Giving Jamie Oliver's Hot Cross Buns A Go

In Philippines, Easter is widely observed by the majority of Filipinos but not my family. Being Protestant Christians, my family doesn't have food traditions like other families do which is why I have no clue as to what they eat during Lent. At the resort, western and Thai holiday celebrations consist of dishes traditionally served during the season. On many occasions, I get the chance to work on some of them. This Easter, I was commissioned to make hot cross buns to mark the occasion. I didn't know what it was. I did a little reading to get some ideas for the recipe.

What is hot cross bun? According to Wiki   A hot cross bun is a spiced sweet bun made with currants or raisins and marked with a cross on the top, traditionally eaten on Good Friday in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, United States, India, and Canada, and now available all year round in some places. 

So there. The bun is an Easter tradition in most western countries. Another article states that they are served to commemorate the suffering of Jesus Christ on the cross.

Making My First Gluten-Free Bread

I would say my first attempt to make gluten-free bread went okay. I had never made one but there was a guest with gluten intolerance coming to stay with us for a few days so the chef wanted us to be ready in case she requested for a gluten-free bread. I was informed the last minute. I was lacking the right ingredients. I had to improvise with what I had. For the trial run, I used gluten-free all purpose flour.  Following the recipe from sheletthemeatcake.com, I substituted all the flours with Bob's Red Mill all-purpose flour. The flour is a blend of garbanzo bean flour, potato starch, whole grain white sorghum flour, tapioca flour and fava bean flour so I thought it would work.

As for the other ingredients, I made a modification here and there. I stirred in palm oil instead of sunflower oil. I substituted xanthan gum with agar agar powder. I used ground black sesame seed in place of flax seed. I didn't add the amount called for because sesame has got a strong flavor. The bread still came out with a subtle sesame flavor though. It was overpowering but tolerable.  I should have just omitted it. I reduced a quarter of flour but  put double amount of almond meal. Wrong move.  The recipe yielded a good but heavy and  dense bread. I am hundred percent sure it's the culprit. Oh well, I tried my best.

Bread Conversion

The idea of converting  whole wheat bread into a soft, fluffy loaf had been running through my mind for ages. I  was aware that replacing ingredients could affect the texture and taste. Well,  baking is a science and experimenting is crucial in learning the science of baking. I took the plunge and was surprised at how tender and fluffy it turned out. It tasted good too!

Breakfast Muesli Bread

The off-season is an opportune time for recipe testing. Less crowds means less demand.And less demand means more time to explore new things.  I did a few trial to test this muesli bread recipe. I lack the right ingredients so I resorted to using a mixture of different stuff. "A little bit of this and more of that" kind of experiment. It was a trial and error for days. In the end, I finally got  the texture  I was targeting. I served it at breakfast a couple weeks ago. When I collected the bread basket after breakfast, I was thrilled to see an empty container.The resort's occupancy at the time was the lowest this year. Only a handful of people came to eat. It only meant one thing. The bread must be so good. I was grinning inside.

Grissini

Sunday Brunch is a major event at the resort. It is also the busiest day of the week for us. As for me, I do the usual baking when I get in early in the morning then help at the dessert and cold kitchen section once I finish up.  There are times when I stay at the bakery the whole day prepping up for the days ahead. Some Sundays, I get extra request from the chef.

A week ago, there was some misunderstanding with the market list for Sunday. The grissini, which the restaurant usually orders from the supplier were not delivered. I was in the middle of making pastries when the chef asked me to make grissini (bread sticks) for brunch. I only had an hour before the brunch started so I hurriedly wrap the rolled out pastry in cling film, put it back in the chiller, cleared my work table and mixed bread stick dough. I had not done it before so I referred to my guide the whole time. Looking back and forth actually made the process longer but I wanted to get the recipe right.

Whole Wheat Bread

I have tried several version of whole wheat bread  and this one stood out among others. I adapted it from  Dutch whole wheat bread called Volkorenbrood. It became my  trusted recipe and have used it since.

I used a mixture of wheat flour, Imperial whole wheat mixed flour and wheat germ. It's surprising how the combination of the three makes a delicious, good textured whole wheat bread.

Bread Winner

I have started baking bread in full force. Two weeks have passed since I  laid my hands on  bread dough and yet I still feel intimidated in dealing with it. What I need to acquire to become proficient is the knowledge and technique of handling bread dough - from the kneading time, to resting, shaping, proofing and finally baking.

I consider myself beginner. The workshops I attended at the culinary school did not cover everything but they helped me in so many ways.  Going back to the time during my  first few weeks struggling  at my old job in Bangkok, (I was a pastry cook) it gives me hope. I keep reminding myself that everything starts from the beginning and all will be well eventually so I have nothing to worry about.

No Giving Up

Success! My third attempt.

It has been a  mind-blowing experience at work this week.  I started to make bread  and pastries for breakfast. I have no strong background in bread baking although the basic training I got from my boulangerie class (bread baking) at Le Cordon Bleu Dusit Culinary School did help. When I think about the missed opportunities in working with bread at my former workplace in Bangkok, I feel bad. Bad because I had the chance yet I wasn't at all concerned. I had my own thing going ( I made all the cakes and other goodies). I just wished I did not take it for granted. All those times I was focusing more on pastries, desserts and cakes. Now that I am given the full responsibility of making all the bread for the resort's restaurant, I feel like exploding. Not that I am not up for the challenge but because  I am working alone. I have no one to guide me or help me. I'm on my own. It's a big responsibility alright.

For this week, I made white bread, whole wheat bread and attempted to make multi-grain bread on which I failed twice. I wondered if it was my lack of skills or lack of ingredients. As I said before, the bakery has just started operating after a year. I am still in the process of getting everything settled.

Bread and Butter

One night a few weeks back, I was browsing the net looking for a good whole wheat bread recipe when I chanced upon this video on youtube. The show was all about healthy bread. I went to the main website and hurriedly searched for whole wheat bread and found it in a snap. The demo was done by this guy who has been baking for 35 years. I watched the baker in awe. My tummy growled as the flour began to take shape. For each procedure , he gave a thorough explanation. And that made every step easier for me.I am not a bread baker but a pastry chef who wants to develop and refine my skills in baking bread so all minute details are essential to my learning process. I had this itch to try it right away but I couldn't as I didn't have the ingredients needed. I took the trip to a nearby supermarket as soon as I had my breakfast the next day.


Here's what you need for the recipe. Olive oil, sea salt, dry yeast, whole wheat flour , warm water and syrup.