Kouign amann. Pronounced “queen ahmahn”, also known as “delicious”. Layers of yeasted dough, butter, and sugar, baked until puffed, holey, and caramelized, like an amazing caramel croissant/danish hybrid. It’s been on my “to make” list for a few years, and the Daring Kitchen challenge this month finally gave me a reason to try it.
…
On the Saturday of Easter weekend, we painted our living room. Painting a room doesn’t seem like a big job until you start, and then it becomes apparent just exactly how huge of an undertaking it really is – or rather, just how much prep work there is, what with all the buying of tools and prep and sanding and taping and cutting-in of edges before you even get to the actual painting. All this to say that by Saturday night, I was so exhausted I could barely see straight – yet somehow I still managed to be shaping spicy, citrusy, dried fruit-laden dough into hot cross buns at 11:30 at night, as one does when one doesn’t think Easter is Easter without hot cross buns. So yes, like last year, we are talking about hot cross buns two weeks after the fact.
…
The bakery in the town I grew up in made a delicious cinnamon raisin bread, and on the occasions that I could convince my mum to buy a loaf, I would eat practically the entire thing myself, toasted and slathered with butter. Now, being an adult, I can, of course, go to the store and buy a loaf whenever the urge strikes – but in this particular instance, the urge also struck to make it myself.
…
I know, I know, Easter was so two weeks ago. But seeing as I’ve posted about hot cross buns every year since I started this blog, I couldn’t NOT post about this year’s version. Just bookmark this recipe for next year and call it advance preparation. ; )
…
The February Daring Bakers’ challenge is hosted by Julie of One-Wall Kitchen. She challenged us to an easy, simple filled bun using no-knead dough.
This month’s Daring Bakers’ Challenge recipe is known by many names – bao, mantou, nikuman, siopao and others – but the common denominator is that is it an Asian-style bun, stuffed with a filling (often Chinese bbq pork) and baked. At first I wasn’t too excited because I had so recently made the steamed version of this recipe with the Sourdough Surprises group, but then I remembered Suz’s custard-filled steamed buns, and suddenly I knew that I wanted to make a baked version.
…
Ensaimadas, a coiled Spanish pastry of enriched yeasted dough, were the second half of August’s Daring Bakers Challenge, and I’m happy to share that these blackberry and cream cheese filled babies are probably the best thing I’ve made in a long time. Thank you Swathi for this recipe!
…
The August Daring Bakers’ Challenge took us for a spin! Swathi of Zesty South Indian Kitchen taught us to make rolled pastries inspired by Kürtőskalács, a traditional Hungarian wedding pastry. These tasty yeasted delights gave us lots to celebrate!
Once again, the Daring Bakers have introduced me to a pastry I probably never would have come across myself, and given me a history lesson in the progress. Kürtőskalács or “chimney cakes” are a traditional yeasted pastry from Szeklerland, which is an ethnic Hungarian enclave in the Transylvanian region of present day Romania. The pastry is now common in many Hungarian-speaking regions as well as the Czech Republic.
…
This month the Daring Bakers kept our creativity rolling with cinnamon bun inspired treats. Shelley from C Mom Cook dared us to create our own dough and fill it with any filling we wanted to craft tasty rolled treats, cinnamon not required!
Tell me, where has this month gone? How did it get to be the end of June all of a sudden? I swear, the last time I checked, it was the beginning of May, I was starting a new job (yay!), and this had just happened:
…
The April Daring Baker’s Challenge was hosted by Wolf of Wolf’s Den. She challenged us to Spring into our kitchens and make Easter breads reflecting cultures around the world.
While I don’t personally celebrate Easter in a religious sense, I do look forward to any holiday that has a food tradition to go with it (see: Christmas baking). Paska, a special Eastern European Easter bread, is one such food tradition, and the egg-rich Ukrainian version with its intricately decorated top is one that I’ve been wanting to try for a while now. This month’s challenge was the perfect opportunity to do it.
…
Beauty surrounded the Daring Bakers this month as our host, Sawsan, of chef in disguise, challenged us to make beautiful, filled breads. Who knew breads could look as great as they taste?
This month’s posting date snuck right up on me so I’ll keep this brief! I was delighted with my friend Sawsan’s challenge this month to make beautiful twisty bread in the style of the very talented bread artist Valentina Zurkan. I’ve made sticky buns similar to this before filled with lemon and rosemary, so I opted for a savoury pizza bread version and a slightly more complicated shape this time.
…