Hlæfdiȝe in þam huse

[muckefuck]

I guess my mission this spring is going to be to bake my way around Britain. Out of nowhere (well, out of his current series of detective novels), the Old Man came up with a request for Chelsea buns, a traditional English take on the cinnamon roll. I sampled recipes, found one that looked better in some regards, and eventually got down to following one. I had to wait for my mother to leave for St Louis (and for myself to do a little moping over that) before I got started, but we still had them in time for afternoon tea.

monshu's book describes them as "good for dipping", which they accomplish by being a bit crustier than similar pastries. They seem to fix two problems we've generally had with cinnamon rolls, namely that they're too soft and too sweet. We did tone down the recipe a bit by omitting the sugar glaze (replaced in tonier versions with melted apricot preserves), but some recipes called for as little as a teaspoon of sugar in the dough. The filling is "mixed dried fruit", which I've only belatedly realised is Limey for "raisins and currants" and not an invitation to raid the granola ingredient section of the cupboards. Similarly, "mixed spice" means "cinnamon with allspice and nutmeg, and sometimes some other stuff". (I added a few coriander seeds and a dash of ground clove.) Of course we have no muscovado sugar, but brown sugar with additional molasses seemed to work just as well. With a little more practice I'm sure I could get better at rolling out the dough and rolling them up.

Overall, his appetite is good and we're doing what we can to whet it. Yesterday he asked again for jiaozi so I stopped at Trader Joe's and got an assortment of their potstickers and wontons. Now he wants sushi, so I plan to check Devon for the makings of inarizushi. Can't wait to find out what's next.

Comments

[oursin.livejournal.com]

UK mixed dried fruit usually also includes candied peel.

[oh-meow.livejournal.com]

Yeah it comes in a bag, ready mixed.

http://www.sainsburys.co.uk/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/gb/groceries/sainsburys-mixed-dried-fruit-1kg?langId=44&storeId=10151&krypto=wSy7%2Fw6gd32T%2B4QFEHtNhmmHphTCkf%2Fx15LYNO4Zv5pdy7qDYvKnUlUECvtIiyNtbJY%2B1OvsG%2Bb%2F%0AlPth%2F99tOpLGe0iXhDJxKFA0kHWzKFNw0li7Dvyklg1IGz4WDK5T&ddkey=http:gb/groceries/sainsburys-mixed-dried-fruit-1kg

Same with the mixed spice http://www.sainsburys.co.uk/shop/gb/groceries/herbs-spices-seasoning/sainsburys-ground-mixed-spice--fairtrade-38g

[muckefuck.livejournal.com]

I suspected as much. Do you know where I could find proportions? It's not like we lack for candied peel here. A little candied ginger would be a nice add, too, for some things, like the buns.

[oursin.livejournal.com]

As it's usually bought premixed, I'm not sure - I'm looking for recipes but they all seem to be about what to do with the mixed fruit you already got from Waitrose/Sainsburys/Tescos.

Mrs Beeton's rich mincemeat requires the following proportions: 1 lb currants, 1 lb raisins, 1/2 lb sultanas, 1/2 lb shredded mixed candied peel, but how canonical that would be for a standard mix, I don't know.