Traditional Hot Cross Buns

Hot Cross Buns,
Hot Cross Buns,
One-a-penny,
Two-a-penny,
Hot Cross Buns.

The tune to this little ditty was one of the first things I learnt to play on my recorder at primary school! I went to a local C of E school and so the links between hot cross buns and Christianity have never been in doubt in my mind...until now!

Any good Christian family will teach their children that the cross on top of a hot cross bun is directly linked to the story of Jesus’ crucifixion. As long as I can remember before heading to church on Good Friday morning, for the stations of the cross, we would all gather on Mum and Dad’s bed for a breakfast of hot cross buns. But, as I started looking around the internet for a recipe this year I found a few things out about the hot cross bun that I didn’t know...

Although there seems no doubt that hot cross buns are English in origin, they may have been around long before this country became Christian. In fact, it seems they might be another example of a pagan tradition that Christianity took over. There is some suggesting that the spiced buns were eaten when celebrating the goddess Eostre. Now even I can see (or hear) that Eostre sounds a lot like Easter... coincidence I think not!!!

Regardless of whether they are Christian or not, there are also some rather cool superstitions surrounding the hot cross bun. So the story goes...if you bake hot cross buns on Good Friday they will not spoil or go mouldy!!! I’m actually quite tempted to try this one out. Another superstition is that hot cross buns can protect sailors from shipwrecks. I’m afraid I can’t test this one so we’ll just have to trust the internet!

After spending just 20mins surfing the internet, I soon realised that the origins of the humble hot cross buns weren’t quite as straight forward as I originally thought! I just hoped that baking them would be easy.

The fact that they have been around for hundreds of years also brings its own challenges. Do you know just how many varieties of hot cross bun you can get now? I’m talking chocolate, toffee, apple, cinnamon, earl grey, orange blossom – you name it, a supermarket makes it! I’m particularly a fan of the GIANT hot cross bun loaf that Asda do but that’s a whole other ball game!

I decided to begin with I would try a traditional recipe from none other than Mrs Beeton. I’m not a big bread baker as I find no matter what tip or trick I use to kick start my yeast into gear I never quite get it right. BUT by just tweaking the traditional recipe a little bit I was able to SUCCESSFULLY bake my first batch of traditional hot cross buns!!!

The spice balance really is quite a personal thing so feel free to adjust this to your taste: I used a little less than Mrs Beeton calls for and also adjusted the dried fruit used.

Now that I’ve managed to master this traditional version next I will have to take on the supermarkets and attempt a twist on this classic.

Gingerbread House

There are two types of people that reveal themselves at Christmas: those who are painfully organised, have their presents bought in August and have all of their Christmas baking finished before Christmas eve and those who have ribbons and bows attached to their clothes, burnt cookies in the oven and friends and family unexpectedly knocking on the door.

I usually fall in the latter category!

I must admit...it’s Christmas Eve Eve and I am still yet to finish one of my parents’ presents, wrap ALL of the presents I’ve bought, make truffles for my Grandad, bake two different batches of cookies, make ice-cream for dessert Christmas Day, make the starter for Christmas Day, BUY and write Christmas cards to my family, and I have to complete all of this on Christmas Eve when I will be working from 7am. Can anyone spot a problem?

Despite all of this, I did manage to do something pretty damn impressive at the beginning of the week. I made my first ever gingerbread house.

It was so much easier than I first thought, though I’m not going to lie to you, it is time consuming.

So, if you are one of these super women who was planning on pouring herself a snowball and watching it’s a wonderful life tomorrow, I challenge you to instead bake yourself the ultimate of Christmas table centre pieces – the ginger bread house!

The basic premise is that you make a ginger flavoured dough, roll it out, cut out the various shapes, and stick together with royal icing before decorating with all sorts of yummy sweets and chocolates.

Easy peasy right?
 
Well hopefully, by following this recipe you will find making your gingerbread house just as easy as I did.

Chocolate Chip Shortbread

Right, if you haven’t notice I’ve been rather busy of late! Law school is in full flow and I’m trying to keep down a job at the same time, as well as having a thriving social life. Oh yeah, I’m so cool I have a thriving social life! I think I’m actually going out even more than I did at uni; between hanging out with my boyfriend (yay no more long distance) being close to university friends, new friends and old friends, as well as all of Jon’s work friends, we have more than enough play dates to keep us occupied.

Nevertheless I HAVE still been cooking! It’s just taken me a little while to find the time to share the recipes with you.

But, as I’ve been super busy at law school, I thought it was appropriate to share one of my more student friendly recipes – Chocolate Shortbread. Super cheap it only requires 4 ingredients – 3 if you don’t fancy going all out and adding in the chocolate!

Gooseberry Crumble

Despite being a foodie for almost ALL of my life, fearlessly trying anything my Dad ever put in front of me and hanging off of his apron strings in the kitchen, there are still a few foods that have managed to elude me until recently, gooseberries being one of them!

My parents LOVE gooseberries, and a few years ago decided, that rather than visiting the local fruit farm every week to get their gooseberry fix that they should plant their own bush in the garden! Last year we had a huge gooseberry crop and my parents were soon asking me to whisk up various gooseberry filled dishes. You may remember that I posted a recipe for gooseberry fool, and even won a competition over @WeGrowOurOwn.co.uk for baking Gooseberry and Elderflower Butterfly Cakes!

We picked our first punnet off of our gooseberry bush just last week, and once again I was faced with the challenge of coming up with something delicious! This time, I decided to embrace the tartness of the gooseberry but top it with a rich, gooey, yet crunchy crumble top.

Turkey Supreme Leftovers!

I my house, it is not the turkey curry that reigns supreme the week after Christmas, but...Turkey Supreme!

The rest of the year this is my Mums go to dish when there's chicken in the fridge and she's been forced to cook, but it never tastes as good as it does when it is made with leftover turkey!

It is also a good dish to kick-start those healthy eating habits! Minus the butter in the roux, the rest of the dish is relatively low fat! Especially if you use skimmed milk to make the white sauce.

So if you're still looking for ways to finish off the last of that turkey, this is the recipe for you!

Ps. Don't be afraid to put the dark meat in, that just makes it taste EVEN better!!!

Christmas Cake

Christmas would not be complete without a Christmas Cake. Fact.

Everyone's Granny has their own recipe, yet more often than not people buy a shop bought cake. Even those members of my family who decorate their own cakes buy the fruitcake from a Supermarket first. Considering my Mum and Dad were famous for their Christmas Cakes before they had children, I couldn't understand why everyone avoided making their own. If my parents could make one every year without fail...why couldn't everyone else?

So, armed with a near-illegible copy of my parents old recipe, this year I decided to make my own cake.

I was pleasantly surprised with just how easy it is. Though...the proof is in the pudding as they say, and when you've never made a cake before, don't know what its consistency, colour, texture etc should be it's a scary thought offering it up to guests!

Fortunately for me it seems my first attempt was a success! (Though it was some what larger than anticipated and is now nicknamed the monster Christmas Cake.)

So, if I can do it, so can you! I urge all of you to make your own Christmas Cake this year! I have started my own tradition, so why not start your own too!!!

Here is my recipe, I am sure it will not fail you.

WARNING: This is highly boozy! (Though Delia assures me you can replace the brandy for orange juice for a more family friendly cake).

Caramel Cupcakes

After watching the first episode of The Great British Bake Off on demand at the weekend, I was overcome with the urge to bake! So, at 7 o clock in the evening, I got my sous chef (a.k.a Jonny my boyfriend) to join me in the kitchen to whip up a batch of cupcakes!

After a bit of rummaging in his mums cupboards (I'll replace the ingredients Mrs Moore I promise!) I stumbled across some soft brown sugar and decided to tweak my normal recipe and come up with something a little more grown up!

If you have a sweet tooth, these are the cakes for you! If you don't want your children to need fillings, I recommend keeping them all for yourselves!

Here's how you make these delicious cakes!

Oaty Apple Crumble

Autumn has finally arrived! The leaves are falling from the trees, wooly jumpers are being worn, and yummy warm soup is filling my tummy at lunchtimes! But, when I get home after a hard days work, and I've whipped up a dinner, there's just one more things that makes an Autumn day complete...Oaty Apple Crumble!

This isn't quite your traditional apple crumble, with the toppoing including porridge oats which makes it slightly crispier and more of a dense, gooey yummy crumble topping! Best served with a huge dollop of 0% fat 'Total' Yogurt for guilt free pleasure, or ice-cream if you're feeling naughty!

Here's my recipe:

Banana and Choc-Chip Muffins

Both my housemate and I have had a rough couple of days with family in and out of hospital, and as a result I thought I would whip up a quick batch of something naughty but nice to cheer us up!

Banana and chocolate chip muffins – keep the chocolate as dark as you dare, and the banana will provide the perfect sweet balance to keep your taste buds excited.

Best served warm!

Freshers Foodie Tip #3 - Store cupboard essentials

One of the most important bits of advice is, on your first big shop it to stock up on the basics!

If you’re lucky enough to convince your rents to do your first big shop at uni (and even if you aren't), DON’T just put alcohol in the trolley (although essential), also make sure you do some bulk buying of store cupboard essentials, that way they’ll be in the back of your cupboard for the rest of term and it works out much cheaper in the long run!

Food Trend #3 - Whoopie Pies!

What is a Whoopie Pie: The best way to describe a whoopie pie is a cross between a soft biscuit, a cake, sandwiched together like a macaroon! They have a sweet filling in the middle and are often 2inches across. The perfect size to have alongside a cup of tea!

History: My favourite story about how Whoopie Pie’s came about comes from www.recipes4us.co.uk which suggests Amish women in Pennsylvania used to bake these sweet treats for their husbands and children who would shout Whoopie when they found one in their lunchbox at lunchtime.  Traditionally the cake part is flavoured with cocoa powder and made with brown sugar resulting in a dark brown finish, whilst the filling is very light and fluffy, often made with marshmallow fluff or marshmallow crème and flavoured with vanilla.

According to Matthias Kiehm the food director of Harrods, his store were responsible for bringing the whoopie pie over the the UK. Chris Seaby who is in charge of cakes at M&S originally launched the products in metropolitan areas but has now rolled them out across the country so everyone can buy whoopie pies! You can even find them in coffee shops such as Costa Coffee. No ones quite sure why it took so long for the whoopie pie to find its way to England, and no one knows just how long they are here to stay! (see: “Thebun fight”)

Essential tools: There are no specific tools needed to make whoopie pies, but a flat baking sheet and an icing bag will make your life a little easier!

Method: Using the basic recipe below you can make 10 large whoopie pies or 12-14 small whoopie pies. This ingredient list is very similar to that of a cake, but the added flour gives it a more dense texture.

Stuffed Butternut Squash with Cheese Muffins

Today's dinner was Stuffed Butternut Squash which I served with some savoury Cheese Muffins! I'd never tried savoury muffins before but they were extremely yummy! Went really well with the dish, and everyone was licking the wrappers clean!!! (No manners my family :))

Here are the recipes!

Home-made Pasta

UPDATED: 17/05/2013

My philosophy has always been that if you cook from scratch you will not only be eating more healthily but you will be eating more cheaply. One of the best examples of this is home-made pasta.

Although dried pasta can be extremely cheap (Asda’s cheapest is just 30p for 500g!) fresh pasta prices however are through the roof. What’s more is that it’s not even that difficult to make at home, requires 2 ingredients both of which I guarantee you will already have in your house, and it’s FUN to make.

 

You’ll notice I have a rather sexy duck egg blue pasta maker on my side, but if you’re thinking about not reading any further because you don’t own one, don’t panic. Pasta can be made entirely from hand. It takes a bit longer, and a bit more man power but all you need is a rolling pin.

Another fab thing about making your own pasta (apart from how fun it is), is that you can make a big batch, freeze it or keep it in the fridge.

Have I convinced you how great it is to make your own pasta yet?

If not, this simple recipe certainly will.