For the past couple of weeks I’ve been thinking about how to reinvent the hot cross bun, but you know what? The more I thought about it the more I realised, why would you want to? The combination of spices is perfectly punctuated with the sweet/tartness of dried fruit. To be honest, I don’t even like the reincarnations of the hot cross bun that are already offered, so what the hell was I thinking?
I know, I know, I know….this recipe is all over the interweb, on other blogs and in newspapers; people raving about how great this bread is. Well I’m here to join the chorus. This bread is amaze-town. Even for all you dough-phobics out there who until today have been too scared to make your own bread, I beg you to seriously give this one a crack, you’ll feel such a sense of achievement. Not only does it require minimal skill and effort but you end up with bread that looks and tastes like it has come from the best artisan bakery in Paris – ok, sliiiigh-tly pushing it there, but I shit you not, it’s not far off.
Remember how I mentioned in one of my earlier posts that I’m more clumsy than your average person?
The earth moved for these tortillas – literally…that’s how much they rock.
Actually, I tell a slight lie… the earth moved not just for these tortillas but for everyone in Melbourne tonight. As I was just about to write this post, the house started to shake, the windows were rattling and there was a deep rumbling sound that went on for about 30 seconds. I initially thought it was the neighbours again with their ‘doof doof’ music which normally vibrates through our house but that wasn’t it. Tonight we had an earthquake and to be honest, I think I peed in my pants a little. Once I realised that we were actually having an earthquake, I slightly started to panic. What do I do? Do I run outside? Do I hide in the bath? (no, that’s for fires I think), do I stand in a doorway? do I get down low and go go go? (nope, that’s fires again). By the time I had gone through the options, the earthquake had stopped. Yup, I’m awesome in a potential emergency situation…
When we were in Boston last year we visited the much lauded Flour Bakery where we got to sample some of Joanne Chang’s delicious baked treats. Unfortunately by the time we got there for lunch Joanne’s famous Sticky Sticky Buns had run out, boo! The other items we ended up choosing were amazingly delicious but I knew the only chance I had of trying the sticky buns was to buy the Flour Bakery cookbook and make them myself.
Pain aux raisins has got to be my absolute favourite pastry. I loved it before we moved to Paris and while we lived there I almost ate one of these on a daily basis (god knows how I was still able to fit through a doorway by the time I left Paris). I noticed while in Paris that pain aux raisins was typically made one of two ways, either with a brioche type dough or with croissant dough which is more common. Prior to making this recipe, I had a strong preference for the pain aux raisins made with croissant dough, but these, warm, straight out of the oven, I have to say are one of the best things I’ve eaten for a while. I think the Dr and I even did a fist bump after our first mouthful!
Everytime I turn on the TV, the infomercial for the Instyler seems to be on. You know the one – the hairstyling tool that’s a combination of a curling/straightening iron with a brush attached. They seem to be really pumping the $ into advertising this little gadget given that it’s on pretty much every minute of the day – pity it’s crap.
I’ve learnt something about myself in the last year that has taken me a really long time to come to terms with and admit about myself….
Ok ok, did you really think I was going to make it the whole week without sneaking in a little treat?
These really aren’t that bad, especially if you limit yourself to just 1 or 2 drizzled with honey and skip the butter…but you know how I feel about butter right?
Every year hot cross buns and easter eggs seem to appear on the supermarket shelves earlier and earlier. I’m fairly sure that they just remove the mince pies from christmas and replace them with the hot cross buns. I wouldn’t be surprised if we got to the point where they will be available all year round. This would piss me off as I love the anticipation of waiting for things to come in season to enjoy them often for a short amount of time. Now before I get on my high-horse I should make a confession….