Hot Cross Bun Spiced Pretzels

It's almost Easter and I've been admiring all the pretty egg, coconut and bunny pictures on Instagram! I don't really do too much during Easter other than follow my mum to church, but what I can't miss is eating hot cross buns! I was given this Silpat pretzel mat and since I was going to make bread anyway, I thought why not put the same stuff in pretzels?! So I've added all the nice things, like sugar, cinnamon, ginger, orange zest and cranberries into these pretzels.

Also how awesome is this mat? It totally helps a pretzel shape challenged person like me to roll out pretty pretzels!

I love the spicy and fruity flavor of the dough, and it's all shiny and sticky with melted butter and honey. You can eat these plain or they actually go pretty well with this Maille Acacia honey and Orange blossom mustard. The taste is pretty floral and fruity with a very good amount of sharpness and tang. It pairs quite well and is a nice play of sweet and salty.

I'm currently on a one-week bootcamp at med school (last week ever!), which is pretty much learning how to adult. Like buying a house, paying off loans etc... I just can't adult yet! Ah! 

Hot Cross Bun Spiced Pretzels

makes 14-16 pretzels

4 tsp active dry yeast
1 tsp white sugar
1 1/4 cup warm water
4 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 tsp salt
3 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger

1 tbsp vegetable oil
2 tsp vanilla extract
Zest of 1 orange
1/2 cup dried cranberries or currants

1/4 cup baking soda
2 cups hot water
2 tbsp butter, melted
1.5 tbsp honey

1. In a small bowl, dissolve yeast and 1 tsp of white sugar in the warm water until bubbly, about 10 minutes
2. In a stand mixer with the dough attachment, mix flour, brown sugar, salt and spices. Add oil, yeast and vanilla extract and mix to form a dough. Adjust flour and water if mixture is too sticky or dry. Add orange zest and currants and knead until smooth. Lightly oil a large bowl, place dough in it and cover with a damp cloth. Let rise in a warm place for 1.5 hours.
3. Punch dough down, cover bowl with plastic wrap and another damp cloth and let rise overnight in the fridge. This makes the dough more elastic!
4. Allow the chilled dough to come to room temperature, about an hour in a warm place. Prepare baking sheets with silpat mat or wax paper
5. In a medium bowl, dissolve baking soda in 2 cups of hot water and set aside
6. Divide dough into 15 equal pieces. Dip your fingers in the baking soda solution and rub in your hands. Roll each piece between your hands into a rope. Start in the middle and roll using medium pressure with both hands as you work out to the ends. You're done when the dough thickness is about the size of your finger (it will puff!). Grab each end and slap on your surface like a jump rope a few times. Be careful not to use too much force or the dough will tear. Twist into a pretzel shape and place on prepared sheets. Cover with plastic wrap while working on the rest of the dough
7. Once all shaped, brush baking soda water solution over the pretzels. Let rest for another 10-15 mins. You can sprinkle with raw sugar (optional). Preheat oven to 425 F, place rack above middle 
8. Bake in preheated oven in top rack until browned, about 10-12 mins
9. Brush mix of melted butter and honey together and brush over pretzel when they come out of the oven

This post was sponsored by Silpat and Maille. I'm teaming up with them via CoactionPR to create awesome recipes. I was compensated for this post, but all opinions are completely my own and not endorsed. Thank you for supporting products that keep this blog running!

Read More

Mini Scotch Egg Hand Pies

I'm currently packing my bags to go back home to LA (yay)! I'm bringing one suitcase filled with MILDLY cold weather clothes and two empty suitcases. Lol, why the empty suitcases?? Because, my mum usually takes one week out of her schedule to make me a ton of my favorite foods and keeps them frozen, so I can bring it back to Richmond. YAS, she is the best. And, I can seriously fill 2 suitcases no problem. In fact, I'm usually stuck at the check in counter with my mum bringing stuff back home because my suitcases are too heavy -_- Sometimes, the frozen rice cakes and soondae (Korean blood sausages) I bring has to be hand carried. I always have to get my carry ons personally checked by TSA security and I get weird weird looks when they hold up my vacuum sealed sausages.

Haha. I also have no shortage of embarrassing stories in the airport. There was this one time I bought a gigantic Costco pack of lady supplies and I just took it out of the box package since it was bulky and put it in the zipper front compartment of my suitcase. So, I land in Richmond and I just happen to be on a plane with a bunch of military men. I'm waiting for my suitcase at the baggage carousel with my bf, when we spot it. Somehow while my bf picked up my suitcase, the zipper got stuck on the rotating band so he yanked on it... At least 20 pieces of lady supplies came flying out of the bag and landed on the military men's combat boots and on the carousel!! I was in so much shock it took me a minute to register what had happened and then I scrambled to pick up all the fallen stuff and had to chase some that was rotating away. I literally wanted to dig a hole in the ground and bury myself in it. AND I couldn't just walk away since I had to wait for my other suitcases UNGH. An old lady next to me even patted my shoulder and said that it happens to the best of us. (SERIOUSLY?? I don't think that ever happens to anyone)

I blame it all on my bf! Haha, retelling this story really makes me cringe inside again :(  Anyway, getting back to this recipe... I've always wanted to make scotch eggs, but I still have this fear of deep frying things and getting splattered by grease. I'm just clumsy like that! So, I made a hand pie version of it. They are so cute since I've made them with quail eggs and then wrapped them up in puff pastry. They would make great appetizers for your Christmas holiday dinners! Also, they make great airplane food and I'll be bringing them on the plane. I hope my neighbor doesn't mind the flaky pastry falling all over him... :P

Mini Scotch Egg Hand Pies

adapted from bbc.co.uk
makes 6 mini pies

6 quail eggs (plus 1 extra if you think you'll bust one!)

1/2 lb sweet Italian sausage meat

1/4 onion, finely diced

6 tbsp flat leaf parsley, finely chopped

2 tbsp parmesan, finely grated

pinch of salt and pepper

2-3 tbsp dijon mustard

1 puff pastry sheet, thawed

flour for dusting

1 chicken egg (for egg wash)

1. First, soft boil the quail eggs: bring small pan of water to boil. Add quail eggs gently and cook for 3 mins. Then place in ice water for about 5 mins. Peel eggs carefully as they will be soft inside. Place in fridge (I did this step the night before)
2. Preheat oven to 400F and take out your puff pastry sheet to thaw out. Mix (using your hands) sausage, chopped onion, parmesan and chopped parsley together until well blended. Season with a pinch of salt and a lot of pepper
3. Open the thawed sheet of pastry onto a floured surface. Roll into 12x12" square. On one side, divide into 4 strips (two that are 2.5" wide and 2 that are 3.5" wide).  And then divide the other side by 3. So you have 2.5x4" and 3.5x4" rectangles. Roll the smaller rectangles a little wider so they are more like 3x4".
4. Spread a thin layer of dijon mustard on the smaller rectangles. Then pat down a small spoonful of the sausage mixture over the mustard, leaving a 1/2-1cm border around the edges. Blot quail eggs with kitchen paper to get off the moisture and place in the center of the sausage. Cover eggs with a thin layer of sausage 
5. Beat a chicken egg and brush along the borders of the pastry bottoms. Lay the larger 3.5x3" pastry over the filling. You may have to roll it a little bigger to get it to cover the filling. Use a fork to press the borders together firmly to seal
6. Transfer the unbaked pies onto a lined baking tray. Brush the pies with the beaten egg and cut small slits on top for steam to escape. Bake for 35-40 mins until golden and cooked through. Leave to cool a few minutes before gobbling.

Read More