The Bread Bible - Walnut Fougasse

I tried to make Walnut Fougasse and instead I modelled the face of a seven-eyed alien - potentially the next Dr Who nemesis (Evil Dr Fougasse, perhaps?). Apt since I wasn't overly taken with this bread. I'm not sure if I did something wrong but the dough had an odd texture when I first mixed it. It improved upon proving but the process was finicky and then I found the end result too rich and greasy for my taste. So, unfortunately not a success for me, which was a shame because it looked and sounded so exotic.

I ate some with pea and ham soup I had in the freezer (the soup was in the freezer because I wasn't overly taken with it when I made it...). While not the best meal I've ever had I did achieve that virtuous feeling you get when eating two homemade things you're not that fussed about.

I'm way behind the Bread Bakers schedule but I think I'm up to pizza next. Yay!

Rugelach and Schnecken

Schnecken. What a great word. I just had to make this entertainingly named variation on the Rugelach: not only for the opportunity to say 'schnecken' a lot but also because I thought the shape might come out better. I was marginally right on the latter. I just don't seem to have the knack with these biscuits. I've made them as Christmas biscuits for several years and mine always look like they've been dragged behind a truck. They do taste lovely though.

Part of my problem might be the amount of this absolutely delicious dough I 'sample' before it gets to the rolling out stage. I think of it as a cheesecake dough. 

I blithely measured out the filling ingredients and mixed them together only to discover I was meant to keep the fruit and nuts separate. 

I think my main problem with these (which I keep repeating) is to pay too little attention to rolling out the dough to the right thickness and size. I probably need to refrigerate it for longer periods in between each step too, to take account of the heat.

The slightly more respectable-looking schnecken waiting for their turn in the oven.

Na na. Na na. Watch out! It's the Crab-elach monster!

Next week we're making crumpets, for something a bit different.

Hungarian Raisin (Sultana) Walnut Tartlets

This last week seemed to be the longest, slowest week, so when I saw Marie's weekly round-up on Friday (as it was in Australia) I was surprised to find it wasn't still Wednesday. Yes, I really missed the boat on posting about this recipe. It was such a tiring week that I have to confess that the Hungarian Raisin Walnut tartlets were not put together with a lot of care.

They turned out pretty well, all things considered. The eggy filling is really delicious - I could have drunk it with a straw - although it was pretty sweet combined with the sultanas and walnuts, and the tartlets were quite large. I liked these best when they were warmed through and drizzled (saturated) with cream, when they tasted more like a pudding. I was surprised they didn't have any spices in them (since they're part of the Hungarian Christmas repertoire) and I guess you could try some cinnamon and nutmeg. 

No prizes for this pastry work but luckily Rose's pastry is slapdash-proof. I'm not sure why but I found the flavour of the pastry really came into its own when combined with this filling.

These are sultanas, which are not raisins in Australia but seem to be raisins in the U.S. This Easter I made Kulich (Russian Easter bread) from a Canadian recipe which specified raisins. I wasn't sure what to use so I put in Australian raisins (which refer to the largest, sweet dried grapes) and they were really too big and sweet - I should have used sultanas. So I used sultanas here and I think it was the right decision.

I was happy to be using walnuts again since I had such a big bag of them which is gradually whittling away and freeing up some fridge space.

The tarts are very easy to put together, especially when you ignore the complicated instructions for preparing the walnuts and just roast them, crush them a bit with your hands and throw them in. The filling is also very easy-care and I just used the stick blender to mix it (so lazy was I feeling).

I over-filled the tarts (even though Rose warns us not to let the filling leak under the pastry) but I baked these in a silicone mould so they weren't difficult to remove. I do recommend putting less filling into the moulds, if you're going to try them.

I found the muffin-size tarts to be a little overwhelming after a couple of bites so I tried them in mince pie-size. Despite overfilling them also (so they leaked all over the oven) they turned out nicely and provided just the right combination of sweetness and pastry for me. I sifted some icing sugar over them mince-pie style and it felt a little bit like Christmas.

 Next up we're making Rugelach.

A sandy star is born

Everything is better in a star shape. This is a universal truth. Actually when I was dipping the raw dough cut-outs of 'The Dutch' Pecan Sandies* in sugar and cinnamon, they resembled starfish more than stars. Which incidentally are pretty life-affirming themselves, in a blobby kind of way. 

And I don't know if it was all the influence of the shape but these biscuits really are stars. They're delicately crunchy, very sandy, nutty flavoured and perfumed with cinnamon and a mix of sugars. They got a thumbs up all round from my taste-testers. A definite hit.

I was busy telling my colleague that they weren't very difficult to make at all, and then I started to say, 'well except for the beurre noisette (that takes aaaages) and then mixing is quick but you need to leave it in the fridge, then roll it out, then refrigerate, then cut, then refrigerate, then dip....'. Hmmmm difficult really is a relative term. If you've ever made a 9-pages-of-instructions, behemoth cheesecake, cake and buttercream extravaganza then starry biscuits are somewhat of a doddle in comparison.

*I suspect biscuit marketers would have something to say about that name, it doesn't exactly roll off the page. 

I was wishing we had smellovision when I mixed the three sugars (white sugar, brown sugar and golden sugar) with vanilla essence, so you could all experience the aroma, which was unbelievably delicious. I spent the time while I was waiting for the brown butter to cool, hanging out next to the bowl of delicious sugary scents.

I actually made my biscuits with walnuts rather than pecans. I have a big bag (now slightly smaller) which I bought for another Alpha Baker project. Everything is going to be walnut until I get that thing finished. The nutty flavour was delicious so it seemed to be a happy substitution.

I had seen biscuits called 'sandies' before in North American recipes but I didn't know what they were exactly. There's no mystery once you taste one - they are gritty like a mouthful of sand except sweeter and tastier. The texture is intriguing if you haven't tried it before. I didn't have time to google but I'm wondering if they're related to the Spanish polverones which literally 'pulverise' when you bite into them? I always thought they were more shortbread-ish. Whatever they are, they taste great. Probably even if they're round.

Next week the Alpha Bakers are making Babka.

Summer holidays and the start of Cranberry Christmas Bread...*and finished

So, poor old phylliscaroline has been a bit lonely for a few weeks while I struggled through the traditional pre-Christmas end of year work, social and biscuit-making frenzy. Then I suffered through the traditional holiday earache. Okay that's not a tradition, but it did mean that I spent a lot of time in bed with a hot water bottle on my ear, and missed making two pies (*and a cake as well) with the Alpha Bakers. I've come South for Christmas with family again this year so at least while I was sick I was surrounded by the beauty of my parent's garden and some beautiful summer weather. 

And this is as far as I've got with the Cranberry Christmas bread. Yes I'm only at the beginning biga stage, staring hopefully at the starter, looking for movement. (And now that I'm away from it, I must say one thing about the humidity of Darwin is that you never have to worry about whether the room is warm enough for fermenting yeast.) I'm working with different ingredients in an unfamiliar kitchen so I guess we'll see how it goes. I'll update the post once I've baked the bread, hopefully tomorrow afternoon.

Update* 

It was quite a challenge to get this finished in between watching Star Wars, last minute shopping and Christmas Eve dinner preparations. But I managed to follow the steps...

Et voila! It may be a bit dry (probably better tomorrow) but very nice with blue cheese. It will be a nice addition to the cheese plate for Christmas lunch.

Next week the Alpha Bakers are cooking White Christmas Peppermint cake.