I talk about Joy the Baker a lot, there really is a lot to talk about but up until now I haven’t given the same kind of attention to her partner in crime Shutterbean. This needs to be rectified!

Of course, many of you will already be dedicated followers of the The Queen of Avocados but some might not and there is absolutely no harm in banging on about a good thing! Her blog is bursting with colour, creativity, stunning photography and style. Her weekly ‘I love lists Friday‘ posts, point me in the direction of awesome corners of the internet I might not have discovered and ‘My Everyday Life‘ is a round-up of her weeks photographs, makes me want to move to California and experience it all myself (Like I needed any encouragement) All this is without mentioning her excellent recipes – soups, salads, bakes, cocktails – no foodstone is left unturned. Oh and the lady loves the stripes!

If I’m ever stuck for inspiration when meal planning, I’ll take a gander at her Instagram feed or blog and several healthy recipes will tick all my boxes very quickly. Recently I have been inspired to eat these…

Tuna Salad

Grilled Salmon, Rice, Asparagus, Fine Beans & lots of Lime

Chicken Tostada Salad

One recipe I knew needed to be in my life, was Cheddar Cheese Bread but being the great experimenter that I am I decided to adapt it, move away from Cheddar and move in with Wensleydale and how about adding balsamic onions? And you see what happened was something amazing – I’m sure the original recipe was also pretty awesome but when you hear that your 1-year-old Faux-Nephew scoffed a large portion of it – you know you are onto a flavour winner.

Wensleydale & Balsamic Onion Bread
bread adapted from Shutterbean
&
balsamic onions adapted from The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook
makes 2 9×5 loaves

3 large white onions – peeled, halved & thinly sliced
1 tbsp olive oil
14g / 1 tbsp unsalted butter
1 tbsp soft brown sugar
big pinch of salt
1½ tbsp balsamic vinegar
seasoning

butter for greasing

385g / 13.3oz plain flour
1¼ tsp salt
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
42g / 3 tbsps unsalted butter – small cubes
150g / 5oz wensleydale cheese – coarsely grated
284 ml buttermilk

Put a large frying pan on a medium-high heat and heat the olive oil & butter.

Add the onion and fry for about 5 minutes, add the sugar and salt and reduce the heat to medium-low and stirring occasionally for about 10 minutes.

Add the vinegar, scraping up any stuck bits from the bottom of the pan.

Simmer until the mixture thickens, about 1-2 minutes. Season and set to one side to cool.

Preheat the oven to 200°c / 400°f  / gas mark 6

Grease your tins (I only have 1 loaf tin – more on that later!)

In a large bowl mix together the flour, salt, bicarbonate of soda.

Add ⅔^rds of the butter – rub into the flour mixture until you have a fine breadcrumb texture.

Add the cheese and onions, toss to coat.

Finally add the buttermilk, mix until fully combined – there is no need to knead, just stir or mix with your hands.

Divide the dough into two pieces – as I only have one loaf tin I put one half in the loaf tin and then covered up the other and popped it into the fridge until I needed it.

Smooth the dough and push it into all the corners, cut a shallow cross in the middle of the dough, slice the remaining butter and push into the cuts.

Bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes, until golden. Remove from the oven and place on a cooling rack, wipe out the tin (getting rid of any stuck on bits) grease it and do the same with the 2^nd piece of dough.

Let the bread cool before slicing.

Serve on its own, or with butter, or with avocado, or with eggs, or whatever you fancy.

Probably freezes well but why not do what I did, kept one for myself and gave the other to a friend.

HAPPY EASTER EVERYBODY.

It’s time to let the multi-coloured chicks out! They spend all year tucked in their little box in my baking drawer and they only get to come out once a year. It seems unfair to keep them there but their presence in any other photo would just confuse matters.

Let me tell you about this years Hot Cross Buns, well as you can see they aren’t really buns at all. Early on in March I decided I wanted to try to combine a Brioche Loaf with Hot Cross Bun flavour, when I mentioned it on twitter there was excitement and especially from Jen at Blue Kitchen Bakes who pointed me in the direction of her Classic French challenge which this month happened to be all about Brioche.

So that was the idea but how was I going to tackle it. As usual Pinterest was my first stop (Seriously if you aren’t on Pinterest yet you really should consider taking a look) I couldn’t see anything on there that was exactly how I envisage, which is always good to see as it means hopefully my idea was original(ish).

I decided to turn to everyone’s favourite Silver Fox (Unless you prefer George Clooney, Philip Schofield or Roger Sterling) Paul Hollywood. He had the perfect Brioche recipe in his How to Bake book and my experience of his recipes to date were all very easy to follow and successful. All I needed to do was adapt it with spices and dried fruit.

I’m really proud of how these turned out, the only problem I encountered was my dough taking ages to rise as my flat was really cold. Thankfully I had recently read that you can use your oven on its lowest temperature – which worked a treat.

If we have any left (We won’t, it’s too delicious) this could be made in to a superb Bread & Butter Pudding. The Littlest Bakehouse has a great recipe for a Spiked Hot Cross Bread & Butter Pudding and while you are there take a glance at her excellent super graphic skills – Conversions & Guides

Hot Cross Brioche
adapted from Paul Hollywood – How to Bake 

500g / 1.1lbs strong white bread flour (extra for dusting)
7g / 0.25 oz salt
50g / 1.7 oz caster sugar
10g / 0.35 oz yeast
140ml warm full fat milk
5 large eggs
250g / 8.8 oz unsalted butter, softened (extra for greasing)
2 tsp ground cinnamon
½ nutmeg – finely grated
140g / 5 oz mixed dried fruit
zest of 1 lemon & 1 small orange

flour & water for the crosses

I used a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook for this recipe, PH says it’s required as the dough is very wet but I know of people who have successfully made Brioche without one.

1. Put the flour in your bowl, then the salt and sugar to one side and the yeast on the opposite side. 
2. Add the milk and eggs and mix on a slow speed for about 2 minutes, increase to a medium speed and mix for 6-8 minutes – until the dough is soft, glossy and elastic.
3. Add the butter (I softened it by putting it in my back pocket – this stage is optional) the spices, dried fruit & zest and continue mixing for a further 4-5 minutes, scraping down the bowl now and again – until all the butter & bits are fully incorporated.
4. Tip the dough into a plastic bowl (I’m not sure why it has to be a plastic bowl – but I did as I was told & it worked) Cover with clingfilm & chill overnight or for at least 7 hours.
5. Wake Up & grease a 25cm springform cake tin.
6. Remove the dough from the fridge and tip out onto a lightly floured surface.
7. Knock the air out by folding it in on itself a few times and divide into 9 equal parts – roll into smooth balls. Place 8 balls round the outside of the tin and 1 in the middle.
8. Cover and leave to rise for 2-3 hours or until the dough has risen above the tin. At 2 hours mine had only risen a tiny amount so I popped them in my oven on its lowest temperature for just under an hour. Check them by pressing lightly with your finger, the dough should spring back – if the indent stays they need to be proved for longer.
9. Heat the oven to 190°c / 375°f / gas mark 5
10. Mix together some flour and water, so you have a paste that just holds itself. Using a piping bag, pipe on crosses or stars or hearts or whatever you fancy really.
11. Bake for 20-30 minutes. Because of the sugar and eggs the colour will change before it’s cooked – rotate it if one side is looking more toasty. The bread is cooked when a skewer comes out clean.
12. Remove the Brioche from the tin and allow to cool for a little bit on a wire rack, before you rip it open and eat the whole lot.

So far I’ve not needed butter or jam or nutella or cream – it’s good just the way it is.

I have entered this recipe to two challenges -

Jen’s Classic French where the theme for March is Brioche

Lavendar & Lovage and What Katie Baked‘s Tea Time Treats where this months theme is Ooh La La! French Tarts, Cakes, Bakes and Pastries and hosted by Lavendar & Lovage

I would happily stuff them in my face ALL year round.

The window for them has admittedly opened up a lot in recent years, it’s easy to get hold of them at Christmas as well as Easter but that doesn’t stop my Mother from judging me for eating one in February. I have felt guilt ever since then and not let another Hot Cross Bun pass my lips… until now, when it is finally acceptable to eat them.

This was my first attempt at baking them and I’m quite proud of the result – I used the Edd Kimber recipe that was in the March 2012 edition of Waitrose Kitchen. I adapted it by using less raisins and substituting them with dark chocolate chips and toasted hazelnuts for a more decadent bun.

Chocolate Fruit & Nut Hot Cross Buns
makes 10

450g /1lb strong white bread flour
½ tsp salt
2 tsp mixed spice
1 tsp cinnamon
50g / 2oz caster sugar
7g / ¼oz quick yeast
250ml milk
30g / 1oz unsalted butter
zests of 1 orange & 1 lemon
30g / 1oz hazelnuts – roughly chopped & lighted toasted
40g /1½oz raisins
65g / 2¼oz dark chocolate chips
1 large egg
olive oil for greasing
50g / 2oz plain flour
2 tbsp golden syrup

In a large bowl mix together the bread flour, salt, spices, sugar, yeast and chocolate chips.

Toast the chopped hazelnuts in a dry frying pan.

In a small saucepan gently heat the milk and butter until the butter has melted. Add the raisins and toasted hazelnuts to the milk and set aside to cool for about 5 minutes. Once slightly cooled beat in the egg.

This is when it will get a bit messy –  personally I like turning the dough a little bit chocolatey but if you wish to avoid this add the chocolate during the kneading once it’s cooled down a bit more.

Make a well in the dry ingredients and pour in the milk mixture – stirring to form a dough.

Tip the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth – about 5 minutes. Mine got stuck to the work surface a lot, so I needed to add quite a bit of flour. Once it’s formed into a ball place in a lightly oiled bowl, cover and leave to raise – at least an hour or until it is doubled in size.

Once risen tip the dough out onto a floured surface and knock the air back – divide into 10 equal pieces (roughly 100g) and roll them into balls. Place 2cm apart on a lined baking tray and cover with a piece of oiled clingfilm. Leave them to rise for a further 40 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 200°c / 400°f / gas mark 6 and remove the clingfilm. Mix together the plain flour with 5 tbsp of water and spoon into a piping bag with a small nozzle. Pipe crosses onto the buns (or like me kisses – it was an accident) and bake for 20-25 minutes.

Gentle heat the golden syrup and brush over your baked buns.

Allow them to cool a little before toasting them, covering them in salty butter and shoving them in your pie hole!

My favourite meal of the day is Breakfast and thankfully you aren’t restricted at what time you can serve yourself breakfast – Toast at midnight, Full English for Lunch and Eggy Bread for Tea. This take on Eggy Bread was inspired by a brunch served to me by The Greatest Flatmate in the World™ – who also happens to occasionally go by the name of Strawbs. Her version, once cooked by her Grandfather uses Challah bread, warmed strawberries & lashings of maple syrup.  My version uses whatever bread you fancy and balsamic strawberries, a combination that I had heard about but until recently had never tried – it’s seriously delicious, the vinegar really brings out the colour and the flavour of the berries. And as this isn’t baking the quantities can be played with depending on your tastes.

Eggy Bread
serves 2

2 thick slices of bread
2 large eggs
2 tbsp golden caster sugar
½ tsp vanilla paste

Balsamic Strawberries

A big handful of Strawberries – sliced
1 tbsp Balsamic Vinegar
1 tbsp sugar
Black Pepper (which I forgot from the picture)

Pop your strawberries in a bowl, drizzle the vinegar over and sprinkle with sugar – stir them gently to combine. Cover them and let sit at room temperature for about an hour.

In a shallow dish mixed together the eggs, sugar & vanilla and place your slices of bread in to soak it up – if your dish is only small do this in batches.

Put a frying pan on a medium heat with a little knob of butter and a tiny drizzle of oil (to stop the butter from burning) – once the butter is bubbling fry your Bread until golden on each side.

Serve the strawberries on top of the bread with cracked black pepper