Here is a new recipe made in partnership with Visit Czech Republic. This time we made the Christmas braided bun. Deliciously flavored with lemon, almonds and raisins, it is composed of three…]]>
Czech Christmas Braided Brioche
Here is a new recipe made in partnership with Visit Czech Republic. This time we made the Christmas braided bun. Deliciously flavored with lemon, almonds and raisins, it is composed of three layers to be stacked. Don’t panic, everything is explained step by step as usual and even in video!
Ingredients
- 500 g flour
- salt a good pinch
- 90 g iced sugar
- 6 g dried yeast (or 20g fresh yeast)
- 225 ml milk
- organic lemon zest
- 5 egg yolks
- 150 g butter at room temperature
- 100 g white almonds
- 100 g dried raisins
For the gilding
- 1 egg (beaten)
- silvered almonds
Instructions
- Put the flour, salt, yeast (which should not touch the salt), powdered sugar and milk in the bowl of your food processor.
- Zest the organic lemon.
- Add the egg yolks, then knead the dough for about 7 minutes to get something homogeneous.
- Add the butter at room temperature.
- Knead again until perfectly incorporated.
- Add the raisins and almonds.
- Mix well.
- The dough is finished.
- Let it grow for 1h30 to 2h in a warm place. After this time, degas the dough by pressing on it, then place a piece of cling film on top. Let stand in a cool place overnight or at least 3-4 hours.
- The next day, take the dough out of the refrigerator 2-3 hours before working with it. Divide it into 8 balls of the same size (about 155g).
- Roll them into 30cm long balls. Flour as needed.
- Make a first 4-strand braid.
- For that, you have the video above in the recipe!
- Then make a 3-strand branch with three more strands.
- Lay the 3-strand braid over the 4-strand braid using egg white. Just brush on the 4-stranded one.
- Then make a 2 strand braid with the last ball that you will divide into two small strands. Put it on top of everything. Prick the bun with skewers to stabilize it.
- Allow to grow for 1 hour before brushing with beaten egg.
- Sprinkle with slivered almonds.
- Then bake for 10 minutes at 180°C on a convection oven, then lower to 155°C for another 45 minutes.
- Remove the peaks when the brioche has cooled and enjoy!
Nutrition
Serving: 6peopleCalories: 715kcalCarbohydrates: 75gProtein: 15gFat: 41gSaturated Fat: 18gPolyunsaturated Fat: 5gMonounsaturated Fat: 14gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 220mgSodium: 805mgPotassium: 442mgFiber: 6gSugar: 21gVitamin A: 905IUVitamin C: 1mgCalcium: 239mgIron: 4mg
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Tarama
Tarama is a specialty of the Mediterranean basin, from Greece to Turkey, and each country has its own recipe. With cod or mullet roe, I offer you my recipe, which is exactly what I expect from tarama!
Ingredients
- 70 g bread crumbs (bread without the crust, but quality bread!)
- 1/2 egg yolk (just take a little yolk)
- 280 g smoked cod eggs (or mullets if available)
- 170 to 200 g oil
- 1/2 glass of milk
Instructions
- Start by removing the crust from the bread. I bought bread from Poilâne, which has a dense and delicious crumb. It is very easy with a fresh crumb.Put the crumb in a bowl and pour enough milk to soak it completely.
- Wring out the crumb in your hand. Remove excess milk from bowl. Return the crushed crumb to the bowl. If the bread still has a little milk in it, that’s good because the tarama will hold up even better!
- Add half an egg yolk (this will not give any taste, but provides the protein needed to emulsify the oil).
- Mix at low speed with an electric whisk for 2 minutes, to break down the proteins in the egg yolk and milk.
- Add the equivalent of two or three spoonfuls of oil while still mixing at low speed. This will start the emulsion. The oil immediately begins to enclose itself in small “capsules” of water (which comes from the milk and thanks to the half-yolk).
- Here is an egg pocket of smoked cod.
- Open it with a knife on one side. All that remains is to remove the eggs with a spoon.
- Add the eggs (without the skin of the pocket).
- Then start mixing until all the pocket pieces are gone.
- Add the remaining oil in a thin stream, slowly rising just like a mayonnaise.
- Do not make the tarama with a blender as I read in some recipes! Then with an electric whisk, add the oil in a stream, very gently, just like a mayonnaise! I made my tarama on the fly, trying to get the best result possible. But I weighed everything before and after, so the proportions I listed above are the ideal ones for me.Regarding the addition of lemon, I prefer to leave it up to each person to add it to the tarama at the time of tasting!Once all the oil has been added, mix well with a spoon, scraping the edges to incorporate everything.
- Film the tarama by putting the cling film in direct contact with the preparation. Let stand in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours before enjoying on slices of toast or (untraditional but delicious!) on warm blinis!
Nutrition
Calories: 655kcalCarbohydrates: 17gProtein: 21gFat: 57gSaturated Fat: 7gPolyunsaturated Fat: 18gMonounsaturated Fat: 31gTrans Fat: 0.2gCholesterol: 439mgSodium: 1190mgPotassium: 208mgFiber: 1gSugar: 3gVitamin A: 714IUCalcium: 264mgIron: 9mg
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!
Chocolate con Churros
Of course, after my trip to Spain, I had to give you the recipe for churros! Easy to make and for a modest cost, you can enjoy it. At the same time, I put you my recipe for thick hot chocolate, the one in which we dip the churros to push the sin to the end…
Ingredients
- 150 g flour
- 180 g water
- a little salt!
- a pan of hot oil
The "Chocolate":
- 15 to 20 g cornstarch
- 50 g sugar
- 200 ml water
- 400 ml milk
- 120 g dark chocolate
- 1 teaspoon instant coffee (optional)
Instructions
- Here are the ingredients for the churros. I think this is the cheapest dessert ever!
- Bring the water to a boil with a little salt.
- Pour over the flour all at once.
- Mix immediately with a lot of elbow grease. It's ready!
- Here is the long awaited object! The Churro machine. From the brand... Bernar (without the "d" and I'm not kidding!).
- Put all the dough in the machine.
- Start screwing and the dough comes out by itself. When the oil is hot, make churros of the desired size and cut them with a knife. Before cutting, I unscrew a little, just to release the pressure so that the dough does not come out too much.
- When the underside begins to brown, turn them over.
- Here we see a giant churro!
- When they are cooked, put them on a paper towel. Ready to be devoured... Just sprinkle a little sugar on top.
- If we want to pad our hips a little more, we can do a "chocolate". Put the cornstarch and sugar in a saucepan. Add a little water to dissolve the cornstarch.
- Then add the remaining water and milk. You can add instant coffee for a full-bodied chocolate!
- Put on low heat and bring to a boil.
- The mixture will thicken. It's time to add the chocolate! I had chocolate shavings that I had made for the "black forest", but you can use chocolate cut into small pieces.
- Boil for 5 minutes.
- Let cool for 15 minutes, mix well with a whisk and serve in cups. Dip the churros in it with relish!
Nutrition
Calories: 1677kcalCarbohydrates: 213gProtein: 35gFat: 77gSaturated Fat: 41gPolyunsaturated Fat: 5gMonounsaturated Fat: 21gTrans Fat: 0.04gCholesterol: 53mgSodium: 1306mgPotassium: 1701mgFiber: 18gSugar: 104gVitamin A: 715IUCalcium: 828mgIron: 20mg
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Pão de queijo
The pão de queijo is traditionally made with ingredients that are hard to find in France, such as “polvilho doce”, which is a starch based on manioc and “meia cura” cheese (medium aged) but no problem to make them!I came back from Brazil with a “meia cura” cheese and I made my “pães de queijo” in the most authentic way! And in France you can replace with half grated fresh parmesan and half grated and chopped gruyere! The result will be almost identical!In Asian supermarkets you can find tapioca flour, which is actually tapioca starch, tapioca being cassava. So it’s a different name for what is in fact the same product! Tapioca flour = polvilho doce!The first ingredient is done. The second, the “meia cura” cheese, can be found in Brazilian grocery stores. But the price is quite high and you won’t notice the difference if you replace it with freshly grated Parmesan cheese . Sometimes I don’t have the courage to grate parmesan cheese, so I shamelessly use parmesan powder.In short, the cheese breads (“pães de queijo” in plural) are delicious and easy to make, you have to eat them 5 minutes after they come out of the oven, they have a slightly crunchy texture on the top and a heart extra soft (thanks to the tapioca flour!!). Everyone who has tried it at my house has become a fan! Well, yes the cäipirinha helps a lot!!!
Ingredients
- 500 g tapioca flour
- 200 g parmesan cheese
- 200 g Gruyere cheese grated and chopped
- 2 teaspoons salt (it seems like a lot but this is it!!)
- 200 ml milk
- 75 ml oil
- 220 g egg
Instructions
- Heat milk and oil in a saucepan until boiling, remove from heat.
- While the milk/oil is heating, put the tapioca flour and salt in a bowl and mix well. Pour the hot liquid mixture over it and mix vigorously.
- Add all the cheese. Mix well then add the eggs. Mix again, by hand it is easier than with a spoon. With a Kitchenaid, it’s even easier! The dough will be sticky, this is normal. If it sticks too much to form the balls, put half an hour in the fridge.
- This is the famous “meia cura” cheese I mentioned at the beginning of the recipe! You can either use this one or replace it with half grated parmesan and half grated and chopped gruyere!
- It can be grated and then put into the dough in the relevant step!
- Preheat the oven to 180°C. Place walnut-sized balls of dough on a baking sheet. You can put a lot on a baking sheet because the breads will not puff up much in the end.
- If you wish, you can leave the plate with the dumplings in the fridge overnight. This way, the dough will dry on the surface, and when you bake, you will have rolls with a thicker crust! I find them even better this way!
- Just put in the oven for 15-20 minutes, the Pão de queijo should be well rounded and slightly golden . To be eaten as soon as possible, without burning yourself!
- For the caipirinha, I prefer the one with maracujas (passion fruit). To do this I put the pulp (and seeds) of a dozen maracujas in a bowl, I pour cachaça (500ml) then I sugar while tasting to be sure not to put too much or not enough, good excuse to start They are delicious with a little touch of salted butter in the middle that will melt!
Nutrition
Serving: 15portionsCalories: 718kcalCarbohydrates: 81gProtein: 23gFat: 35gSaturated Fat: 14gPolyunsaturated Fat: 5gMonounsaturated Fat: 14gTrans Fat: 0.05gCholesterol: 91mgSodium: 1491mgPotassium: 216mgSugar: 5gVitamin A: 734IUVitamin C: 1mgCalcium: 720mgIron: 1mg
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Flemish Waffles with Vanilla
Delicious little waffles from the North! They are thin and fluffy, filled with a generous vanilla filling. But they can be filled with other fillings like rum brown sugar for example!Before I start, I want to tell you that I have tried a number of recipes… You will see in my recipe the addition of glucose syrup. It keeps the vanilla filling soft (otherwise the filling tends to dry out…) and in the waffle batter. If you really want to do without it, replace the 80g of syrup in the dough with 50g of caster sugar… For the filling, you can leave it out, but having tried it with it, it’s a little wetter, so the fluffiness is preserved!
Ingredients
Waffle dough
- 270 g of flour
- 20 g of whole milk powder
- 75 g of soft butter
- 1 egg
- 1/2 package dry baker's yeast
- 40 ml of warm milk
- 80 g of glucose syrup
Vanilla filling:
- 200 g of powdered sugar
- 120 g of butter
- 20 g of glucose syrup
- 1 vanilla bean
- 1/2 teaspoon of liquid vanilla
- 1/4+1/8 teaspoon of vanilla powder
Instructions
- Put all the ingredients for the dough in a bowl (bowl of a mixer).
- Turn on the machine (or if you don't have one, knead by hand!) and knead the dough for 10 minutes.
- Let the ball of dough rest. Cover with a cloth and let rise in a warm place for at least 2h30!
- Divide the risen dough into balls (which will inevitably fall back!). I made dumplings of exactly 16g each! This way we will have identical wafers!
- Turn on the waffle iron with the waffle plates. These plates are commercially available. They can be ordered through the internet.The best being a cast iron waffle iron from the grandmothers of the north! But I don't have gas or a fireplace... Put a ball of dough on each small wafer plate and press the plates together as tightly as possible for most of the baking time!
- Let cook for about one minute. The wafers should be removed as soon as they are golden brown. This way, they will keep their softness!
- As soon as the waffle iron is removed, cut the wafers in the thickness.
- Put the wafers immediately in a plastic bag and close it. The steam will also keep the wafers soft! Because if they dry on a wire rack, they will become crispy! With my method, we keep the moisture!
- Place all filling ingredients in a small bowl and mix with a spoon until creamy and smooth.
- Open the bag when the waffles have cooled and put a large knob of filling inside each wafer. Do not hesitate to put a real good layer, because if it is too thin, you will not feel much!
- Spread it evenly with a knife. Close the wafer like a sandwich.
- Using a pastry ring or cookie cutter, cut the edges of the wafers to make a perfectly even waffle. It is also possible not to go through this operation. This has only a visual purpose.
- Put the waffles back in a plastic bag to keep them soft!
- They keep well packaged for almost a week (or more, but they didn't survive longer!)!
Nutrition
Serving: 30wafflesCalories: 119kcalCarbohydrates: 15gProtein: 1gFat: 6gSaturated Fat: 4gPolyunsaturated Fat: 0.4gMonounsaturated Fat: 2gTrans Fat: 0.2gCholesterol: 15mgSodium: 118mgPotassium: 17mgFiber: 0.3gSugar: 9gVitamin A: 169IUVitamin C: 0.001mgCalcium: 20mgIron: 0.3mg
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!