The Tiny Baker

When I was little I used to love having cocoa with brioche for breakfast. We’d have the cocoa in a bowl and throw chunks of the brioche (or even stale bread!) in, let it soak and spoon it out. Poor man’s cereal! No need to buy cornflakes and such ;) Obviously it’s delicious with butter and jam and if you decide to make a loaf, it’s well worth toasting it.

My mom used to buy brioche at the store, so this is a recipe that I put together after reading and experimenting with various recipes. I spiced it up a bit with my dad’s homemade apricot pálinka. It gives it a really nice aroma. But you can also use rum. Sprinkling with a nut and sugar mixture or adding dried fruit could also give it a bit of a kick.

500g flour
50g sugar
50g butter
8g dried yeast
5g salt
1 egg
200ml milk
6g vanilla sugar
zest of one lemon
2tbsp pálinka or rum (optional)

1 egg for brushing

The dough:

Mix all the ingredients together until well combined. If your dough “rips” add a bit more milk. Cover the bowl with a hand towel and let it rest for 30 minutes. (If you have a bread machine, you know what to do.)

The shapes

A loaf:

Knead the dough on your work surface a little then shape into a round loaf or put into a rectangular loaf tin. Cover with a hand towel and let it rest for 30 minutes.

A half-eaten loaf :)

Braids and snails:

There’s no way I’d be able to explain this in words, but hopefully the pictures will help you make these neat little buns. Make sure you divide the dough into equal pieces. I won’t give you a number as it depends on what size buns you want to end up with. You can even divide it into two and make a big bun that you can then slice like bread.

Follow the pictures then tuck in the loose ends.

You can also just roll them into snails.

Once shaped, cover with a hand towel and let it rest for 30 minutes.

The classic shape – Brioche à tête:

This dough recipe should be enough for eight ramekins/brioche tins. You can also use a muffin/cupcake tin. Grease the ramekins or whatever you’re using. Divide the dough into 10 equal pieces and roll them into balls. Place eight of these balls into the ramekins. Cover with a hand towel and let rest for 30 minutes. Meanwhile take the other two balls, and divide each of them into four equal pieces. So now you have eight little balls. Once the 30 minutes are up, take the little balls and shape them into teardrops. Make holes with your thumb in the dough in the ramekins and place a teardrop in each with their “head” on top. Let them rest for another 20 minutes or so.

Baking:

Once the shaping and resting’s done, brush the top of the loaf/braids/têtes with an egg and bake in a preheated 180°C oven for 25 minutes or until golden brown.

Morning selection

I’ve already written a praise about Claudia Roden’s Jewish cookbook in my coleslaw blog and I adapted this recipe from this book of wonders as well. Kofta á la Sauce Tomate can be found in the chapter on the Sephardi world.

I love meatballs! But I hate the time spent on frying them and the lingering smells that stay thereafter even more. So this recipe had my full attention when she said there’s no need to fry (you can if you want). Instead you can pre-bake the meatballs in the oven and then cook them in the sauce. Or you could just cook them in the sauce. Brilliant! :) Not to mention the special flavour the cinnamon and allspice give to these bite-sized delights! But as if that wasn’t enough, I decided to stuff them with green olives stuffed with pimento peppers. Blimey! :D

My take on Kofta á la Sauce Tomate

I got 24 meatballs out of this recipe, so J and I had six each and I put the rest into a plastic tub together with the sauce and shoved it in the freezer. Believe me, we’ll be pretty happy when we come across it in a few weeks/months and have it as a quick meal.

For the meatballs:
500g minced beef
1 onion, finely chopped or grated
1/2tsp salt
pepper
1tsp cinnamon
1/2tsp allspice
olives stuffed with pimento (optional)

For the sauce:
4-5 garlic cloves, minced or chopped
two 400g cans of chopped tomatoes
salt and pepper to taste
2tbsp tomato purée

First, make the sauce. Heat some oil in a pot and throw in the garlic. Fry until starting to colour. Add the rest of the ingredients and simmer for 15 minutes uncovered.

Meanwhile make the meatballs. Yes, 15 mins will be more than enough! Preheat your oven to the highest temperature, line a baking tray with parchment paper. Combine all the ingredients and scoop tablespoon-sized pieces of the mixture into the palm of your hand. Pat down, lay an olive on top and roll into balls. They should be slightly bigger than the size of a walnut. Line them up on the baking tray and bake in the oven for 7 minutes.

Once the meatballs are out of the oven, put them in the sauce, making sure that you also add the juices from the baking tray, and simmer for another 20-25 minutes. Serve with rice.