Spooky Mummy Sausage Rolls (Wheat Free)

 

Sometimes I like to take a little break from sweet things, and like to dabble in the world of savoury treats! Now, a lot of people will be looking at this photograph and think Oh God, this needs puff pastry, which is super fiddly, but fear not: this uses rough puff pastry, which is a much simpler version of the recipe. This way you get the best of both worlds: the delicious flakiness of puff pastry, but the simplicity of shortcrust pastry.

I used ketchup to make the eyes, but you could also use brown sauce, or mayonnaise. Or, you could even use something like sesame seeds.

These little guys will be starring in my upcoming video, Sweetie Pie Throws a Party!, airing next week....

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DIFFICULTY

Requires mixing, rolling out, and cutting shapes

TIME

About 3 hours

RECIPE RATING

Intermediate

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INGREDIMENTS

Makes 8 or 10 sausage rolls

8 ounces (225 grammes) white spelt flour, cold

Salt and pepper

3 ounces (85 grammes) butter, very cold, cut into cubes

3 ounces (85 grammes) white vegetable fat, cold, cut into cubes

4 fluid ounces (115 millilitres) cold water

8 ounces (225 grammes) sausage meat, for a vegetarian option use prepared sage and onion stuffing

Eggwash, which is egg beaten with a little water

Ketchup, to decorate

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FREE FROM

Nuts, wheat, refined sugar

CONTAINS

Spelt, dairy, eggs, meat

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METHOD

• In a mixing bowl, season the flour with a little salt and pepper. Add in the butter and fat, and break up with your fingers until you have a very coarse mixture with big chunks of butter and fat: they could be about the size of peas.
• Using a knife, add in the water a bit at a time and mix through gently. You might not need all the water, so only add about a tablespoon at a time. The mixture will be very rough and shaggy, with dry and wet parts and big chunks of fat. This is necessary.
• Turn out onto a floured work surface, and begin the turning and folding process: roll the mixture out to about half an inch (1 centimetre) thick, then fold up into third like a letter, then turn through 90 degress. Repeat this process once more, then wrap up and pop in the freezer for 10 minutes. This will be quite difficult at first because the mixture is a mess, but don't stop believing!
• Remove from the freezer, and do two more folds and turns. Wrap up again, and either pop back in the freezer for another 10 minutes if you want to do another two folds and turns; or, pop into the fridge for about 45 minutes if you want to use it to make the sausage rolls.
• Roll the pastry out to about a quarter inch (4 or 5 millimetres) thick and cut into 8 (or 10) squares. Visualise each square divided into thirds, and fill the middle third with an eighth (or tenth) of your desired filling, meat or stuffing mix.
• Follow the instructions below to braid the squares, but leave a little gap to show the faces. Place the squares on an ungreased baking sheet and chill for 20 minutes in the fridge.

• Preheat the oven to 200°C (400°F, Gas Mk.6), brush each roll with a little egg wash, sprinkle with coarse salt and black pepper if you like, and then bake the sausage rolls for 20 minutes.
• Once baked, allow to cool on the tray for about 5 minutes to make them easier to remove. Serve hot or cold, using ketchup to make glowing eyes.

STORAGE

Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days only.

Simple Danish Pastries (Wheat- and Yeast Free)

Kan du lide at wienerbrød? Continuing with my Central European vibe this week, I present the Danish Pastry!

These crispy treats are known as wienerbrød in their native land. It literally means 'Vienna bread', because all of the yeast risen laminated pastries we know and love, such as croissants and Danish pastries, were originally developed in Austria.

I, however, don't use a yeast risen puff pastry, I just use normal puff pastry. I tend to make my own, which is time consuming, but it means my mother can eat them when they're made from scratch with spelt. If you want the pastry to taste yeasty, however, you can bind the dough with beer instead of water. It's a neat trick.

Danish pastries look a little different in the United States, using fresh berries and sweetened cream cheese fillings. British style Danish pastries, which I'm used to, use more traditional fillings like jam, apple, apricot, and baker's custard, called crème pâtissière.

My pastries didn't rise as much as I'd have liked, because the pastry was warm before cooking, so PLEASE make sure the pastries are nice and cold before baking.

And don't be intimidated by the ingredient list, not by the seemingly complex construction: they're very, very simple, especially if you use shop bought ingredients.

This will be my last entry for this month, because my thesis proposal is due this week. Wish me luck!

INGREDIMENTS
For about 12 pastries, depending on size

• Double quantity of puff pastry, alternatively you can buy a pound (455 grammes) of premade puff pastry
• 1 egg, mixed with a tablespoon of milk
• Flaked almonds, to decorate
• Demerara sugar, to decorate

For the gluten free crème pâtissière,

• 6 fluid ounces (180 millilitres) whole milk
• 2 teaspoons (10 millilitres) cornflour
• 1 egg yolk
• 1 tablespoon (15 grammes) sugar
• Pinch of salt
• About a teaspoon (5 grammes) butter
• 1 teaspoon (5 millilitres) vanilla essence

For the apple filling,

• 1 eating apple, something firm and tart like a Granny Smith, or Pink Lady, or you could use 4 ounces (115 grammes) of any other firm fruit, or berry
• 1 tablespoon (15 millilitres) cornflour
• 2 tablespoons (30 grammes) brown sugar
• ¼ teaspoon (1 millilitre) salt
• 1 teaspoon (5 millilitres) ground cinnamon
• ¼ teaspoon (1 millilitre) ground cloves

Other fillings,

• Brown sugar and cinnamon
• Nutella
• Jam
• Tinned apricots or plums
• Dried mixed fruit

HOW-TO

To make crème pâtissière,

• In a small saucepan, mix together the sugar, cornflour, egg yolk, salt, and two tablespoons (30 millilitres) of the measured milk to make a smooth paste.
• Add the rest of the milk, stir well, and place over medium heat. Bring to the boil, mixing all the time, and boil for about 2 minutes to fully activate the starch.
• Remove from the heat and pour immediately into a bowl. Cover with clingfilm, touching the surface directly, and cool to room temperature. It will thicken as it cools.

To make the apple filling

• Peel, core, and chop the apple into half inch (1 centimetre) pieces. Place in a bowl or jug, and add the other ingredients.
• Mix very well until the mixture becomes wet and saucy: the starch will draw the water out of the apple and mix it with the other ingredients.

To make the pastries,

• Prepare the pastry, which will take about two or three hours.
• Roll the pastry out to a rectangle measuring 12 by 16 inches (30.5 by 40.5 centimetres), cut into twelve 4 inch (10 centimetre) squares.
• Use each square to make a pastry following the instructions: braids, windmills, turnovers, or crowns. You can use the fillings as instructed above, or you can use shop bought fillings.
• To make the spirals, you need a 4 by 8 inch (10 by 20 centimetre) rectangle, so just keep two squares stuck together for the spirals. Follow the illustration below to make the spirals.
• Lie the pastries on the baking sheets, about two inches (5 centimetres) apart, brush the tops with eggwash, and decorate with flaked almonds or Demerara sugar if you like.
• Place the pastries into the fridge to chill for 30 minutes before cooking. While they're chilling, preheat the oven to 200°C (400°F, Gas Mk.7), and flour two large flat trays.
• Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, then transfer gently to a wire rack to cool completely before serving. The apple ones are nice warm, though.

HOW TO MAKE THE SHAPES

Spiral

Take the 4 by 8 inch (10 by 20 centimetre) piece of pastry, and brush with egg wash. Sprinkle generously with brown sugar, brushing it around with your hand to get it all to stick. Sprinkle generously also with ground cinnamon, Rolling from the short end, roll it up like a Swiss roll. Wrap up in cling film, and then chill for 30 minutes before cutting into half inch (1 centimetre) slices. Brush each slice with egg wash if you like.

Apple Turnover

Take a square, and place about a rounded teaspoon of apple filling in the centre. Imagine the square cut in half diagonally, and brush the edges of one diagonal side with eggwash to help stick. Fold over diagonally, and press the edges together firmly with a fork. Brush the top with eggwash and sprinkle with Demerara sugar.

Braid

Take a square, and visualise it divide into three. Cut the outer two thirds with slightly angled lines, and fill the centre third with whichever filling you like. Working top to bottom, alternately fold the pastry strips over the filling in the middle. Slightly pinch the open ends to close them up.

Windmills (Pinwheels)

Take a square, and cut diagonally into quarters, making sure not to cut all the way though the middle. Fill the centre part that isn't cut, and then take a corner of one pastry flap and fold it up into the middle, over the filling. Work around the pastry until all flaps have the same corner folded into the middle.

Crown

This is the easiest one. Take a square, and fold each corner down into the middle, but not all the way. Place the filling on in the centre, on top of the folded corners.

These are best enjoyed on the day they're made, but if you have any left overs keep in an airtight container for 3 days. These can freeze for up to a month, too.

Nothing on this day in 2016
THIS TIME IN 2015: Tiramisù Mini Cheesecakes (Wheat Free)
Nothing on this day in 2014
THIS TIME IN 2013: Dinosaur Kimberleys (Wheat Free)

Danish Pastries: Dinosaur Paws (Wheat Free with Dairy Free Option)

Having learnt how to make fairly decent puff pastry, I think it may be my new favourite thing. There are so many things I want to try out using it; it's a shame it takes so long to make! However, for now, I will show you all my most recent adventure in the land of laminated pastry: cinnamon Danish pastries!

In a lot of bakeries here in Ireland, there are a few varieties of puff pastry snacks available: maple pecan plaits, apple turnovers, croissants, and cinnamon spirals. The cinnamon ones are my favourite, and for those who have never seen one before, it looks like a slice of Swiss roll (roll cake) made with puff pastry and cinnamon sugar, and I love pulling off the pastry following the spiral around to the middle... because I'm strange like that.

This time, though, I decided to do a different shape, using the same combination of things. From researching, I've found no name for this kind of folding technique other than "Turkey Feather", which a few North American bloggers have used, and I've also seen it referred to as a "Tulip Fold"; I, however, think it looks like a dinosaur footprint.

To make these pastries, I used the same puff pastry dough I used to make the croissants, doubling the ingredient amounts to make a bigger batch of pastry. It also needs an extra 5 to 10 minutes freezing time between folds. You will also need about 4 teaspoons of light brown sugar or caster sugar mixed with a half to full teaspoon of ground cinnamon, depending on how strong you want the cinnamon flavour.

Without the aid of a video, I have drawn a little diagram of how I folded it and then took a photograph:

1. Roll the puff pastry into a rectangle roughly 14 inches (35½ centimetres) wide; trim the edges if you want it to be nice and neat, but it's not necessary. Wet the surface with a little water and sprinkle on some cinnamon sugar to make a nice covering.
2. Working with the long sides, fold each long side into the middle, using a technique called a book fold.
3. Wet the new plain surfaces of puff pastry and sprinkle on some more cinnamon sugar.
4. Fold in half, short end to short end.
5. Fold in half again, long side to long side.
6. Pop in the fridge for about 20-30 minutes (or the freezer for about 10-15 minutes) before cutting into 8 equal portions.

Arrange these on a baking tray which has been lightly floured, about 2 to 3 inches (5 to 7½ centimetres) apart from each other and the side of the tray, and bake in an oven preheated to 220ºC (450ºF, Gas Mk.8) for 10 to 15 minutes, or until fully expanded and have a nice golden brown colour around the edges. Use a fish slice to move the pastries from the tray to a wire cooling rack and eat cool, and preferably on the day they are baked.

These are super cute, and quite tasty! I thought they were just fine the way they were but you can also, for a more Scandinavian style cinnamon pastry, use some ground cardamom in addition to your cinnamon. 

Stay tuned for more adventures in the land of laminated pastry!

THIS TIME IN 2014: Mini Chocolate "Melkterts" (Wheat Free)
THIS TIME IN 2013: Homemade Box of Chocolates = WIN

Cheat Croissants (Wheat and Yeast Free)

Hello everyone!! I'm back from my extended break, and I am happy to be back to managing my time well enough to be able to bake often. Let me tell you what I was up to in my time away:

Firstly, where I work is a community centre run by the Methodist Church in Limerick: it's a three story building that used to be an office block that the church built about 75 years ago to rent out and have an income. However, 15 or so year ago, the businesses moved out and it was unoccupied except for one street unit that houses USIT, a student travel agent.

My mother became the minister of the Methodist Church in 2012, and since then she has been working on making the office block into a community space. In that time we have had many a different group and individual use our space, and everyday it is used for something or other, from breakdancing classes and theatre rehearsals, to English language classes and Mums and Tots groups. In 2014, I was made part-time community and youth worker, and as of the start of July, I was made full time.

Our longest tenant is an organisation called Doras Luimní, which is a migrant support and human rights NGO (non-governmental organisation) that offers legal aid, advocacy, and assistance to migrant people living in Limerick, and as part of my job I work with them for 5 hours on a Thursday. Part of Doras Luimní's remit is anti-racism and integration training, and since 2014 we have been running a European initiative called "C4i" (Communication for Integration), which involves "Anti-Rumours" training and workshops, designed to tackle racist rumours. The project evaluation was in Brussels at the end of June, and the project leader and I went over to attend the conference.

Since then, I've just been getting to grips with having a full time job and juggling it with my personal life - my friends, my companion, and my hobbies - and it's been incredibly time consuming. For about three weeks I only baked things for youth groups and church things, and as such used old reliable recipes with little or no experimentation.

But now, having found my feet, I'm back to abnormality, and my trip to Belgium inspired my to try something that I haven't done for years: croissants!

I tried making croisssants once when I was younger with no success: they didn't rise, and were as tough as nails. My brother Paddy ate them, but I did not think they were successful. Not only because I hate working with yeast (yeast and spelt are not friends in my experience), but because my layering process wasn't done properly or something.

Since then, I have dabbled in puff pastry many times, including recently when I made some sausage rolls. That dough was nice, but not quite right either. So, I did some serious research. What I present to you now is a mixture of about 4 different puff pastry recipes; these croissants are raised with baking powder, which is a little bit of a cheat, but it works.

FREE FROM

☑ Soya (check for soya lecithin)
☑ Yeast
☑ Wheat

CONTAINS
☒ Gluten
☒ Refined sugar products
☒ Eggs (you can skip on the egg wash, though)
☒ Dairy (you can use block margarine instead of butter, and water instead of milk)

INGREDIMENTS:

• 4 ounces (115 grammes) white spelt flour
• 1 teaspoon (5 millilitres) baking powder
• ½ teaspoon (3 millilitres) lemon juice
• 2 teaspoons (10 millilitres) caster sugar
• 2 fluid ounces (60 millilitres) water
• 4 ounces (115 grammes) butter, at room temperature, divided in four
• Extra flour for dusting
• 1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon (15 millilitres) of milk or water, for glazing

METHOD

First, make the pastry (this takes roughly 90 minutes, over an hour of which is waiting for the pastry to chill):

• In a mixing bowl, sieve together the flour, baking powder, and sugar to mix evenly. Then, using your fingertips, rub in one quarter of the butter until it resembles a slightly wet sand kind of consistency.
• Add the water and mix until it becomes a very soft dough that cleans the sides of the bowl. Gather the dough into a ball, and allow to relax for about 15 minutes.
• Dust the work surface with flour and roll the dough into a rectangle about a quarter inch inch (5 millimetres) in thickness. Using a butter knife or the back of a spoon, spread another quarter of the butter over two thirds of the dough's surface. Sprinkle a little with flour, and then do a trifold: fold the unbuttered third over, then fold the remaining buttered flap over again; think of how you would fold a letter into three before you put it in an envelope. Wrap in cling film, and then put in the freezer for 15 minutes.
• After the brief freeze, the dough should be firm but still pliable. Dust the surface once more and roll out the dough into another rectangle quarter of an inch (5 millimetres) in thickness again. This time, do a trifold with no butter, folding the dough into three like a letter. Roll out again, and spread another quarter of the butter over two-thirds like before, sprinkling lightly with flour. Do another trifold, then wrap up and freeze again for another 15 minutes.
• Repeat the process, doing one more dry trifold and one last trifold with the final quarter of butter and a last little sprinkling of flour. Wrap and freeze for another 15 minutes.
• At this point, you can use it after the 15 minutes of freezing, but if you want even more flaky crispy layers, you can do a few more dry trifolds. Just be careful: do NOT allow the butter the melt out of the pastry, and always freeze it for 15 minutes before you finally decide to use it. Congratulations, you have made puff pastry!

Now, make the croissants:

• Preheat the oven to 200°C (400°F, Gas Mk.6)
• When you're ready to use, roll out the pastry on a dusted work surface into another rectangle to about a quarter inch (5 millimetre) thickness. Cut 3 long triangles out of the dough, like this:

• Put the scraps on either edge aside for now, and then take each triangle in turn. Cut a tiny slit in the wide end, maybe about an inch or so (2½ centimetres), end then roll from the wide end to the thin end. Bend in the ends to made a crescent shape and that's your first croissant! Repeat with the others. You can also make wonky croissants with the edge strips, if you like; that's what I did.
• Place about 2 inches (5 centimetres) apart on baking tray lined with baking paper, or that has been every so lightly greased. 
• Brush each croissant with the milky egg wash, using a brush or your fingers, and then bake in the well preheated oven for 15 to 20 minutes, or until puffed up, flaky, and golden brown. It's important that the oven is well preheated, otherwise they'll be soggy. (You can use any leftover egg wash to make some nice egg fried rice or an omelette.)
• Once cooked, remove  from the oven and transfer to a wire rack. Allow to cool for 5 minutes before eating, or if you want you can eat them cold.

Croissants are best enjoyed the day they are made, straight from the oven, but if you want to eat them later they keep for up to 3 days in an airtight container.

THIS TIME IN 2014: Variation on a Theme: Choco-Nut Granola with Cranberries
THIS TIME IN 2013: Ginger Nut Biscuits (Wheat Free)

Sausage Rolls (Wheat Free)

For the afternoon tea party this month, I tried making something that I've never ever done before: puff pastry! I decided to use the puff pastry to make some delicious sausage rolls.

Now, sausage rolls made with normal shortcrust pastry are also delicious, but I thought I'd challenge myself. The idea of a picnic conjures up sausage rolls and pork pies in my mind (I knew there was Englishness hiding in there somewhere), so I decided to use it as an opportunity to try something new.

Puff pastry, admittedly, is a little time consuming and fussy. Traditionally, you make a shortcrust pastry, saving some of the butter, and then you sandwich the pastry with the butter, folding and re-rolling repeatedly to make thousands of layers of pastry and butter. This makes it puff and go super flaky on cooking in an extremely hot oven. The only challenge is that everything has to be ice cold, meaning that between each step you have to chill the dough, then fold and re-roll, then chill, and so forth. It takes forever.

So, some enterprising soul somewhere in history came up with rough puff pastry, which is a little bit of a cheat. You use a traditional shortcrust pastry recipe but you prepare it differently. You only rub the flour in halfway, and only mix in the water half way, and then tip it all out on the surface to begin your rolling and folding, freezing for 15 minutes after every third turn and roll. Of course, it's very messy to start with because it's crumbly and uneven, but as you progress it sorts itself out.

Now, I'm not going to outline the process in my recipe, I am, however, going to link you to a great video that shows it in good detail. I've linked it so that it starts where the method is explained, because I use slightly different ingredients.

So, let's get started!

INGREDIMENTS

• 4 ounces (115 grammes) white spelt flour
• 4 ounces (115 grammes) very cold butter, cubed
• 2 to 3 fluid ounces (60 to 90 millilitres) cold water
• Generous pinch of salt
• 8 ounces (225 grammes) sausages of your choice
• Milk for glazing and sticking

METHOD

• Make the pastry using the flour, butter, salt, and water following the method in this video. The pastry needs about 90 minutes to 2 hours to make, so give yourself plenty of time.
• Preheat your oven to 220°C (450°F, Gas Mk.7).
• Skin the sausages and place the meat into a bowl. Mix it with about 2 teaspoons of water to make a manageable paste.
• Flour you work surface and roll the pastry into a long oblong about 1/4 inch in thickness, making the short end about 5 inches (12 centimetres) wide. The length of the oblong will depend on a few things, but make sure the width and thickness are right.
• Brush the pastry with milk and then put the sausage meat in an even line, spanning the length of the oblong.
• Fold the pastry over the meat, and crimp with a fork to make a big sausage roll. Cut the sausage roll into 20 little pieces, or 16 larger pieces is you want bigger rolls. 
• Place the rolls on an ungreased baking sheet and brush them with some milk for a nice gold brown finish. Place in the centre of the very hot preheated oven.
• Cook for 10 to 15 minutes, or until golden brown and puffed. Serve rolls straight from the oven, or allow to cool on a wire rack.

Of course, sausage rolls are very, very high in fat, so enjoy sparingly!

THIS TIME IN 2014: No blog due to family difficulties
THIS TIME IN 2013: No blog due to going abroad