Having come across a jar of saffron in the spice cupboard, I decided to have a go at making saffron buns. I remember these from camping trips to Cornwall at Easter as a kid. We used to get up very early in the morning on Good Friday and drive down the M5, stopping at the first bakers we could find in Cornwall.
You need to allow a bit of time for prep for this recipe as you need to infuse the saffron in the milk.
As with the hot cross bun recipe I use a Panasonic bread machine to make the dough and do the first rise. If you're going to do this by hand, or using a mixer, use easy blend dried yeast, melted butter & warm milk.
Ingredients
1.5 tsp of fast action dried yeast
1lb strong white bread flour
1.5 tsp salt
1 teaspoons of mixed spice
2oz butter
2oz caster sugar
5oz mixed fruit
1 egg, beaten
250ml milk
1 tsp dried saffron threads
Put the milk into a saucepan and heat until almost boiling. Take off the heat. Put in the saffron threads and leave for about 30 minutes.
Put the yeast into the bread machine, then the flour, then the rest of the ingredients except the dried fruit. I have a fruit & nut dispenser on the bread machine, so put the fruit in there if you have one. Otherwise you add it in according to the instructions on my machine. I set mine to the raisin dough cycle.
If doing by hand Mix all the dry ingredients together including the fruit, add the butter, egg & enough milk to get a soft dough. Turn out onto a floured surface & knead till dough soft & elastic. Put in an oiled bowl topped with oiled clingfilm or a clean tea towel and leave to rise somewhere warm till doubled in size.
Knock down the dough and split into 12 equal sized balls. I arrange them on a large oiled baking sheet. I put them quite close together so you get that lovely batch baking effect of soft sides when you pull them apart.
If I'm doing these for breakfast I'll put them in the fridge overnight covered with clingfilm. I then take them out the fridge in the morning and allow to rise somewhere warm until doubled in size ( about 30-45 mins )
I cook them for 15-20 minutes at 180 degrees in the fan oven.
We prefer our buns non sticky. The easiest way to get a sticky bun is to melt some local honey and brush it over the buns when they're just out of the oven. Or you can use apricot jam, warm it gently & sieve out the bits
Sausage And Saffron Risotto recipe has no tomatoes, and adds just a hint of saffron and a bay leaf for flavor.
ReplyDeleteINGREDIENTS
one cup carnaroli rice
olive oil
1/3 cup diced red onion
1/3 cup diced carrot
1/3 cup diced celery
salt and pepper
one pint veal stock (diluted 1:1 with water to make a quart total)
1/3 pound italian sausage
bay leaf
tiny pinchlet of saffron
1/2 cup grated parmigiano reggiano
one tablespoon butter
one tablespoon chopped flat parsley
tumi del trifulin to grate on top
pisco
dry white wine
Sautee the vegetables with fresh-ground black pepper, and then add the sausage (out of the casing). Sautee until the sausage is cooked, breaking it up well with your spoon. Add the rice and sautee for a few minutes, coating the grains well with oil/fat, until it smells toasty. Deglaze with a small splash of pisco and a large splash of wine, add the teeny pinchlet of saffron and the bay leaf, turn heat up, and reduce until alcohol is gone. Cook in the usual way, ladling in hot stock and stirring gently, until the rice grains are still crunchy in the very center. Then turn off heat, remove the bay leaf, add one final ladle of stock to loosen, and stir in the parmigiano, butter, and parsley. Cover and allow to rest for a few minutes.