Monday, September 05, 2011

flachswichel

On Monday morning I woke up, and did what I do every morning, seconds after waking. I thought about breakfast. It's definitely my favourite meal of the day. I think this is because I am always hungry as soon as I open my eyes. I am most definitely not someone who can skip breakfast.

So, on this particular morning, as I lay in bed thinking about what we could eat for breakfast, I realised we had no bread left, and hadn't put a fresh batch in the breadmaker. We didn't have any cereal or nice fruit. Basically, we had nothing. So I got up and baked some flachswickel. Never heard of it? Neither had I until I opened a recipe book and found it.

Last week I received the most exciting delivery of my life in the post - a kenwood chef major. Oh my. I love it. I have dreamed about having a freestanding mixer for quite some time now, but it has taken a long while to part with my money. Amy's wedding cake was the final push I needed, and so I ordered my new baby to arrive in time for wedding cake baking. 
Back to the Flachswickel story. Monday morning seemed like the perfect time to try out the dough hook on my kenwood, and so I excitedly threw in the ingredients for flachswickel, and this is what came out:




This German bread is lightly spiced with cinnamon & cardamom, and has a wonderfully light and fluffy texture. We ate it while it was still warm, with butter & honey and a fresh cup of coffee. I love breakfast time.

Recipe :: yields 7 - 8 rolls
ingredients 
150g butter
200 ml milk
500g flour (I used strong white bread flour)
7g dried yeast (1 sachet)
2 tbsp sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ground cardamom
2 eggs
pinch of salt
icing sugar to dust

1. Put the butter & milk into a saucepan and heat gently until butter has melted

2. Place all remaining ingredients into mixing bowl & add butter + milk misture. Mix together, then knead for 10 mins by hand, or if using a free standing mixer, knead on a low speed for 3 minutes.

3. Cover and leave to rise for one hour in a warm place.

4. Preheat oven to 170C / gas mark 3. Divide the dough into 21 - 24 pieces and roll into long sausages. (original recipe states 24 - mine made 21 at a stretch.)

5. Take 3 of your dough-sausages, pinch together at the top, then plait. 

6. Dust with icing sugar then place on a baking tray and bake for 25 - 30 mins until golden brown. 

4 comments:

David Barnes said...

Yum, yum!

Anonymous said...

Okay, so as soon as you open your eyes you're thinking about breakfast. How on earth did you survive the hour it takes for the dough to rise plus the prep? Exactly what time DID you wake up??? PS looks and sounds scrummy! xx

Hannah Poulson said...

Looks AMAZING! wow... lots of love xxx I wish I had your capacity!

Hannah said...

Ros, I can't quite remember, but I think I might have found a little something to nibble on (maybe an apple & peanut butter?!) while waiting for the bread. We didn't have 'breakfast' until 11 so I would definitely have eaten something before then, otherwise John would have found me passed out on the floor from hunger : )