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!

Sacher-Torte

Couple of year ago, my husband brought a Sacher Torte from Vienna as a Valentine’s day gift for me.  This year, I want to treat my Hubby with the same. (Of course made by me)

Sacher Torte is a very special chocolate torte, invented in Vienna by the chef Franz Sacher in 1832. The layered cakes are generally known as torte. So, with the Inventor name is known as Sacher Torte.  I try to post few more interesting Torte’s this year.

Though the Sacher Hotel in Vienna claims they only have the original recipe, I think it’s an open secret now. It’s basically a chocolate cake, coated with apricot jam and chocolate icing on top of it. However, I adopted the recipe from here. 

Making the Sacher Torte is not an easy task. Its time consuming but, at the end it’s worth it. – Trust me.

Here the ingredients list: 

For Chocolate sponge cake:   60gms of bittersweet chocolate     ;             60gms of soft butter          ;        1/2 cup of confectioner sugar         ;        3 eggs  (yolks & whites separated)      ;         1/2 cup of all purpose flour   ;  1 tsp of Vanilla

For Apricot Glaze :   5/8 cup of apricot jam or preserves      ;         2 tbsp of rum or water

For Chocolate Glaze   :    ½ cup of granulated sugar         ;          1/4 cup water         ;             60 gms bittersweet chocolate

For Piping :  50gms of semi sweet chocolate     ;      1 tsp of Olive oil

Procedure to make Cake:  Melt the chocolate using double boiler and allow it to cool.

Using the kitchen aid or standing mixer beat the butter at medium speed with paddle blade attachment for about a minute and add ¼ cup of confectioners’ sugar and continue to beat at high speed until light in color and texture, may take about 2 minutes.

While running the mixer, add the egg yolks one by one. Also add melted chocolate and Vanilla.

Beat (at high speed) the egg whites and ¼ cup of confectioners’ sugar in a separate bowl using the hand mixer until to form soft, shiny peaks.

Stir about one fourth of the beaten whites into the chocolate mixture and fold gently.  then fold in the remaining whites in to the choco-mixture.

Sift half of the flour over the chocolate mixture, and fold in with a large rubber spatula. Repeat with the remaining flour.

Transfer the cake batter into a pre-greased pan and spread evenly. Transfer the pan into a 200°C pre-heated oven for about 45 minutes or until it’s done.

Allow the cake to cool completely.  Meanwhile, in bowl mix the apricot jam with 2 tbsp of rum and combine well.

Once, the cake cooled, using serrated knife, trim the top of the cake to make it level. (While baking the center of cake must have bulged slightly) and cut the cake horizontally into two equal layers.

On the bottom layer, spread little apricot jam and glaze (very thin layer) thoroughly.  Place the second cake layer on top of the glaze and again glaze the top and sides with apricot jam. Allow the glaze to set.

Meanwhile, let’s prepare the chocolate glaze. This step is important and needs to be prepared freshly and need to be glazed on the cake, when it’s warm.

In heavy bottom pan, add ¼ cup of water and ½ cup of granulated sugar, bring to boil. Stir to dissolve the sugar completely. Once the mixture reaches 112°C (using the candy thermometer***) remove the pan from heat.

*** If you do not have one, don’t worry. Check the other procedure below in a video link.

Add the 60 gms bittersweet chocolate (chopped) in hot sugar mixture and whisk the pan. If it thickens up quite a bit, return it to low heat and add a few drops of water to thin it out to a runny, pourable consistency. 

 VIDEO LINK

Pour the entire warm chocolate glaze on top of the cake. Using a metal offset spatula, gently glaze the cake all over. Allow it to cool to room temperature and then transfer the cake to Refrigerator for about an hour. Remove the cake from the refrigerator about 1 hour before serving.

You may leave it at this point. But, to give credits to the Inventor Mr. Franz Sacher, it’s a tradition to put his name on the cake.

To do this, Add the 50gms of semi sweet chocolate in a microwave safe bowl and melt the same. Add 1

tsp of Olive oil to the melted chocolate and stir well to get the piping consistency. Transfer to the piping bag and go on. (I know, I am not good at piping)

The Sacher-Torte is served with Cream (unsweetened) traditionally. But, I treated my Valentine with hot Black coffee.  Imm……..it’s Divine.

Energy Bars

Energy bars are meant to delivery energy to the body quickly. Therefore, athletes prefer to consume before their workout.  Also, energy bars are good snack during the competitions.

Usually, the swimming competitions are 2 -3 days long and the swimmers needs to swim couple of times in a day. Hence, Energy bars are the best alternative for a meal.  My son was taking part in Speedo invitational swim meet at Dubai. So, I prepared these Bars for him.

 Energy bars are not only meant for Athletes, this is good for those who need quick energy but do not have time for proper meal. These bars can be consumed even during a busy office schedule without wasting time.

Our body converts fat, protein and Carb’s into energy. In energy bars, cereals, seeds and nuts are the main ingredients. (Good source of complex carbohydrates, Essential fatty acids and Antioxidant property)

Most of the kids, don’t like to eat dry fruits, seeds and nuts in a raw form. But, they like to eat the energy bar ! where the all the nuts are blend together.

The Ingredients are,  ½ cup of Oats    ;     ½ cup of Sunflower seeds     ;       ½ cup of Wheat bran    ;   ½ cup of chopped Walnuts     ;        ¼ cup of Whole wheat flour    ;     ½ cup of chopped Apricots        ;  ½ cup of chopped Almonds     ;      ½ cup of Gooseberry (dried)     ;     ½ cup of chopped Dates      ;      ½ cup of Milk powder      ;      1/3  cup of Honey     ;     2 no’s of Egg whites. (for Egg substitutes, check my Tips & Tricks page)

Procedure : In a bowl mix all ingredient expect egg white and honey. Now, add honey, egg whites and mix well till combined / fully coated.

Transfer the mixture into a pre greased square pan and spread evenly and press the mixture firmly. Transfer the pan into 150°c preheated oven and bake for 20 - 25 min. Allow it to cool and cut into bar shape. Store it in an air tight container.