Parsnip, Ginger & Orange Muffins

Parsnip, Ginger & Orange Muffins

Every Saturday, in the east end of London up near Hackney, a generally quiet street becomes completely jammed with people for the Broadway Market.  There are all types of stalls here including fresh produce, meat and fish as well as prepared meals from Ghana and a variety of bakery stalls.

The Fiendish & Goode stall sells all kind of small cakes and we were taken by the parsnip & ginger cake.  I'm a sucker for using vegetables in cakes, having made my students make butternut squash scones, beetroot & chocolate muffins, and carrot & sweet potato cakes, but I had never heard of or used parsnip before, so this gave me an idea to try.

After a variety of trials, I finalised the recipe for a photo shoot at the completion of the Food Styling course I completed at Leith’s School of Food & Wine, so many thanks go to Stuart Ovenden for the lovely photo and the training & advice given to us by Jennifer Joyce & Sarah Cook.

Mini Parsnip, Ginger & Orange Cakes

2 eggs

120g light soft brown sugar

175ml oil

50g unsweetened plain yoghurt

130g plain flour

1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)

2 tsp ground ginger

180g grated parsnip (about 2 large parsnips)

80g chopped stem ginger (in syrup)

Zest of 1 orange

Cream cheese icing

50g softened butter

100g cream cheese (e.g. Philadelphia)

300g icing sugar

1 tsp orange juice

Glace orange peel (for decoration)

1 orange

1 cup water

1 cup white granulated or caster sugar

Directions

1.    Heat oven to 180C/160C fan.

2.   Using an electric mixer, beat eggs and sugar until creamy and pale.

3.   Combine the oil and yoghurt and beat into egg mixture, slowly pouring in a steady stream.

4.   Sift the dry ingredients and add to the mixture (including the wholemeal bran from the sieve) and mix well.

5.    Add the grated parsnip and chopped stem ginger and stir to combine, the mixture should be thick and tacky.

6.   Lightly spray a 12 hole mini sandwich tin with cake release spray (or a muffin tin) and share the mixture evenly between the 12 holes (each hole should be about 3/4 full).

7.    Bake in oven for 35 minutes until golden brown and spring back when lightly pressed.

8.   Allow to stand for 5 minutes before turning out of the muffin tin.  Cool completely then ice with cream cheese icing.

Cream cheese icing

1.    Beat the butter and cream cheese together until smooth.

2.   Beat in the icing sugar (adding small amounts at a time to avoid creating an icing sugar cloud) and the orange juice.

3.   Ice cakes when completely cool & decorate with glace orange peel (if desired).

Glace orange peel

1.    Carefully remove the orange skin and cut most of the white pith from the skin before cutting into fine strips (using a zester is too fine).

2.   Place the orange peel into a small saucepan, cover with water and simmer for 20 minutes, then drain.

3.   Put the water & sugar into the saucepan and heat over a medium heat to dissolve the sugar and then return the orange peel to the saucepan and simmer for another 20-30 minutes until slightly syrupy.

Lazy Bread

I love making bread, the workout you get from kneading, the variety of shapes, styles and flavours you can make, the inviting aroma wafting through the house as it bakes  and, best of all, eating it while still warm. The problem is that it is often difficult to find the time to go through the process of mixing, kneading, 1st proving, shaping, 2nd proving & then finally baking.  This recipe eliminates many of those stages leaving only the mixing and baking, so it certainly makes it the ultimate lazy bread.

It is a combination of Annabelle Langbein's 'Busy People's Bread' (in her book, The Free-Range Cook) and a fragrant multi-seed loaf served at Palm's Cafe restaurant in Dunedin. I've been trying to perfect it for about a year, adjusting the amount of yeast and liquid as well as experimenting with baking temperatures and times to ensure a consistent outcome that eliminates sinking. I'm not sure it is completely perfect as there is still a slight dip when cooled, but it is always tasty and has a spongy, dense inner texture with a firm, dark crust.  It is great thinly sliced for sandwiches or cut a bit thicker and toasted, spread with butter and marmite.

You can always vary the seeds to your own liking (including sunflower seeds, poppy seeds or others that may take your fancy) or use a packet of pre-mixed seeds.

220ml boiling water

2tsp dark treacle (or you can use honey, but the treacle adds more flavour)

220ml cold water

1tbsp (10g) dried yeast granules (NOT quick yeast)

200g strong white flour

200g plain wholemeal flour

1 1/2tsp salt

1/2 tsp caraway seeds (optional)

45g linseeds

40g sesame seeds

45g pumpkin seeds (plus 2tbsp extra)

1.    Preheat oven to 80C (fan 50C) and grease a 25x10cm loaf tin well (I use cake release spray).

2.    In a large bowl, mix the boiling water with the treacle to dissolve.  Add the cold water and sprinkle over the yeast and put aside for 10 minutes so the yeast activates and becomes light and foamy.

3.    Whisk the yeast mixture then add all of the remaining ingredients (except the extra pumpkin seeds) and mix with a large spoon until evenly combined (The mixture will be a very wet batter that looks more like a cake mix than a bread dough).

4.    Pour the mixture into the prepared loaf tin, spread evenly and flatten the top.  Sprinkle the 2tbsp extra pumpkin seeds (or any seeds of your choice) over the top of the loaf and run a sharp knife through the top of the loaf in at least 3 or 4 places so the loaf rises evenly without splitting.

5.    Bake for 20 minutes at 80C (fan 50C) and then turn up the oven to 180C (fan 150C) and bake for a further 60-75 minutes.  When cooked, the loaf will sound hollow when tapped and will be a dark golden brown.  

6.    Turn out of the tin while still hot and leave to cool.  

7.    This bread stays fresh for several days and toasts well.

Ham, pesto & cheddar swirls

In my home town, Dunedin, Tangente Cafe was a favourite spot for weekend brunch. Not only did they make fantastic cafe mochas with Whittaker's Sante bars, but my main reason to go there was their 'Spiralled Eggs'. These were a freshly baked savoury swirl, lightly toasted, topped with a gooey poached egg & a rich hollandaise sauce. I remembered them being so light and flakey with fillings like ham & avocado or pesto & bacon.

When my GCSE students were looking for ideas of products that could be sold from the counter of a coffee shop, I remembered these and we managed to find the recipe in the 'Ask a Chef' feature of The Otago Daily Times, the local Dunedin newspaper. I was disappointed to find that they were made with a scone dough, which really wasn't how I had envisaged them being made, so I needed to make my own version.

With the help of Signe Johansen's Danish Pastry from her book, Scandilicious Baking, I created my own savoury swirls. They aren't a quick bake, but are well worth the effort. I generally make the dough on a Friday or Saturday night, so that I then have a full day for the laminating and filling.

Ham, pesto & cheddar swirls

Danish pastry dough

250-300ml milk

500g strong white flour

10g fine sea salt

2 tbsp caster sugar

7g fast action dried yeast, or active dried yeast

1 medium egg, beaten

250g unsalted butter, chilled

Filling

5 tbsp basil pesto

180g thinly sliced ham

120g grated cheddar cheese

Glaze

1 egg, beaten

Directions

1.        Heat 250ml milk in a small saucepan until scalding point (you should see small bubbles around the edge), then allow to cool. If using active dried yeast, you will need to activate it first by sprinkling over the warm (not hot) milk and leaving in a warm place for about 10minutes until foamy.

2.        Sift the flour, salt and sugar together in a large bowl, sprinkle in the fast action yeast and stir through (if using dried yeast it will be in the milk).

3.        Make a well in the centre, add the beaten egg and then the milk (which should be warm rather than hot to the touch).

4.        Stir everything together until the mixture comes off the sides of the bowl, adding as much of the remaining 50ml of milk as you think is needed, until the dough looks 'doughy'.  Note: I usually do the mixing of the dough with an electric mixer using a dough hook on a slow speed until the mixture comes away from the side of the bowl and the dough is no longer sticky.

5.        Shape the dough into a rough rectangle shape, cover with lightly oiled cling film and refrigerate over night.

6.        Take the dough out of the fridge and allow to come to room temperature (30-60 minutes depending on how cold your fridge is).

7.        Using a cheese slicer or very sharp knife, cut the butter in to thin slices and arrange them in a rectangle about 10x25cm on a sheet of baking parchment.

8.        Lightly flour your work surface and your dough and roll the dough out to a rectangle about 45x15cm and about 1cm thick. Put the parchment paper, butter side down, at one end of the dough leaving a border of a couple of centimetres between the butter and edge of the dough. Peel back the parchment, leaving the butter in place so that two-thirds of the dough is covered in butter and there are no large lumps sticking out.

9.        Fold the unbuttered third of dough over to sit on top of half of the buttered dough and then fold the remaining buttered dough on top, so that you end up with a rectangle of dough a third of the original size but three times as thick, like you had folded a letter in thirds to go in an envelope.

10.    Turn the dough 90 degrees and roll out again to a rectangle about 45cm x 15cm and 1cm thick. Fold in thirds again, cover with cling film and refrigerate for one hour.

11.    Remove from the fridge and roll out on a lightly floured surface to a rectangle about 50cm x 10-15cm and 1cm thick. Now fold both shorter ends in so they meet in the middle and then fold one half on top of the other, as if you are closing a book.

12.    Turn the dough 90 degrees and roll out again to a long rectangle about 1cm thick. Fold in thirds one last time, cover in cling film and refrigerate for about an hour or so.

13.    Finally, roll the dough out on a lightly floured surface to a rectangle about 60cm x 40cm, turn the dough so that one of the 60cm sides is towards you.

14.    Spread the pesto over the dough so that it is evenly covered over the whole rectangle. Evenly cover the dough with the ham and then scatter over the cheese.

15.    Starting at the long edge, roll the dough up keeping the filling inside.

16.    Line a large baking sheet with baking parchment, slice the rolled dough into 2-3cm slices and place on the tray with the cut-side up, leaving a 2cm gap. Cover and leave to prove in a warm place for 20 minutes. While they are proving, heat the oven to 230C/210C fan/gas mark 8.

17.    Brush the top & sides with beaten egg to glaze and bake for 5 minutes before reducing the heat to 200C/180Cfan/gas mark 6 for a further 7 minutes until they are golden brown and crispy.

18.    Leave to cool on a wire rack for a little while before enjoying. They will keep well in the fridge for 3 days and make great work lunches.

Variations

There are any number if variations you could make of these; pesto, sundried tomatoes and cheese works well and you could always try the ham & avocado version from Tangente.