Lardy Cakes

These are very moist, traditional, rich British tea cakes with piles of flavor. Not for those on a diet, says the BBC! This is a traditional British recipe, so you may find the ingredients and terminology slightly different.

Lardy Cakes

Ingredients

• 450g/1lb flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 x 7g packages of instant yeast
• 75g/2½ oz lard
• 300ml/10½fl oz water
• 75g/2½ oz butter
• 225g/8oz mixed dried fruit, including mixed peel
• 50g/1¾ oz soft brown sugar
• extra flour for dusting

Preparation

1. Mix together the flour, salt and yeast in a mixing bowl. Rub in 20g/¾ oz of the lard using your fingertips until there are no pieces of lard visible.
2. Add three-quarters of the water and hand-mix the flour into the water to form a dough. Add as much of the remaining water as you need to get a dough that is soft and leaves the sides of the bowl clean.
3. Tip the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 5-10 minutes, or until the dough is smooth. Place in a clean bowl, cover and leave to rise until doubled in size. This depends on the temperature of the room, but should take 1-2 hours.
4. Tip the dough onto a floured work surface and roll into a rectangle about 8x20 inches and about ½cm thick.
5. Dot a third of the remaining lard and a third of the butter over the surface of the dough. Scatter over a third of the fruit and a third of the sugar. Fold the top third of the dough down and the bottom third up so that the dough is folded in three and roughly square. Turn the dough a quarter turn. Roll out and repeat the out process twice more, to use up all the lard and fruit.
6. Line a 9x9 inch square loose bottomed tin lined with baking parchment. Roll out the dough to fit the tin and place it inside. Cover with cling wrap, or place inside a large plastic bag, and leave to rise for 30 minutes. Preheat the oven to 220C/425F/Gas 7.
7. Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until golden-brown.
8. Leave to cool slightly before removing from the tin. Cut into squares and serve warm or cold, with butter.

Monkey Bread

                       

Golden gooey deliciousness

I made a different kind of Monkey Bread last week - it had large (Grands) biscuits and it turned out especially good. I had to share this with you

Monkey Bread

Ingredients

• 1 can of Grands or large generic biscuits
• cinnamon sugar (white granulated sugar and powdered cinnamon)
• melted butter
• cooking spray
• caramel topping (commercial)

Preparation

1. Spray a small bundt or angel food pan with cooking spray. Cut biscuits in quarters (half and half again) using kitchen scissors. 
2. Dip biscuit pieces in melted butter and then roll in cinnamon sugar (you can place the sugar mixture in a ziplock bag and shake pieces to make it easier). 
3. Drop into prepared cake pan and repeat until all biscuit pieces are used and pan is approximately 1/2 to 3/4 full. Make sure biscuit pieces are more-or-less evenly distributed so they rise and bake evenly. 
4. Drizzle with your favorite thick caramel topping (I used Smuckers).  
5. Bake as directed on biscuit package - approximately 20-25 minutes or until biscuits are golden. 
6. Remove from oven and let rest for 5 minutes before turning onto plate or platter. I just put a plate over the bottom  of the pan and inverted it, tapping it gently to release any stuck pieces. 
7. Serve right away for best flavor and texture.

top view of golden gooey deliciousness

Cinnamon apple buns (made with zwieback dough)

Here is a recipe that uses a classic zwieback dough to make the most delectable apple buns with a cinnamon sugar topping ever! Well, at least in my experience :)

Cinnamon Apple Buns

Little bits of deliciousness waiting to go into the oven

1. Using the left-over risen zwieback dough, fold a pinched off piece (about the size of a large egg) around a chunk of peeled and cored apple. 
2. Roll into buns using cupped hand method. Dip in milk, then in melted butter or margarine and roll in a mixture of cinnamon and sugar. Place on greased cookie sheet. This recipe is easier if you shape all the buns before dipping and rolling in toppings. 
3. Cover with a tea towel and let rise in a warm place until double (about 1 hour). 
4. Bake in 350 degree oven for approximate 20-25 minutes, until the bottom is golden and the top has a bit of a crust. You should be able to smell the baked apple. 
5. Let stand on cookie sheet for about 10 minutes before gently removing (using a lifter) to a covered surface (I reuse the tea towel that I used to cover the bowl while the dough rises). Let cool slightly before devouring.

Ta da! I can taste them now...  no, really!

Zwieback (double buns)

These little buns have been a tradition in my family for several generations. It just wouldn't be Christmas without them. I remember my mom, all hot and bothered, fussing with these and making Schoenekuchen (nice cookies - a very soft cut-out sugar type cookie) as they rose. Mine are never as pretty and even as hers were - she is a perfectionist - but they still bring up those Christmas memories!

Zwieback

Zwieback

Beware: these make a lot of buns, so be prepared to use a large cookie sheet and small 24-cup muffin tin like I did, with enough left over for the next recipe - apple buns or a fruit square (platz).

The farm method:

• Prepare 1 pkg fast-rising yeast or 1 tbsp dry yeast as directed on package.
• Stir risen yeast and pour into a large bowl. Add 3 c warm water and enough flour for a sponge (puffy soft starter dough) - about 3-4 c flour for this amount of liquid - and beat well. Let stand, covered in warm spot.
• Place in medium saucepan: 2 c warm milk, 3 sticks (1 1/2c) butter or margarine (or half and half shortening and butter), 1/2 c white sugar, 1/4 c salt. Warm on medium heat just until the margarine starts to melt and the sugar is dissolved. Let cool slightly.
• Stir together in bowl containing the 'sponge,' mixing well and adding 4-6 more cups of flour to make a medium-soft smooth elastic dough. Knead flour in on floured surface once you can no longer mix it in with a wooden spoon.
• Grease the bowl and top of dough and let rise til doubled, about 2 hours or so, covered with a tea towel.
• When dough is ready, turn out on to floured surface and let rest, covered with a tea towel for about 10 minutes. Then pinch off (or cut with serrated knife) pieces of dough that you can roll into balls which are about the size of a small egg (equal to the size of 2 walnuts). Use a cupped hand to roll the dough against the palm of your other hand or a floured surface to make smooth balls. When you make enough base pieces, make balls about half that size for the top buns. Press gently together (don't worry if they fall to the side when rising - mine always do).

You can  use a greased cookie sheet:

Little buns - not perfect but sweet all the same

Or greased miniature muffin tins (or both):

A bevy of finished zwieback baked in mini muffin tins

• Let rise for approximately an hour and bake in 350-375 degree oven for 20-30 minutes, until a light golden brown.
• Cool on a covered surface (I usually reuse the tea towels) and then pull apart the top from the bottom and enjoy with a bit of butter and/or jam.

Next recipe: apple buns.