Martin's Rolls

Here in Germany, Martin’s Day is a big thing! All schools and kindergartens have their own Martin’s celebrations, with kids walking outside in the dark with lanterns, singing special songs for the occasion. I find it so sweet! Furthermore, the procession is followed by a gathering around a bonfire, with warm drinks and either pretzels or sweet rolls shared with everyone.

This year, I’m baking sweet rolls to bring to my girls’ kindergarten. The idea is to share, so I shaped my rolls in a way that they’re easy to break in two. I baked them with two different fillings: one with pecan nuts, sugar, and cinnamon, the other with vanilla sugar, lemon zest, and ground almond.

And, needless to say, I made the dough using exclusively my sourdough starter. Fermenting of rich sweet dough with only a starter takes quite a long time, though; so if you’re in a hurry, add about ½ tsp of instant dry yeast to the dough to speed up the process. Mine fermented 11 hours and I felt it wasn’t quite ready to be baked yet. I should have left it in a warmer place… (Sour)dough doesn’t like cold!

For a vegan version, use vegan margarine instead of butter, and a non-dairy milk for the dough and washing.

For about 30 rolls you need:

• 800 g flour (I used spelt, a mixture of types 630 and 1050)


• 350 ml milk or water


• 300g sourdough starter, refreshed 3-4 hours before (but make sure the starter has doubled in volume, if not, wait until it is)


• 160g sugar


• 10g salt


• 2 tsp cardamom


• 200g butter (or margarine), melted

And for the filling:

• 50g melted butter


• sugar, cinnamon, crushed pecan nuts, pearl sugar


• OR vanilla sugar, grated lemon zest, ground almond, almond flakes

In a baking bowl, combine all dry ingredients together. (If you’re using instant dry yeast, throw it in as well). Then add sourdough starter and milk and knead until a firm dough has formed, or some 7-10 minutes. Then add butter and knead until it’s absorbed in the dough. Cover with a damp baking towel and let ferment overnight, about 12 hours. (If you’re using yeast as well, the ferment time is shorter.)

On a baking surface covered with flour, work the dough until all bubbles are gone. Divide in two. Roll half of the dough out, cover first with melted butter, then add rest of the topping. Now roll the dough from both sides back in until both rolls meet in the middle. Cut into 3cm wide pieces, place on an oven pan covered with a baking sheet, cover with a baking towel, and let ferment 45-60 minutes. Bake the other half of the dough in a same way. In the meantime, preheat the oven to 225 C. Before baking, wash the rolls with either a mixture of egg yolk and a tiny bit of water, or milk (or soy milk), and decorate with pearl sugar or almond flakes.

Bake the rolls until they are well baked, or about 15-18 minutes. Let cool a bit - and share with someone! Happy Martin’s Day everyone ;)

Blondies

Everyone knows brownies, but who has tasted blondies? Blondies are brownies’ blond siblings, baked with white chocolate and pecan nuts instead. They are miraculously simple and quick to bake, and totally irresistible! I got the recipe from a book called “New York - les recettes culte” that I bought last May when visiting France. I highly recommend the book! The only thing I changed here was the amount of sugar - I’m not a big fan of overly sweet stuff, and even with this new reduced sugar amount, they are quite on the sweet side… For a non-dairy version, opt for margarine instead of butter and look for white chocolate made with rice milk.

Dry ingredients:

• 300g wheat flour


• 2 tsp baking powder


• ½ tsp salt (again, if you’re using salted butter, you’ll need less salt)


• 80g white chocolate (or even 100g)


• 100g pecan nuts

Liquid ingredients:

• 150g butter


• 8cl neutral tasting oil (sunflower or such)


• 250g sugar (I use a mixture of brown and white) + 2 tsp vanilla sugar


• 2 eggs

Set your oven to 190 Celsius. Start by combining all dry ingredients in a baking bowl. Then melt the butter in a pan, set aside and pour the oil in. Mix well, then add sugar and eggs and beat for two minutes or so. Pour the liquid mixture over the dry mixture, mix thoroughly, pour the batter on an oven pan covered with a baking sheet - mine is 24cm wide and 30cm long, but that’s a bit too big - a square 24cm pan would be ideal. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until nicely brown and evenly cooked. Let them cool before cutting them into squares.

Blondies taste excellent with coffee at any time of the day - and what’s more amazing: they stay fresh and crunchy for days and days! Having some guests over next weekend? No problem, bake some blondies, enjoy them during the week and you will still have them fresh and ready for the weekend! If you can resist eating them all, that is...