passover week 2024 - passover amalfi lemon cake

passover week 2024 - passover amalfi lemon cake

16 Apr 2024

This is a recipe I've made a few times before, which I've only lightly renovated for Passover. An Amalfi lemon cake is made using a whole lemon, olive oil, eggs, sugar, almond meal with a small quantity of either flour or polenta to bind it together. I swapped my Passover baking mix (equal quantities of superfine matzo meal and potato starch) for the flour and skipped the small quantity of baking powder.

As it's an oil based cake, if you'd like to keep it pareve, skip the whipped cream topping, dust the top of the cake with icing sugar and serve it with the syrup and perhaps a citrus fruit salad. The lemon syrup is key here and in the future, I'd double the quantity. Also, if you can, make the cake the day before you serve it as I think it gives the cake a bit of time to mature and develop its flavour.

Here's the recipe for you which makes a 17cm cake. If you'd like to make a larger version refer to the linked recipe. For all my recipes I use a 250ml cup and a 20 ml tablespoon, unsalted butter and 60g eggs. My oven is a conventional gas oven so if your oven is fan forced you may need to reduce the oven temperature by 20°C.

Passover Amalfi Lemon Cake - adapted from Delicious magazine 
Ingredients
1 small lemon (preferably seedless)
1/2 cup (125ml) extra virgin olive oil 
125g almond meal
50g passover baking mix (superfine matzo meal mixed with potato starch)

Pinch salt  
2 eggs
125g caster sugar

  
Lemon syrup
1/4 cup (55g) caster sugar
Juice of 1 lemon 

Candied Lemon Slices - optional

1 lemon, thinly sliced into rounds

⅓ cup caster sugar

⅓ cup water

 
To decorate

candied lemon slices, optional
250mls cream, whisked to stiff peaks 

Method 
Place lemon in a deep saucepan, cover with cold water and place a small plate on top to keep lemon submerged. Bring to a rapid simmer over medium heat. Cook for 20 minutes or until lemon is just soft, topping up water if needed, or microwave the lemon with 1 tbs water in a covered bowl for 3-4 minutes, then drain and cool completely. Cut into quarters and remove seeds. Place in a blender with oil and whiz until smooth and emulsified. Set aside. 

Preheat the oven to 170°C, conventional. Grease and flour a 17 cm-round cake pan with superfine matzo meal and line the base with baking paper. Mix together the almond meal, passover baking mix and salt. Place eggs and sugar in a bowl and whisk to combine, then whisk in lemon puree and the almond meal.

Spread into the prepared pan and bake for 45-55 minutes or until the top is just firm and a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean. Cool in pan for 1 hour, then invert onto a wire rack and cool completely.

Lemon syrup
Combine sugar and juice of 1/2 lemon in a small saucepan over medium-low heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Bring to a simmer and cook for 4-6 minutes until thickened and starting to caramelise. Cool syrup, then mix in remaining juice of 1/2 lemon until combined. Cool completely to room temperature. 

Candied lemon Slices

To make the candied lemon slices, put the water and sugar into a frying pan over a medium heat. Cook for about 10 minutes or until the mixture begins to turn golden brown. Slide in the lemon slices and cook for a few more minutes before turning over. Cook until well coated with the toffee. Carefully remove the lemon slices from the toffee and place on the baking paper to cool. Arrange a few of the slices over the top of the cream to serve. Any leftover lemon slices can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge between pieces of baking paper.

To serve 
Top the cake with cream, drizzle with syrup and decorate with a few candied lemon slices.

This went down very well with my taste testers, aka workmates, who had no idea the cake had been renovated for Passover. I've made this cake twice before but I don't remember having a slice so I can't compare the 2 versions. Both times I made the larger version with double the lemon syrup. The lemon syrup is key here and in the future if I make a smaller cake, I'd double the quantity of syrup as it makes the cake, literally.

See you all again tomorrow with another bake for Passover Week 2024.

Bye for now,

Jillian

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passover week 2024 - passover sachertorte with apricot compote

passover week 2024 - passover sachertorte with apricot compote

14 Apr 2024

Welcome to Passover Week 2024. I thought it was time to make a showstopper for Passover. I turned to the baking queen, Natalie Paull, and adapted her recipe for sachertorte with apricot compote but made it passover friendly and dairy-free. Instead of flour, I used superfine matzo meal and potato starch then topped the cake with a dairy free chocolate ganache adapted from here and swapped apricot syrup for the apricot liqueur.

Passover baking is always a little unpredictible. Even though I thought I'd completely folded the superfine matzo meal through the batter, I did not and annoying white blotches could be seen when I cut the cake into slices. I admit to using a bit of creative Photoshop and artfully draped apricot slices to conceal the worst of the blotches.

Matzo meal does not bake the same way as flour and the cake exterior was very dry to the touch. Even a generous coating of apricot jam couldn't glue the ganache to the cake and some of the ganache detached when I sliced the cake. The next day, the cake was easier to slice and both the texture and flavour improved as the cake matured. That's good news because it means the cake can be made and coated with ganache well ahead of time and is all the better for doing so.

I served the cake with some of the leftover apricot compote, so if you plan to do the same you might want to double the quantity of the apricot filling. 

Here's the recipe for you which makes a 3.5 x 7 inch loaf cake. For all my recipes I use a 250ml cup and a 20 ml tablespoon, unsalted butter and 60g eggs. My oven is a conventional gas oven so if your oven is fan forced you may need to reduce the oven temperature by 20°C.

Passover sachertorte with apricot compote
Chocolate sponge  
100g dark (70%) chocolate, chopped
15g Dutch cocoa powder
15ml extra virgin olive oil
pinch fine salt 
135 mls water 
4 large eggs, at room temperature
120g caster sugar
45g superfine matzo meal
40g potato starch

 
Apricot filling – you’ll only use about half this quantity 
410g can apricots in juice
Large strips of peel and the juice of 1 orange
¼ cup (55g) caster sugar

Water Ganache 
200g chopped dark chocolate (48%)
80ml boiling water
20mls maple syrup 

Decoration
60g apricot jam
30g dark (70%) chocolate
Dutch cocoa, to dust

Method
Preheat oven to 200°C/180°C fan-forced. Grease base and sides of an 8 inch square pan and line with baking paper.

Chocolate sponge

Place chocolate, cocoa, oil, pinch fine salt and 135 mls water in a medium saucepan. Bring to a simmer over medium heat, whisking constantly until smooth and starting to simmer. Scrape into a large bowl. Set aside until lukewarm.

Place eggs and sugar in a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment and whisk for 8 minutes on medium-high speed until thick and tripled in volume. Meanwhile, sift matzo meal and potato starch together 3 times.

Add egg mixture to chocolate mixture and gently fold until combined. Sift over half the flour mixture, gently fold until almost all incorporated, then sift over the remainder. Gently fold until there are no floury or chocolatey streaks.

Scrape into the prepared tray and smooth out to level. Bake for approximately 25 minutes or until the top is dry and the sponge is springy. Rest for 10 minutes before inverting onto a cooling rack, peel away the paper, then re-invert and cool fully. 

Filling
Drain apricots over a medium saucepan and add the orange peel, juice and sugar to the syrup. Bring to the boil, stirring until sugar dissolves. Gently boil for 15 minutes until a thick syrup forms. Next, thickly slice apricots, add to syrup and simmer for 5 minutes to soften. Set aside to cool. Reserve syrup and the peel for decoration. 

Assembly
Cut sides of the sponge to straighten, if needed. Cut into two equal pieces. Place the first piece back onto the cooling rack. Brush with 1 tbs of the apricot syrup and gently spoon over half the apricot mixture, lightly pressing the apricots into the sponge with the back of the spoon. You could use apricot jam for this step if you like. Brush remaining sponge with syrup and place, syrup-side down, to finish. Adjust sponge stacks to align pieces and press lightly. Brush crumbs from the side, cover with plastic wrap and chill overnight. The following day, return the cake to the cooling rack. Warm the jam in a small bowl in the microwave with 1 tbs boiling water and brush top and sides of cake with the jam.

Ganache
Place the chopped chocolate in a heatproof bowl. Pour over the boiling water. Either microwave for 20 seconds on high, or place a bowl over a saucepan of simmering water for 1-2 minutes, to melt the chocolate. Gently stir together with a whisk until combined and smooth. Now stir in the maple syrup. Set aside at room temperature for 20-30 minutes until ganache thickens to a spreadable consistency. 

Place the cooling rack over a baking tray to catch any dripping chocolate, pour ganache slowly over the cake, guiding ganache to fall down the sides. Smooth top and sides with a metal spatula to evenly coat and set aside to set. 

While ganache sets, melt the remaining dark chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl in 30-second bursts and smooth thinly onto a sheet of baking paper. Cover with a second piece of baking paper and roll up to form a 2cm-diameter cylinder. Freeze for 30 minutes, then unroll – the chocolate will break into shards.

Once the ganache has set, lift the cake carefully onto a serving plate using an egg lifter. Just before serving, top the cake with the chocolate shards, dust with cocoa and top with reserved candied peel. Cut with a hot damp knife. To get the neatest slices I found it best to cut the cake longitudinally first then crosswise. Serve with the remaining apricot compote. 

You know how I don't like chocolate cakes, well I'll make an exception for this one which was absolutely delicious, especially the ganache. I may have even had 2 slices.

See you all again tomorrow with another bake for Passover week 2024.

Bye for now,

Jillian

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passover week 2024 - chocolate almond macaroon teacakes

passover week 2024 - chocolate almond macaroon teacakes

Some recipes only need to be lightly adapted to become Passover friendly and this Claire Ptak recipe from her book, Love is a Pink Cake, is one such recipe. All I had to do was swap the cornflour for potato starch and I was done. The recipe is naturally gluten free and if you made the hot water ganache recipe from the Passover Sachertorte with apricot compote post, these little treats would be dairy free as well. 

The recipe is a bit fiddly but the teacakes are delicious and not too sweet. The original recipe was for 12 teacakes but I halved it to make 6. I doubled the marshmallow recipe though just to ensure there was sufficient marshmallow to go around. If you make 12 teacakes, I would make a 3 egg white marshmallow recipe just to be on the safe side.

Here's the recipe for you which makes 6 teacakes. For all my recipes I use a 250ml cup and a 20 ml tablespoon, unsalted butter and 60g eggs. My oven is a conventional gas oven so if your oven is fan forced you may need to reduce the oven temperature by 20°C.

Chocolate almond macaroon tea cakes - makes 6
For the almond macaroon base
25g flaked almonds, lightly toasted
37g almond meal
80g caster sugar 
2 tsp potato starch
1 egg white

For the marshmallow
2 egg whites
100g caster sugar
3 tsp golden syrup
Small pinch fine salt

For the chocolate ganache 
100g dark chocolate, roughly chopped 
120g cream

1 tsp maple syrup

To finish

25g flaked almonds, lightly toasted

Method
Preheat the oven to 170°C conventional and line a large baking tray with baking paper.

Mix the toasted flaked and ground almonds, 50g of the caster sugar and the potato starch together and set aside. Put the remaining sugar and egg whites into a clean bowl and whisk together to form soft peaks. Fold the two mixtures together, then spoon 6 x 5cm circles of the mixture onto the lined tray and flatten slightly with the back of a spoon. Bake for 20 minutes, then carefully peel off the paper and allow to cool on a wire rack.

Marshmallow

Put all the ingredients into the metal bowl of your stand mixer and set over a saucepan of simmering water (do not let the water touch the bottom of the bowl or it will cook the egg whites). Whisk continuously by hand with a balloon whisk, until the sugar dissolves and the mixture is very warm to the touch. If using a sцgar thermometer, whisk continuously for 2 minutes, or until it reads 70-75°C whichever comes first. Transfer the bowl to your electric mixer (fitted with the whisk attachment) and whisk quickly until stiff peaks are just beginning to form.

Put the mixture in a piping bag with a large round nozzle. Pipe large bubble shapes onto your cooled macaroons (or use a spoon).

Ganache

Put the chopped chocolate into a heatproof bowl. Heat 100g of the cream until just beginning to bubble, then pour it over the chocolate. Let it sit for 10 minutes, then stir until smooth. If the ganache is a little broken or spilt, stir in the remaining cold cream and stir until smooth.

Position the wire rack of macaroons over a baking paper-lined tray, to catch any chocolate drips. Spoon the chocolate over the marshmallow macaroons, coating them evenly. Top with the flaked almonds, then leave to set for 15 mins before serving.

The teacakes do not have a long shelf life so I would serve them the same day they're made.

See you all tomorrow with another bake for Passover Week 2024.

Bye for now,

Jillian

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iced pink finger buns

iced pink finger buns

8 Apr 2024

I've always loved an iced pink finger bun so when I saw a photo of the pistachio and lemon iced buns from Beatrix Bakes: Another Slice by Natalie Paull in the latest issue of Delicious Magazine, I knew it was time to make a batch. When I found some freeze dried raspberry powder in the baking aisle of my local supermarket on Saturday, I knew the time had come.

These finger buns were not made using Natalie's recipe, but they were inspired by the pictures. I used my ever faithful bun dough recipe, much adapted from a Sarah Keiffer recipe, with the addition of dried fruit and citrus rind as suggested by Natalie. I used orange syrup to glaze the buns, which was already lurking in my fridge but I used Natalie's cream cheese icing recipe. 

You can't make these finger buns on a whim because the dough needs an overnight rise. However, both the icing and syrup can be made ahead of time or while the buns are proving. As I'm an early riser, the buns were baked, cooled and iced by 10.00 am on Sunday morning and devoured by 10.15 am. They are so good!

Here's the recipe for you which makes 6 finger buns. For all my recipes I use a 250ml cup and a 20 ml tablespoon, unsalted butter and 60g eggs. My oven is a conventional gas oven so if your oven is fan forced you may need to reduce the oven temperature by 20°C.

Iced pink finger buns - Inspired by the recipe for pistachio and lemon iced buns from Beatrix Bakes: Another Slice by Natalie Paull, a copy of which has been on order from my local library for quite some time.

Fruit soak
100g dried fruit (I used a mix of sultanas, currants and dried cranberries)
½ cup boiling water
Finely grated rind of 1 lemon and 1 orange

Dough
1 and 1/8 tsp yeast
125 mls lukewarm milk
30g honey
1 room temperature egg 
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups (300g) plain flour 
½ tsp salt
75g room temperature unsalted butter, cut into small pieces 

Syrup
40 mls orange juice or water
40g caster sugar

Fluffy cream cheese icing
125g full fat softened cream cheese
125g unsalted butter, squidgy soft 
½ tsp vanilla extract
pinch salt
40g yoghurt powder or dried milk powder
125g icing sugar
10g freeze dried raspberry powder

To finish
¼ cup flaked coconut 
1 tbs freeze dried raspberry pieces 
60g butter of your choice

Fruit soak
Place the dried fruit into a small bowl and cover with boiling water. Leave for an hour before draining thoroughly and patting dry with paper towel. Stir through the grated rinds and set aside until needed.

Dough
Grease a large plastic container and set to one side. Combine the yeast, milk and honey in a large liquid measuring cup and rest for 5 minutes or until foamy then stir in the egg and the vanilla.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook, mix the flour and salt and stir on low to combine. Add the egg mixture and mix on low to combine. With the mixer on low, add the butter, one piece at a time. When all the butter has been incorporated (about 10 minutes) increase the speed to medium and beat the butter into the dough, until all the little butter pieces are incorporated, and the dough comes away from the side of the bowl. Transfer the dough to the prepared container. 

The dough will be sticky and you might need a spatula to scrape the dough into the bowl or container. Cover the container with a lid or with plastic wrap and let rise for 30 minutes. Distribute the fruit soak over the dough and gently push it into the dough using your fingers. Place your fingers or a spatula underneath the dough and gently pull the dough up and fold it back over itself. Turn the container and repeat this folding again. Continue 6 to 8 more times, until all the dough has been folded over on itself. Re-cover the container and let rise for 30 minutes. Repeat this series of folding 3 more times, for a rise time of 2 hours and a total of 4 foldings. Replace the lid or tightly cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight or up to 72 hours.

Icing
Place the cream cheese, butter and yoghurt or milk powder, vanilla and salt in the bowl of electric stand mixer. Sift the icing sugar over the top. Beat with the paddle attachment for 10 minutes on speed 4 (below low) until pale, and fluffy. Store covered in the fridge until needed. If refrigerated, rewarm in the microwave in 20-second bursts until softened.

Assembly
Spray a shallow 20cm 30cm 5cm deep baking tray with cooking oil spray and line with baking paper. On a lightly floured counter, divide the chilled dough into six, approximately 105g portions and gently shape into balls. Leave on the counter with a tea towel over the top and rest for 10 minutes. This little pre-shape will relax the dough so you can roll evenly shaped with extra flour as possible.
Roll the balls into smooth, even diameter cigars about 15cm long. Place the dough cigars in parallel lines on the lined tray. Space them apart by 1cm so they'll touch during baking. Free-range, far apart buns won't puff as much without support from their bun buddies. Spray the tops with cooking oil and cover with plastic wrap. Leave at room temperature for the final proof  (around 1 to 1½ hours depending on room temperature) or until they're a little puffed and snuggling one another. 

Towards the end of the proof, preheat the oven to 220°C, conventional. While the buns proof, finish the icing by stirring in 10g of dried raspberry powder. Set aside at room temperature, or refrigerate if it's a warm day. 

Syrup
Combine the juice or water and sugar in small non-reactive saucepan and bring to a simmer. Simmer for 30 seconds, until viscous like oil. Turn the heat off and set the syrup aside to cool at room temperature.

When the buns bounce back lazily when poked, put them in the oven. Turn the heat down to 190°C conventional and bake for 18-20 minutes. The bun tops will be a light tan colour, springy to touch, and the internal temperature will be 95°C. As soon as the buns come out of the even, brush the syrup all over the tops and sides. Leave the tray to completely cool on a wire rack for around 1 hour. If your icing is chilled, take it out of the fridge now.

To finish 
Pull a bun away from its buddies. Using a small, sharp serrated knife, split the cooled bun lengthwise like a hot dog bun, keeping the base intact, and smooth a good smear of softened butter on each cut side. Press the halves back together.

Load the softened icing into a piping bag with a medium plain nozzle in place (I used my home made St Honore tip). Pipe a tight squiggly spine down the top of the bun and sprinkle with flaked coconut and a few freeze dried raspberry pieces. Serve straight away.

Now I can't wait to make a batch of the pistachio and lemon iced buns.

Easter has been and gone and hard as it is to believe, Passover is almost upon us. I've been baking Passover treats since the end of January and next week I'll be sharing 5 bakes with you for Passover week 2024. 

See you all again next week.

Bye for now, 

Jillian

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chocolate ricotta cake

chocolate ricotta cake

1 Apr 2024

It wouldn't be Easter without chocolate. As I'm sure you know, I don't really like chocolate in baked goods, although I do admit to a deep fondness for chocolate Tim Tams. I'm known at work as the girl (shock, horror) who doesn't like chocolate, however my workmates are huge fans. With my workmates in mind and with some leftover ricotta in the fridge I decided to try my hand at making the chocolate ricotta cake I saw Julia Busuttil Nishimura whip up on the Good Food Kitchen cooking show.

Raspberries were on special at the supermarket and I had everything else on hand I needed, so I put the cake together on Sunday morning. Once cooled I veered away from the recipe a little and topped the cake with some espresso flavoured chocolate ganache.

Here's the recipe for you which makes a 17cm cake. For all my recipes I use a 250ml cup and a 20 ml tablespoon, unsalted butter and 60g eggs. My oven is a conventional gas oven so if your oven is fan forced you may need to reduce the oven temperature by 20°C.

Chocolate ricotta cake – Julia Busuttil Nishimura
Ingredients
100g self-raising flour
30g Dutch process cocoa powder

pinch salt
125g unsalted butter
135g caster sugar
2 eggs at room temperature

125g fresh full-fat ricotta
1 tsp vanilla extract

Chocolate ganache
75g 50% chocolate, finely chopped
75ml pure cream
½ tsp maple syrup

¼ tsp espresso powder
Fresh raspberries, to decorate

Method
Preheat the oven to 190°C conventional. Grease and line a 17cm round cake tin. Sift the flour, cocoa powder and salt together into a medium bowl and set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the flat beater, cream the butter and sugar on a medium-high speed for 4-5 minutes or until very pale and fluffy, scraping the bowl down with a spatula as needed. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition before adding the next. Once the eggs have been fully incorporated, add the ricotta and vanilla extract and continue to mix until well combined. Reduce the speed to low and add in the flour and cocoa powder. Mix very briefly, only for 10-15 seconds, or until it is just incorporated. Finish mixing the cake batter by hand with a spatula, being careful to not over-mix. Spoon into the prepared tin and smooth the mixture.

Bake in the preheated 190°C conventional oven for 45-50 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean when tested. Allow to cool briefly in the tin then turn onto a wire rack to finish cooling. Transfer to a serving plate and set aside.

For the ganache, place the chopped chocolate in a medium bowl. In a small pan heat the cream with the maple syrup and espresso powder, stirring until the espresso powder has dissolved and the cream is until simmering. Immediately pour the warm cream over the chocolate and let it sit for a few minutes. Whisk or stir the mixture until the chocolate and butter have melted and combined with the cream, to form a rich and glossy mixture. 

Allow to sit at room temperature until it becomes a spreadable consistency (about 20 minutes). Spoon the ganache onto the cooled cake and spread it to the edges of the cake in a swirling motion. Top with the raspberries before serving.

I'm pleased to report that every-one at work loved the chocolate ricotta cake.

See you all again next week with some more baking from my kitchen.

Bye for now,

Jillian 

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tuscan rosemary buns

tuscan rosemary buns

24 Mar 2024

Last year I saw some delicious looking Easter buns on the Flour and Stone IG account. They were Nadine Ingram's adaptation of pan di ramarino, or Tuscan rosemary buns. Nadine in turn had been inspired by an Emiko Davies recipe, so I went straight to the source.

I do love hot cross buns but they are a little time consuming and this recipe was not. I was also intrigued by the use of savoury rosemary in a sweet bun, so I went to work slightly adapting the recipe along the way. Firstly I had to buy some rosemary as my rosemary plant died some time ago. I didn't have quite enough sultanas so I used some currants as well. I have to say that combination worked out so well, I would do that again.

I made the dough and did an overnight rise and the dough rose very high and handsome. When it came to scoring the dough, the razor blades I'd purchased for the task went missing, so I used a sharp knife instead. 

As orange and rosemary are natural partners I topped the buns with orange flavoured syrup. I was very keen to try one of the buns still warm from the oven. The buns were lightly sweet, fluffy, gently flavoured with rosemary and best of all delicious. I've made the buns a second time, using a combination of sultanas and dried blueberries, because I'd run out of currants, and they were equally delicious. I also purchased another pack of razor blades so I could score the buns. So much easier than using a serrated knife.

Here’s the recipe for you which makes 8 buns. For all my recipes I use a 250ml cup and a 20 ml tablespoon, unsalted butter and 60g eggs. My oven is a conventional gas oven so if your oven is fan forced you may need to reduce the oven temperature by 20°C.

Tuscan rosemary buns - makes 8

Ingredients
80g sultanas or currants or a mix of both
1 Earl Grey teabag
100 mls boiling water
2 fresh rosemary sprigs
60ml extra-virgin olive oil
7g (1 sachet) dried yeast
180 ml lukewarm milk or water or a mixture
30g caster sugar
300g plain flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 egg lightly beaten, for glazing
Butter, to serve

Orange syrup
55g caster sugar 
1 tsp finely grated orange rind
20 mls water
60 mls orange juice

Method
Place the sultanas, tea bag and 100mls boiling water in a bowl. Set aside for an hour or until fruit is plump. Drain well before using.

To infuse the oil, remove the leaves from one rosemary sprig, you should have about 5g, and chop finely. Place the olive oil into a small saucepan with the rosemary leaves and gently heat for a few minutes. Allow to cool completely.

ln a small bowl, combine the yeast with 60 mls of the warm milk and 1 tsp of the sugar. Leave covered for 10 minutes or so until a sponge has formed. Place the remaining sugar, the flour and salt into the bowl of a stand mixer. Add the yeast mixture, the cooled oil and leaves and the remaining milk and using the dough hook mix until a soft dough has formed, about 5-7 minutes. Cover and leave for 20 minutes before doing a series of stretch and folds. Leave for a further 20 minutes covered in the bowl.

Place the dough onto a floured board and flatten into a rectangle. Remove the leaves from the second sprig of rosemary. Pat the sultanas dry and sprinkle over the dough along with the fresh rosemary leaves. Gently press the sultanas into the dough. Fold over corners of the dough to enclose the sultanas and rosemary and knead until evenly distributed. Form into a round, transfer to a lightly oiled bowl, cover and rest in a warm, draught-free place until doubled in size (about 1 hour). You could also cover the bowl and leave it in the fridge for an overnight rise.

Place the dough onto a lightly floured board, then divide the dough into 8 pieces. Shape into fist-sized buns and place on a lined baking sheet with 5cm or so space between each bun. Score the tops of the bun with a noughts-and-crosses grid using a very sharp knife or a razor blade. Cover with a tea towel and allow to rise in a warm place, for a further half hour.

Preheat the oven to 200°C, conventional. Brush the tops of the buns with beaten egg and bake at 200⁰C for 20 minutes or until golden brown on top. While the buns are cooking, prepare the syrup. Place the sugar and orange rind in a small saucepan with the water and stir to dissolve. Add the orange juice then simmer for a few minutes until slightly thickened. When the buns are ready, brush the tops of the still warm buns with the syrup, then transfer to a wire rack to cool. Serve with butter.

Like most breads, these are best eaten the day they are made but are excellent the following day toasted and served with butter and apricot jam.

Have a great Easter break and I'll see you all again next week with some more baking from my kitchen.

Bye for now,

Jillian

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