Tuesday 28 November 2017

Gifflar

These are probably best known from Ikea, where you can buy bags of them. I had assumed it was a brand, but after a bit of investigation it turns out that these are actually a Swedish type of pastry. It's a hard one to research, as 99% of the results bring back the bagged variety...however I found some sources, so did my normal thing and worked out a recipe based on a combination of places, and then winged it a bit as I went along. In Ikea you can get 2 flavours...cinnamon and gingerbread, so I decided to do the same.

These are probably twice the size of the Ikea variety, but rather delicious. I'm undecided on the egg white wash at the end of the process...it actually makes them a bit messy (as the egg white cooks white very quickly, often with a bit of froth). Maybe a sugar syrup wash instead...though there is plenty of sweetness in these already!

This recipe uses a sponge starter, and I found I needed a bit more liquid once I made the dough...this really will depend on the absorbency of your flour.

Gifflar Recipe - makes 32

Sponge Starter Ingredients

  • 230ml milk
  • 100g strong flour
  • 10g fast action yeast
  • 10g honey
1) Warm the milk until it's luke-warm (about 30-40 seconds in a microwave...you don't want it over 38'C really, or you risk killing the yeast)

2) Stir in the honey

3) Using a fork, stir in the yeast and flour

4) Leave for 30 minutes to froth up

Dough Ingredients

  • 500g strong white flour
  • 150g caster sugar
  • 5g salt
  • 2 large eggs (room temperature)
  • 100g butter (room temperature)
  • Zest of one orange
  • (optional, see notes above) 30ml luke-warm water

1) Place the flour, salt, zest and sugar in a stand mixer bowl with the dough hook attachment

2)  Crack in the eggs

3) Pour in the sponge starter, and start to mix on a low setting

4) Once the dough comes together, add the butter in in small chunks until it's all combined

5) (optional) if the dough is too stiff, add in the water a bit at a time. You're looking for a soft, sticky dough...initially it should be sticking to the bowl and hook

6) Continue to mix on a medium speed until the dough glosses up, and starts to clean the sides of the bowl. This can take 10-15 minutes.

7) Turn out into a greased container, and leave to prove until tripled in size. While it's proving, make the fillings and prepare 3-4 baking trays with baking parchment or silicone baking sheets

Each of these fillings makes enough for half a batch, so either double one recipe, or make both.

Cinnamon Filling

  • 100g soft dark brown sugar
  • 10g plain flour
  • 20g ground cinnamon


Gingerbread Filling

  • 100g soft dark brown sugar
  • 5g ground cinnamon
  • 10g ground ginger
  • 2.5g ground nutmeg
  • 2.5g ground cloves/mace
1) Place all the ingredients in a large bowl and mix thoroughly....crush any balls of sugar against the side of the bowl to smooth it as much as possible.

Assembly

  • 120g butter
  • plain flour (to sprinkle)
  • 2 egg yolks
  • 30g milk
  • 2 egg whites (optional)

1) Melt the butter in a microwave, and allow it to cool slightly

2) Split the dough into 4 equal parts (approx. 300g each)

3) Flour a surface, and roll each part out into a circle approx. 30cm in diameter

4) Generously brush the circle with the butter (use a lot...one quarter of the butter on each)

5) Spread 60-65g of the filling onto the circle evenly, and then use your fingers to push it into the dough and melted butter

6) Cut the circle into 8 "pizza" slices

7) Roll the pizza slices up from the long end towards the point, to form a croissant-like roll. Place this on the baking sheets, with a good space in between each one.

8) Once you have done all the dough, brush each gifflar with a little water (to stop them drying out), cover and leave to prove for an hour and a half (so they swell up a little)

9) Pre-heat the oven to 160-170'C

10) Beat the egg yolks and milk together in a small bowl

11) Brush each proved gifflar with the egg yolk mixture

12) bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes. They will brown heavily due to the egg yolk, so keep an eye on them

13) once they are out of the oven, brush with the egg white and leave to cool on a wire rack (I think this could be replaced by a sugar syrup wash instead, for prettier results)
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Thursday 23 November 2017

Coffee and Walnut Cupcakes

This is another one of rthe wedding list. in general they came out OK, however I think more coffee in the cake mixture next time (probably double). I was going to caramelise the walnut halves, but in retrospect this seems overkill, as they are already sitting on a pool of caramel. I may (next time) put the coffee caramel in a piping bag, so I can be a little neater when I do the filling.

This uses a number of other components;
The coffee caramel from here, which is used to fill in the top. This can be made well ahead of time, and stored in the fridge, though I'd recommend getting it back to room temperature to use, as it can be quite firm.
The cream cheese frosting from here, which is used to decorate the top. This is particularly handy, as both cupcakes will be at teh wedding, so I can make a single batch of the frosting, and use it for both.

Coffee and Walnut Cupcakes - Recipe (makes 12)

Pre-heat oven to 160'C
Prepare a 12-hole deep bun tin with paper cases

Ingredients

  • 175g self-raising flour
  • 175g room temperature butter
  • 175g caster sugar
  • 4tsp instant coffee granules
  • 3tsp milk
  • 3 large eggs
  • 60g walnut pieces
  • 12 walnut halves (to decorate)
1) Place the butter and sugar in a stand mixer with the paddle attachment

2) Beat until smooth and pale

3) Beat in the eggs one at a time, adding a tablespoon of flour with each egg (this helps it all bind

4) Slake the coffee into the milk until dissolved and smooth

5) Add the coffee to the mixture

6) Add the flour adn mix until just combined

7) Add the walnut pieces and fold in

8) Place 50g of the mixture into each paper case (yeah, I weigh it in!)

9) Bake for 20 minutes. While it's baking, make the cream cheese frosting (link above). It should make more than you need.

10) Leave the cakes to cool fully before icing

11) Pipe a circle of the cream cheese frosting onto each cupcake, leaving a space in the middle

12) Take 12 teaspoons of the coffee caramel and heat in the microwave until just fluid. You don't want it hot, just runny.

13) Spoon 1 teaspoon of the caramel into hte gap on each cupcake neatly

14) Press a walnut half on top of each pool of caramel, and leave to set

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