An Orange & Cinnamon Swirl Bread

An Orange & Cinnamon Swirl Bread is this month challenge at We Knead To Bake #27.  The original recipe is from book 500 breads by Carol Beckerman.

It’s a simple American sweet bread. The uniqueness is its aroma. Yes, the orange and cinnamon combination is superb! Apart from its aroma, the bread dough is rolled with apricot preserve and baked to get the swirl effect. As usual, I go with all purpose & wheat flour combination. 

Ingredients:   1 cup of all purpose flour     ;     ¾ cup of whole wheat flour       ;       ½ tsp of sugar     ;   ¼ cup of brown sugar     ;     1/3 cup of warm water       ;      ¾ tsp of instant yeast      ;      1 tsp salt      ;       1 egg     ;       ½ orange juice & finely grated zest          ;         2 ½ tbsp. of apricot preserves        ;       1/2 tbsp of cinnamon    ;     oil for greasing

Procedure :  Dissolve ½  tsp sugar in the warm water and sprinkle the yeast and Leave it for 10 to 15 minutes till frothy.

In a bowl, mix together the all purpose flour, whole wheat flour, salt. Add the (liquid) yeast mixture, eggs, Orange juice and the orange zest and combine well to form firm dough.

Place the dough on a lightly floured work surface and knead for about 10 minutes until it become smooth and elastic. Place the dough in an oiled bowl and coat the dough with oil and cover the bowl with damp cloth and leave it for 90 minutes or until doubled in size.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and punch down def°late and Knead again for a few minutes until the dough feels firm. Roll into to 3” x 12” rectangles.

Spread each rectangle with apricot preserves and sprinkle with cinnamon and brown sugar. Roll up each triangle like a jelly roll and place in the loaf tins and cover the loaf tin with damp cloth and leave it for about 30 minutes or until double in size.

Transfer the loaf tin into a 200°C pre-heated the oven and bake for about 30 to 35 minutes or until the top is golden brown and the bottom of the loaves make a hollow sound when tapped. Transfer the bread on the wire rack and allow it to cool.

I am sure Orange & Cinnamon Swirl Bread won’t disappoint you!

Tofu Chocolate Chip cookies – Guest Post for Vidya

In the Food blogging arena Vidya, (Author of Traditionally Modern Food) is quite popular and well known.  Her recipes are even published in a couple of daily’s and magazines and she has also won few contests.

Such an accredited Blogger (We both do not know personally each other and living in different continent.) wants to give space for me. I’m excited and agreed to do a guest post.

Since, she didn’t give me any dead line (She must have regretted for doing so).  I took pretty long to submit the post. That’s because, I want to give her a pure vegetarian recipe as well a quick and simple one, without compromising the taste. 

Since, Egg is an important ingredient in Baking; I took time to experiment a perfect egg less (Protein rich Tofu as an alternative) cookies, up to my satisfaction.  With brown sugar and chocolate chip cookies combination, I am sure toddlers won’t hesitate.

 

Thanks Vidya for the Opportunity to do my first guest post.

Click here to view the recipe.

Fruity – Tofu Popsicle

Whenever I think of Popsicle, it brings a sort of nostalgic feeling. During the lunch break, we rush to the school gate, where Popsicle (Kuchi ice) were sold in a small ice box mounted on a wheel called Ice vandi. 

 

Everyone would gather around the Ice vandi and making their choice of colour (flavors). There is not much choice; Orange, grape and mango costing 15 paisa each. Milk ice (pal ice) and vermicelli Ice (semiya ice) popsicles were sold at 25 paisa each, if I am not wrong. In fact, there was a good relationship build between us and the ice vendor. 

During the secondary, the Popsicle era started demising and same colored/ flavored water  is filled in a long transparent plastic sheet, called pepsi ice.

Why I am writing all these here? Because, today the expensive brands offers huge choice and taste much better than those Popsicles but, the feel is missing. Big brands can’t match the feel of those artificially flavored and colored popsicles. After all, food is all about the feel. Not just a taste alone. 

Okay back to Fruity – Tofu popsicles, I go with all natural flavors and colors to fight this summer. 

Ingredients :   ½ cup of lemon juices with sugar    ;         ½ cup of orange juice with sugar      ;       ½  cup + 2 tbsp of pureed soft tofu           ;        1/2 cup of pureed raspberry with added sugar        ;    2tbsp of cream

In a mixer add 1/8 cup of tofu and lemon juice, blend it well keep separately. Similarly, blend the orange with Tofu and Raspberry with Tofu. At last, mix 2 tbsp of tofu with cream and 1 tsp of sugar keep it in the fridge for about 1 hour. 

In molds first pour lemon juice mixture and keep it the freezer for 45 min. then pour the orange juice mixture (on top of lemon juice mixture) again keep it in the freezer for 45 min and then pour the raspberry mixture keep it the freezer another 45 min. At last pour the tofu cream mixture and keep it the freezer for about 10 hrs.

I dedicate this colorful Popsicle to all my classmates of elementary, primary and the ice vendor.