bread for #BreadBakers.

Estonian Kringle, a Sweet yeasted dough filled with cinnamon and sugar filling, braided and baked to perfection. It originally looks like rose, but i wanted it to look like a wreath, so i just placed a piece of dough, cut from the corners of the rolled log in the centre of the wreath so, it doesn't puff up and close the gap. If not, the dough will beautifully puff up while baking, like a rose. The bread can also be baked with a savory filling, if you don't have a sweet tooth. But, Isn't it Festive season? a season of love, cheer and happiness, that is filled with sweet smell of cinnamon, vanilla, candied fruits, ginger, nutmeg and everything good. So, go on and bake this sweet bread, and let me know how you liked it!!!

Ingredients
1 cup of Whole Wheat flour
1 & ¼ cup of All purpose flour
2 & ¼ teaspoon instant yeast
3 tablespoon sugar
2 tablespoon butter
1 cup milk
¼ teaspoon salt

Filling
1.5 tablespoon cinnamom powder
4 tablespoon sugar
4 tablespoon butter

Method

I used my food processor for making the dough. The dough can also be hand-kneaded. Take both the flours, yeast, sugar , salt in the food processor jar. Pulse twice for the ingredients to mix well.
Take milk in a saucepan and just boil it to get hot, no need to boil, take it off the stove. Add butter to the hot milk.
Add this Milk-butter to the flour mix and start kneading a soft dough. The dough will be super soft, slightly sticky to touch, It will come easily off the processor bowl.

Remove the dough from the processor bowl. Knead well. place it in a well-oiled bpwl, Let it sit covered for an hour, for the dough to double.
While the dough is resting, mix together the ingredients given under filling in a small bowl and set aside. Preheat the oven to 200C
Once it doubles, remove the dough to a well-floured working surface. Knead the dough couple of times, roll it into a rectangle of 12x16.
Spread the filling well on the rolled out dough, leaving an inch around the corners. Now, roll the dough into a tight log. Cut off the corners using a serrated knife, to get an even-edge on the log.
Cut the log lengthwise into two, using a sharp serrated knife. Keeping the inner layers seen on top, start braiding the two lengths of dough, bring together the edges and tuck it beneath to form a wreath. Transfer the wreath to a parchment-lined baking tray. I stuffed the edges i cut off the log, in the middle of the kringle, so it bakes like wreath, with a gap in the center.

Brush the top with the remaining cinnamon-butter mix. Bake in a preheated oven for about 30-40 minutes or until the top turns golden brown.

Remove from the oven, let it cool for sometime on a wire-rack. Serve it warm with some dusted sugar on top.

#BreadBakers is a group of bread loving bakers who get together once a month to bake bread with a common ingredient or theme. Follow our Pinterest board right here. Links are also updated each month on this home page.We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme/ingredient.

Here is a list of Sweet Breads to make your baking choices easy!!!!

American-Style Panettone from Passion Kneaded

Apple Cinnamon Rolls from Sizzling Tastebuds

Beehive Bread from Sara's Tasty Buds

Candied Fruit Sweet Rolls from Cindy's Recipes and Writings

Chestnut Roll Wreath from Food Above Gold

Chocolate Cherry Brioche Buns from Baking Sense

Chocolate Swirl Babka from Cook's Hideout

Cranberry Orange Breakfast Braid from Kylee Cooks

Cranberry Sweet Rolls from Food Lust People Love

Cranberry, Pistachio, and White Chocolate Panettone from A Baker's House

Estonian Kringle from I Camp in my Kitchen

Finnish Nissua Bread from Gayathri's Cook Spot

Fruit & Nut Sourdough from What Smells So Good?

Ginger Orange Stollen from Spiceroots

Holiday Wreath with Sweet Nut Filling from Hostess At Heart

Indian Inspired Holiday Wreath from Herbivore Cucina

Julekake from A Shaggy Dough Story

Kugelhopffrom Ambrosia

Marzipan Stollen from Palatable Pastime

St. Lucia Buns from Karen's Kitchen Stories

Stollen Bread from Sneha's Recipe

Sweet Milk Dinner Rolls from A Day in the Life on the Farm

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Eggless Chocolate chips Challah - Fire up your Oven, Day 4

Priya_Srinivasan — Sat, 04 Apr 2015 03:54:00 +0000

Challah, braided jewish holiday bread, is in my baking list for a long time now. Actually i made them once for a baking group challenge, but couldn't post since i didn't take pictures of the bread. When i was looking for a twisted bread for my theme for this week baking marathon, i came across this round challah, that looks like turban/head gear. Round challah or Turban Challah is typically made on Rosh Hashanah, Jewish New year,meaning head of the year. It is said that it signifies the cycle of year, that has no beginning or end. They are baked with raisins and brushed on top with honey to signify a sweet new year.

I immediately decided to make these turban for the last day of Week 1. I checked Pavani's recipe for Whole Wheat Challah and have modified the recipe to get a sweet challah. To make it rich, i added chocolate chips and almond flakes. This bread fits the bill of a dessert too. If needed, serve it with a dusting of sugar or sweetened cream cheese to make it more rich and royal.

Source : Cook's Hideout

Ingredients

2 Cups Bread flour

1.5 Cups Whole Wheat flour (i used Qfm brand)

½ Cup Milk Powder

2 teaspoon yeast

½ teaspoon salt

½ cup sugar (i used raw sugar)

¼ cup oil

1 cup luke warm water.

2 tablespoon Egg replacement powder mixed with 6tbsp water (Replacing 2 eggs, ½ cup yogurt can also be used)

½ cup mini chocolate chips

½ cup almond flakes

3 tablespoon cream for brushing the top

Method

I used my food processor to make the dough, the dough can also be hand-kneaded. Mix the Egg replacement powder with water and keep aside until use.
Take both the flour, milk powder, yeast, sugar and salt in the processor bowl. Run at a low speed for a minute for the contents to mix well.
Now add the egg replacement powder and slowly add the lukewarm water and start kneading the dough. Add oil, after adding the water and knead to get a dough. The dough would be sticky.

Remove the dough from the bowl, take it to the kneading surface, sprinkle flour and knead for 2-3 minutes to get soft, smooth dough.Place the dough in a well-oiled bowl and let it rest in a warm place for an hour or until it is double in size.
After an hour or after it has doubled in size, take the dough to the kneading surface. Punch it to remove the excess air. Roughly stretch the dough to make a rectangle, add the almonds and chocolate chips to the center of the rectangle, bring the edges together and knead a couple of times for the chips and flakes to mix with dough evenly.

Divide the dough into 9 or 10 equal pieces. I divided into 9 pieces and got 3 round challah and 1 3-strand braid. If you divide into 10 pieces then you can make 5 round challah.

Roll each portion into a long strand of 10-12 inches long. To make a round challah, take 2 strands, join one edge of the strand with the other edge and braid both the strands together to form a rope and seal the edges. Now, coil this rope inwards to form a ball and tuck the edge under the ball to form a round challah.

Repeat the same with rest of the dough portion. I made 3 round challah's and one 3-strand braid. Let the challah rest for 40 minutes, towards last leg of the second rise, preheat your oven to 180C. Brush the challah's generously with cream, Bake them for around 25-30 minutes or until golden brown on top.

Remove from the oven to a wire rack. Cool completely, cut and serve.I served them as such for breakfast. It tastes delicious when served warm with a blob of butter on top.

With this we are coming to an of Twist and roll theme in this Mega Marathon, will catch you next week with yet another delicious theme.

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM# 51

An InLinkz Link-up

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Nutella Star Bread (Eggless) - Fire up your Oven - Day 3

Priya_Srinivasan — Thu, 02 Apr 2015 15:30:00 +0000

On the day 3, i bring you a fun bread. A beautifully shaped bread that can be a center of attraction on a party table. I would definitely say it will be great hit in a Kid's party. Coz it is Nutella and it is shaped to look like a star. The dough is an amazingly soft dough, you would love to work with such a soft dough. The only process is rolling it, rolling, rolling and rolling. Since i made 2 star's, i rolled out 8 portions of dough!!!

When i bookmarked to make this bread, i first thought of make my own Hazelnut spread or a chocolate peanut butter, but then couldn't find time to make, though i had roasted hazelnuts right in front of me in the kitchen, i kept popping one or two nuts whenever the thought crosses my mind, so it eventually reduced in quantity and i had to use it as topping in some other cake!!!

Nevertheless, i bought a jar of Nutella after a very long time, just to make this bread and i didn't regret it!! It was an awesome bake, loved it totally. Any leftover bread can be refrigerated for a 3-4 days, if storing more better freeze (a month or two) it. If serving from refrigerator, warm it for 20 seconds and serve, if from freezer, Wrap it in an aluminium foil, bake @ 180 C for 10 minutes and serve warm.

Source : The bread kitchen
Ingredients
500 grams bread flour (approximately 3.5 cups to 4 cups)
190 ml lukewarm milk
3 tablespoon sugar
4 tablespoon melted butter
½ cup yogurt + a generous pinch of baking soda
Grated zest of a lemon
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon instant yeast

For the filling
200 grams Nutella
2 tablespoon milk + 1 tablespoon oil for a glaze
Icing sugar (Optional, i didn't use)

Method

I used my food processor to make the dough, the dough can be hand kneaded also. Take the yogurt in a separate bowl, add baking soda and keep aside for it become a bit bubbly. The warm milk, add butter, let it melt a bit. Though it won't melt altogether.
Take flour, yeast, sugar, salt, lemon zest together in the food processor bowl. Run in slow speed for a minute for all the ingredients to mix well. Add the soda+curd to the flour mix and slowly add butter& milk mixture and start kneading the dough. Knead around 4-5 minutes to get a smooth, soft dough. Itis an easy to make dough, will be amazingly soft. If kneading by hands, knead around 10 minutes to get a soft dough. Keep the dough in a well-oiled bowl, cover it with a kitchen towel and leave it a warm place to rise for an hour or until it doubles in size.
Once it doubles in size, punch it down to release the excess air, knead for a minute, divide the dough into two parts. See you can either make one big flower or make 2 cute flowers(not very small). I decided to make two. After dividing the dough into two. Keep one portion covered. Work with one part at a time. Divide that portion into 4 portions.

I used a rolling mat, if using the kitchen surface, dust it with flour. Take one portion roll it into circle of about 20-22 cm in diameter. you have to roll all the 4 portions of the dough to this size. Keep them covered with a kitchen towel, and work fast, don't go check what is happening in FB!!!

Once rolled, Take a baking tray, lay it with parchment paper, Place one rolled out dough on the tray, spread nutella generously on it, cover it with another circle of dough, spread nutella again. Top it with another circle of dough, spread nutella again on it and now cover it with the last circle of dough.

Now comes the fun part. Take a sharp, serrated knife, keep a round bowl and keep it in the center I used 3 cm bowl in the center, it keeps teh center intact while cut and fold the rest of the dough. Watch this video for shaping

Now cut the dough as shown in the picture above. First into 4 (like a plus), Do not touch the center/bowl portion. Now make two more cuts in each quarter. Hope the picture helps.

Now take two adjacent portions and twist and roll for the layers to show up and seal the edges to form a petal.Repeat this process for all the segments.
Do not forget the second portion of the dough kept covered. REepat the same with that poriton too. Let the flowers rest for an hour. Preheat the oven to 180C. Brush the flowers generously with milk-oil mix. ake it for around 20-25 minutes or until golden brown on top.

Once done, remove from oven to a wire rack, brush generously with butter. Let it cool slightly, dust with powdered sugar(optional) and ask you friends/family to dive in!!!

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM# 51

An InLinkz Link-up

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St.Lucia buns/Lussekatter/ Swedeish Saffron Buns

Priya_Srinivasan — Tue, 24 Mar 2015 14:49:00 +0000

Last week of BM#50, i chose Bookmarked theme. As a food blogger when you see recipes on other blogs or find an interesting recipe in a book or an online magazine, you tend to immediately bookmark it, thanks to Bookmarks icon on the browser, what would we to, without it, ahh!!!
So, with that icon comes, the problem of ever growing list of bookmarked recipes, that are waiting to be tried and tested. So, whenever there is this theme in our regular BM, i try to take it do some justice to that never ending list.

Ok, a little story about St.lucia's day. St Lucia was a young Christian girl who was martyred, killed for her faith, in 304AD. There are lot of stories that exist around this St.Lucia day. One among-st is she would secretly bring food to the persecuted Christians in Rome, who lived in hiding under the city. She would wear candles on her head so she had both her hands free to carry things. December 13th was also the Winter Solstice, the shortest day of the year, in the old 'Julian' Calendar and a pagan festival of lights in Sweden was turned into St. Lucia's Day.
St. Lucia's Day is now celebrated by a girl dressing in a white dress with a red sash round her waist and a crown of candles on her head. The crown is made of Lingonberry branches which are evergreen and symbolise new life in winter. A popular food eaten at St. Lucia's day are 'Lussekatts', St Lucia's day buns flavored with saffron and dotted with raisins which are eaten for breakfast. Info Courtesy : Christmas in Sweden

These buns today were bookmarked for last year September Marathon of International Cuisine, and was in my drafts for a long time now, so here it is seeing the publish button.

Source Simplyrecipes

Ingredients

1 cup milk

½ teaspoon saffron threads

⅓ cup granulated sugar

2 and ¼ teaspoon instant yeast

4 Cups Bread flour (Original recipe used All Purpose flour)

½ teaspoon salt

1 heaped teaspoon of cardamom powder

¼ cup unsalted butter

½ cup hung curd + 1 teaspoon lemon juice (Original recipe used sour cream)

Raisins for studding the buns

For Glaze

2 tablespoon milk + 1 tablespoon oil

Method

In a small saucepan, heat the milk, saffron, together until the milk is steamy. Remove from heat and stir to dissolve the sugar. To this hot but not boiling milk, add butter and let it sit until it is warm enough to touch or add yeast.
I made a mistake of adding saffron after adding butter, it stayed on top and didn't infuse well with the milk. So my buns didn't have that deep saffron orange-ish color. So, first add saffron threads and then add butter.
I used my food processor to knead my dough, you can also hand knead the dough. Take the flour, yeast, salt, sugar, cardamom powder in to the processor bowl and pulse 2 or 3 times to mix well. Now slowly add the warm milk to the flour-mix and start kneading a soft dough.

Add the hung curd and lemon juice to the dough mix and knead until you get a smooth and soft dough. The dough will be little soft, little sticky to touch, but will come easily off the bowl. If hand kneading knead the dough for around 7-8 minutes until u get a soft dough. If hand kneading start with 3.5 cups of flour and add the rest of the ½ cup flour slowly, while kneading to soft dough.
Shape the dough into a ball and place in a large bowl. Cover with plastic wrap. Let it sit for 60-90 minutes, or until it is doubled in size. The dough can be refrigerated overnight also.

Once doubled, punch down the dough, and knead a couple of times. Divide the dough, into 10 portions. I have tried to make 3 different shapes using the dough, you can either bake the usual 'S' shaped bread or try the other shapes too. Roll the ball out into a snake, about 14 inches long. Then Curl the ends in opposite directions, forming an "S" with spirals at each end. Check the video here for shaping the buns
Place on a lined baking sheet and repeat with the rest of the dough. Cover with plastic wrap and place in a warm spot until the dough shapes double in size, 30 minutes to an hour.

Preheat oven to 400°F/200C. Using a pastry brush, brush milk + oil mixover the tops and sides of the buns. Place raisins in the centers of the "S" spirals. Place in the oven and cook for about 12-15 minutes, until the buns are golden brown. Remove from oven and transfer it to a wire rack let cool for 5 minutes, before serving.
They taste delicious when served straight out of the oven, any remaining buns can be kept on the counter for a day, if storing more than a day, i would recommend refrigerating it. If cold, reheat them for 20 seconds in a Microwave and serve warm.

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM#50

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Eggless Pulla Bread- Traditional Finnish Cardamom Bread

Priya_Srinivasan — Mon, 22 Dec 2014 06:13:00 +0000

Pulla, a traditional cardamom bread from Finland. Braid loaves (pitko) are formed from three or more braided strands of dough, which are coated with melted butter and sugar, though optional. Pitko is typically served in thin slices with coffee or at special occasions. Regular small pulla is served as a whole. Serving pulla with coffee is a very common practice in Finland.

I bookmarked these braided beauties for September BM itself. But, unfortunately, i couldn't get a fluffy bread then. So, i made Rye bread from finland. The Pulla can also be rolled flat into a rectangle filled with cinnamon sugar and cut into slices and baked, which are called Korvapuusti, Nordic Cinnamon Rolls.

Ingredients

3.5 Cups Bread Flour
2 teaspoon instant yeast
⅓ Cup sugar
½ teaspoon powdered cardamom
1 Cup Milk
¼ cup butter
¾ teaspoon salt

Method

Take flour, yeast, cardamom powder, sugar in a large bowl. Mix well using a spatula, to get a uniform mix.
Take milk and butter together and microwave for 20 seconds, alternatively warm it up on stove-top.The Milk should be warm to touch, not scalding hot. Take care with liquid temperature while working with yeast bread. Coz too hot or too cold liquid will kill the yeast.

Now slowly, add the warm milk-butter liquid to the flour mix slowly and start mixing with the spatula. When all the liquid has been incorporated into the flour, it will look very clumpy. Start using your hand for kneading the dough.
The dough is pretty soft and easy to handle. Once you have got all of the dough into a rough ball, take the ball on to the kneading surface and knead for around 4 -5 minutes to get a smooth and soft dough.
Let the dough rest in a well-oiled bowl for an hour or until it is doubled in its size. Once doubled, punch down the dough, divide the dough into two equal halves. Divide each half into 3 pieces. Roll each piece into a rope of 16 inches long. Keep the edges of the 3 ropes together and braid them together. Repeat the same with the other half of the dough.

Rest both the braids on a prepared baking tray lined with parchment. Let it sit for an hour or until it doubles in volume.
Preheat the Oven to 220C for 15 minutes. Once the braided pulla doubles in volume, brush it generously with butter and milk. Bake @ 220 C for 15 minutes and reduce the temperature to 180C and bake for another 20 minutes. Take it off the oven, when the top has a golden brown. Brush the top again with some melted butter.

Let it cool completely on a wire rack. Slice and serve with a warm cup of tea. They are damn delicious straight out of the oven when they are still warm. Leftover bread stays good on the counter for a day, can be wrapped in foil/cling film and refrigerated for 2 days.
I made 4 braids, first braid got over the same moment, it was out of the oven. Shared one with my neighbor and have packed 2 in the fridge, which i will sharing with my BIL's family.
These loaves make a great edible gift during the festive season.

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Chocolate Sugar Cookies

Priya_Srinivasan — Wed, 25 Dec 2013 13:44:00 +0000

Home Baker's Challenge for December was hosted by Priya Ranjit of Cook Like Priya. She suggested some delicious cookies, cakes and breads. I chose to bake the snowman cookies and Sugar cookies. But the snowman cookies vanished even before i could save some for clicks. Since it is Christmas i thought i will bake something chocolate-y to up the spirits of the season. So instead of regular sugar cookies, i baked chocolate sugar cookies. They came out super good and i gifted a dozen to my wonderful maid, without whom my day will be a real mess!!!!

Merry Christmas to all my readers. May God Bless you all with Good health and greater prosperity!!!!

Source : Jocooks

Ingredients (Makes about 3 dozen cookies)

1.5 cups all purpose flour

1.5 Cups Whole Wheat Flour

⅔ cup unsweetened cocoa

½ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

1 ½ cups sugar

2 tablespoon Flaxseed meal, soaked in ½ Cup Warm Water

2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions

In a bowl sift together the flour,cocoa, salt and baking powder.
In another bowl, cream together butter and sugar until fluffy.To this add Flaxseed meal soaked water, blend well to combine.
Now add flour mix little by little and combine using a spatula to form a smooth dough.Wrap dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least an hour.

Preheat oven to 180C. Divide the dough into equal-sized balls and place it on a cookie sheet, flatten it using a fork, make markings using the fork on top of the cookie. You can also divide the dough in 4 pieces and roll out each piece at a time so that it's about ¼ of an inch in thickness, cut cookies with your favorite cookie cutter.
I used my Stainless Steel plate, covered with aluminium foil for baking these cookies. Place cookies on an ungreased baking sheet and bake for about 13 to 15 minutes, just until the edges are firm and the center still slightly soft. Repeat with remaining dough. Transfer to a wire rack and cool.
Let it cool completely and store it in an air-tight container or pack them into cute boxes and gift them to your friends. I actually packed a dozen to my maid, as a Christmas Gift.

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM#35

Sending this to Kids Delight - Cooking with whole grains, happening @ Sandhya's space, an event by +Srivalli Jetti

The post Chocolate Sugar Cookies appeared first on I camp in my kitchen.