tuscan rosemary buns

tuscan rosemary buns

24 Mar 2024

Last year I saw some delicious looking Easter buns on the Flour and Stone IG account. They were Nadine Ingram's adaptation of pan di ramarino, or Tuscan rosemary buns. Nadine in turn had been inspired by an Emiko Davies recipe, so I went straight to the source.

I do love hot cross buns but they are a little time consuming and this recipe was not. I was also intrigued by the use of savoury rosemary in a sweet bun, so I went to work slightly adapting the recipe along the way. Firstly I had to buy some rosemary as my rosemary plant died some time ago. I didn't have quite enough sultanas so I used some currants as well. I have to say that combination worked out so well, I would do that again.

I made the dough and did an overnight rise and the dough rose very high and handsome. When it came to scoring the dough, the razor blades I'd purchased for the task went missing, so I used a sharp knife instead. 

As orange and rosemary are natural partners I topped the buns with orange flavoured syrup. I was very keen to try one of the buns still warm from the oven. The buns were lightly sweet, fluffy, gently flavoured with rosemary and best of all delicious. I've made the buns a second time, using a combination of sultanas and dried blueberries, because I'd run out of currants, and they were equally delicious. I also purchased another pack of razor blades so I could score the buns. So much easier than using a serrated knife.

Here’s the recipe for you which makes 8 buns. For all my recipes I use a 250ml cup and a 20 ml tablespoon, unsalted butter and 60g eggs. My oven is a conventional gas oven so if your oven is fan forced you may need to reduce the oven temperature by 20°C.

Tuscan rosemary buns - makes 8

Ingredients
80g sultanas or currants or a mix of both
1 Earl Grey teabag
100 mls boiling water
2 fresh rosemary sprigs
60ml extra-virgin olive oil
7g (1 sachet) dried yeast
180 ml lukewarm milk or water or a mixture
30g caster sugar
300g plain flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 egg lightly beaten, for glazing
Butter, to serve

Orange syrup
55g caster sugar 
1 tsp finely grated orange rind
20 mls water
60 mls orange juice

Method
Place the sultanas, tea bag and 100mls boiling water in a bowl. Set aside for an hour or until fruit is plump. Drain well before using.

To infuse the oil, remove the leaves from one rosemary sprig, you should have about 5g, and chop finely. Place the olive oil into a small saucepan with the rosemary leaves and gently heat for a few minutes. Allow to cool completely.

ln a small bowl, combine the yeast with 60 mls of the warm milk and 1 tsp of the sugar. Leave covered for 10 minutes or so until a sponge has formed. Place the remaining sugar, the flour and salt into the bowl of a stand mixer. Add the yeast mixture, the cooled oil and leaves and the remaining milk and using the dough hook mix until a soft dough has formed, about 5-7 minutes. Cover and leave for 20 minutes before doing a series of stretch and folds. Leave for a further 20 minutes covered in the bowl.

Place the dough onto a floured board and flatten into a rectangle. Remove the leaves from the second sprig of rosemary. Pat the sultanas dry and sprinkle over the dough along with the fresh rosemary leaves. Gently press the sultanas into the dough. Fold over corners of the dough to enclose the sultanas and rosemary and knead until evenly distributed. Form into a round, transfer to a lightly oiled bowl, cover and rest in a warm, draught-free place until doubled in size (about 1 hour). You could also cover the bowl and leave it in the fridge for an overnight rise.

Place the dough onto a lightly floured board, then divide the dough into 8 pieces. Shape into fist-sized buns and place on a lined baking sheet with 5cm or so space between each bun. Score the tops of the bun with a noughts-and-crosses grid using a very sharp knife or a razor blade. Cover with a tea towel and allow to rise in a warm place, for a further half hour.

Preheat the oven to 200°C, conventional. Brush the tops of the buns with beaten egg and bake at 200⁰C for 20 minutes or until golden brown on top. While the buns are cooking, prepare the syrup. Place the sugar and orange rind in a small saucepan with the water and stir to dissolve. Add the orange juice then simmer for a few minutes until slightly thickened. When the buns are ready, brush the tops of the still warm buns with the syrup, then transfer to a wire rack to cool. Serve with butter.

Like most breads, these are best eaten the day they are made but are excellent the following day toasted and served with butter and apricot jam.

Have a great Easter break and I'll see you all again next week with some more baking from my kitchen.

Bye for now,

Jillian

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lamington gelato cakes

lamington gelato cakes

27 Jan 2020

I'd planned to make a lamington swiss roll for Australia Day but following 2 failed attempts I put that idea on the backburner. Then I saw a photo of a lamington gelato cake on Instagram which came from Piccolino Gelateria. It consisted of a layer of sponge cake topped with strawberry jam, followed by a layer of vanilla gelato finished with a coating of chocolate and a dusting of shredded coconut. With one failed swiss roll still in the freezer and a freshly made batch of berry jam in the fridge I was halfway there.



2 weeks ago I bought an ice cream maker as a Christmas gift to myself, so now that I can make gelato it was decided - I was going to make my own version of the lamington gelato cake in honour of Australia Day.



I wasn't sure how well the sponge cake would hold up after being in the freeze for a while, so I brushed the cake with some vanilla syrup before topping the cake layer with berry jam.



For the gelato, I made a batch of milk gelato also known as fior di latte gelato. Fior di latte consists of only 3 ingredients so you can't skimp on quality here so I bought some organic milk and organic cream with which to make the gelato. It was absolutely delicious.



I made these ice cream cakes on a 34°C day in my non air conditioned flat which was a challenge. I also made them in a single day, something I wouldn't attempt in the future as there is a lot of time spent waiting for the gelato to firm before you can move on to the next step. Next time I'd make the gelato the night before. The chocolate coating was also a bit too thick - it was the only component that set but it set too quickly! I'm not sure what I can do to rectify that though.



Piccolino Gelateria is in Melbourne and I live in Sydney so I have no idea how closely my attempt matches their version but I was quite pleased with how they looked and especially pleased with the fior di latte gelato.



Here's the recipe for you which makes six 8 cm cakes. For all my recipes I use a 250 ml cup and a 20 ml tablespoon. I use unsalted butter; all eggs are 60 grams and my oven is a conventional gas oven not fan forced, so you may need to reduce your oven temperature by 20°C.



Lamington Gelato Cakes – inspired by the Piccolino Gelateria Lamington Ice Cream Cake. You’ll need to start this recipe the day before serving.

Ingredients 
1 bought sponge cake, sliced horizontally into 1 cm thick slices or a 3 egg sponge cake baked in a swiss roll tin 
⅓ cup raspberry or strawberry jam
1 batch vanilla syrup (recipe below)
1 batch of fior di latte gelato (recipe below)
1 batch of chocolate topping (recipe below)
1/2 cup shredded coconut

Vanilla syrup
¼ cup caster sugar
¼ cup water
½ vanilla bean, sliced lengthways, seeds removed

Method
In a small pan, combine the sugar, water, vanilla bean and seeds and stir over a low heat until dissolved. Bring to the boil then reduce the heat and gently simmer for 5 minutes or until the syrup has thickened. Take off the heat and allow to cool to room temperature before fishing out the vanilla pod. Don’t throw it out – when dry, place it into your caster sugar.

Gelato al fior di latte adapted from this Emiko Davies recipe
550ml full-cream milk
125g caster sugar
200ml cream, chilled

Method
Combine 1 cup of the milk and the sugar in a saucepan over a low–medium heat. It should not boil, but just reach the point where tiny bubbles appear around the edges of the pan. Take the pan off the heat and stir to dissolve the sugar. Cover and allow to cool to room temperature. Add the remaining milk and the cream and refrigerate for a few hours or overnight.

Churn in an ice cream machine according to the manufacturer’s instructions until frozen and creamy but firm. If you want you can make the gelato in advance but you’ll need to let it soften a little so you can scoop it into the ramekins.

To make the cakes, line the base of six 8cm ramekins with baking paper. Cut the sponge cake into six 8cm rounds and place one sponge round in the base of each ramekin. Generously douse each cake with some of the cooled vanilla syrup. Once the syrup has been absorbed, spoon a few teaspoons of jam over each cake, smoothing with an offset spatula. Place the ramekins in the freezer to firm the cake before filling each ramekin with approximately ½ cup of the fior di latte gelato. Return the ramekins to the freezer and freeze for 3-4 hours or until firm. While the gelato is freezing, make the chocolate topping.

Chocolate Topping
300g 70% dark chocolate, chopped
60mls vegetable oil

Method
Place the chocolate and oil in a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water (the bowl shouldn't touch the water) and stir until melted. Allow to cool completely. 

When the gelato is firm, run the sides of ramekins quickly under hot water and unmould onto a cold saucer covered with baking paper. Remove the lining paper then invert the cake so the sponge cake is now the base and return to the freezer for another hour to harden before coating with the chocolate topping. 

Place the frozen cakes onto a wire rack placed over a tray to catch any drips. Gently pour over the topping then sprinkle each cake with some of the shredded coconut. Loosen the cakes from the tray and return to the freezer until serving time. It’s a good idea to place the lamington cakes in the fridge for about 15 minutes before serving.



I hope you're all enjoying the Australia Day public holiday. See you all again soon with some more baking from my kitchen.

Bye for now,

Jillian

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