Mike’s Table is celebrating a season of sensational strawberries, and I’m reminded of the time I had a glut of strawberries leftover from a function. They were absolutely gorgeous fruit – punnets of them, stored in our large coolroom. They filled the space with the intoxicating smell of pure strawberry. I immediately thought of making jam, to capture them at their peak. There was no other upcoming event that required the use of strawberries, so they would eventually have been eaten by staff or binned anyway. That’s the thing about working with functions sometimes, and as a result, I’ve been slowly accumulating an eclectic collection of jams in my section : pineapple and star anise, raspberry and eau de vie, banana and honey (quite a good one, by Jane and Jeremy Strode), and my favourite, strawberry and vanilla jam. The recipe is by Christine Ferber from her book, Mes Confitures. A great way to use the resulting jam, apart from spreading it on toast, is to make it into strawberry butter, which features in Belinda Jeffery’s fantastic Strawberry Jam ‘Snails’ recipe. These scrolled scone-like treats are so great I have to stop myself after one, or there would be no looking back! (Incidentally, for those with less of a sweet tooth, I can vouch for the fact that adapting the recipe to make a savoury Roquefort and Hazelnut version is also a very good treat in itself.)

Strawberry Jam ‘Snails’ :
(makes 10; from Mix & Bake by Belinda Jeffery)

300g self-raising flour
pinch salt
1 tablespoon castor sugar
75g cold unsalted butter, cut into small chunks
180-250ml milk
1 egg yolk, whisked with 2 teaspoons of water or milk (optional)
icing sugar, for dusting
more jam, copious amounts of double thick cream and fresh strawberries (optional), to serve [Belinda says she tends to gild the lily with this particular tea time treat. I’ve one-upped Belinda by serving mine with clotted cream from the Yarra Valley]

Strawberry butter:
60g unsalted butter, at room temperature
80g homemade strawberry jam

Preheat oven to 200’C.

Place the flour, salt and sugar in a bowl. Rub the butter chunks into the flour mixture. Pour in the milk and mix it in lightly with a fork; you will have to adjust the milk a little – you need just enough to make a soft, slightly flaky dough.

Turn the dough out onto a floured chopping board and knead it gently until it’s fairly smooth. Roll the dough (or pat it out with your hands) into a rectangle about 30cm x 20cm.

For the strawberry butter, put the butter and jam into the food processor and whiz them together until they’re thoroughly mixed. Spread the strawberry butter evenly over the dough. Starting at the long side nearest you, roll the dough up like a jam roll. Use a lightly floured knife to cut the roll into 3cm-thick slices.

Sit the scones, cut side-down, on a baking tray lined with baking paper, leaving a gap between each one to allow them to spread. (If you have the time you can refrigerate the scones at this stage for 1 hour or so before baking them – they seem to hold together better if you do).

Just before putting the scones in the oven, brush around the sides of each one with the egg yolk mixture, if using, to give them a golden glaze. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until the scones are light golden. Take the scones out of the oven, dust them with icing sugar and pop them into a serving basket lined with a clean cloth or tea towel to keep them warm.

Serve them straightaway with jam, cream and fresh strawberries.

We had a tasting at work recently, to test out some new menu items. I brought along my camera, intending to take some pictures as I plated, but it all happened so quickly that I had to ask Ann to wield the camera instead. The above is one of my favourite shots from the resulting snap-fest. It’s a warm chestnut pudding with butterscotch pear, inspired by my desire to serve a pear and Mont Blanc-style dessert. Mont Blanc, I decided, might get problematic especially when I usually have to make hundreds of the one item, so I settled on a chestnut (flour and puree) flavoured pudding instead. Garnishes are freshly baked streusel lightly spiced with cinnamon, and some boozy brandied currants. In a perfect (restaurant) scenario, the lemon zest added the streusel would be microplaned and mixed through just before serving, to allow the aroma of fresh lemon to lift into the air just as the plate hits the diner.

With the cooling of the weather, something warm and bubbly, topped with this streusel would be just the ticket. Sprinkle uncooked streusel on top of muffins before baking, for an extra crunchy topping. Or over some berries or stewed apple in a dish, a la fruit crumble. Sometimes I go all Domestic Goddess-y and store some prebaked crumble or streusel mix in the freezer for when I want a quick dessert.

Streusel :
(adapted from A Passion for Desserts by Emily Luchetti)

6 tablespoons raw sugar
6 tablespoons firmly packed brown sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
6 tablespoons plain flour
85g cold unsalted butter, chopped
85g almond meal

Preheat the oven to 175’C.

Place all the dry ingredients into a bowl. Rub in the butter until well mixed through. Spread out onto a lined tray.

Bake the streusel until golden brown, tossing the mixture with a spoon occasionally, to ensure even cooking (20-25 minutes).

Just before using, microplane some lemon zest, finely chop it and toss it through the streusel mix.

(I’m not one for accumulating too many gadgets in my kitchen, but the microplane grater is one of the most useful. It’s great (grate!) for grating small amounts of cheese or chocolate onto a dish. I particularly like it for getting zest off citrus fruits, because it manages to do so without taking off any of the pith at the same time, which can be bitter. If you need more reasons (excuses) to get yourself a microplane, check out Joelen’s Tasty Tools event, which features Graters and Microplanes this month.)

So I thought I was going to have to work this weekend, but it turns out, my prep is way on track because the numbers have been reduced slightly. I’m on to tart #900, with only 250 to go. Naturally I had nothing planned to do in the event of not working. No “In case of Emergency” fun-pack I could break the glass and retrieve.

I woke up this morning and it was so clouded over that I thought it was still 7am even though it was much later than that. It’s suddenly Autumn, even though the trees have yet to shed their leaves and the spiders are still out in force (I walk down the path to the train station every day, with my arms close to my body. I fear their elaborate webs strung across impossible places. Once at 5am, I brushed against one ever so slightly and started doing a manic dance all the way down the street, trying to work the possibility of spider off my bag and self).

This morning as I step outside, I can smell the bacon and eggs from one floor down and across. I love the smell of breakfasts, even though mine is often quite sparing by comparison. I love the lingering aroma in the hallways, of coffee and toast (with butter scraped across it’s surface). The clinking of spoon against cereal bowl. The sound of pulpy orange juice poured into a glass. The flick and crinkle of the newspaper as a page is turned.

In case of an unexpected long weekend, adopt a pony, eat chocolate, go cycling, bake bread.

—

Susan from Wild Yeast is hosting this month’s BBD and she has picked celebration breads as her theme. In general, breads to not feature strongly in any of my family’s celebrations. I grew up on sliced white bread which got delivered to our door. My sister and I particularly loved this bread because like cereal, it came with an action hero picture card tucked down the side of the plastic bread bag, which of course, we collected. For the celebration theme, I decided to make challah (Jewish egg braid) since I’ve always wanted to make it, and was also inspired by some of the challahs I saw in a BBD event from 2 months back. This recipe from Beth Hensperger’s Basic Bread Book looked promising. Beth says that it comes from a friend’s Russian great-grandmother, and that it was translated for her from cursive Hebrew. You can’t argue with history like that, can you? The bread itself is pretty easy to make and I love the flavour. It’s somewhat like brioche, but not as rich and sweet. I halved the recipe to yield two decent sized loaves and painted my challahs with an eggwash mixed with some spices before baking.

Challah :

about 7 1/2 cups unbleached plain flour
2 1/2 cups warm water
2 tablespooons (2 1/2 packages) active dry yeast
1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon castor sugar
3 eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons salt
egg glaze (made by combining 1 egg with 1 tablespoon of milk or water)

In a large bowl, place 6 cups of the flour. Make a well in the center with your hand and pour 1/2 cup of the water into the center. Sprinkle the yeast and 1 tablespoon of the sugar over the water. Stir gently to dissolve (a bit of flour will also be incorporated) and let stand 15 minutes. Add the reamining sugar, remaining water, eggs, oil and salt to the well and mix with a large wooden spoon or your hand with the fingers outstretched until a shaggy mass of dough is formed. Add the remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time. The dough will form a ball and pull away from the sides of the bowl.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and knead by folding, stretching and pulling until soft and springy, 5 to 8 minutes, dusting with flour only 1 tablespoon at a time, just enough as neeed to prevent sticking. The dough will be smooth and springy but not dry.

Place the dough in a lightly greased deep container. Turn the dough once to coat the top and cover with plastic wrap. Let rise at room temperature until double in bulk, about 2 to 2 1/4 hours. Do not allow the dough to rise over double, as it has a tendency to tear and the baked loaf will not be as full-volumed as it can be. Gently delfate the dough with your fist, re-cover and let rise again until doubled in bulk, about 1 to 1 3/4 hours.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface to deflate. Line 2 baking sheets with baking paper. Without working the dough further, divide the dough into 4 equal portions. Further divide each portion into 3 equal portions. Roll each section under your palms into a rope that is tapered at each end. Gently dust the work surface with flour to lightly coat each rope. Be sure the ropes are of equal size and shape. Place the 3 ropes parallel to each other. Begin brading, starting in the center rather than at the ends for a more even shape. Take on of the outside ropes and fold it over the center rope, then repeat the movement from the opposite side. Continue by alternating the outside ropes over the center rope. When completed, turn the dough around and repeat the procedure from the middle out to the other end. Pinch the ends into tapered points and place the loaves on the baking sheet. Brush the tops with some of the egg glaze. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rise at room temperature until the dough is almost double in bulk, about 40 minutes.

Twenty minutes before baking, preheat the oven to 175’C. Brush the surface of the loaves a second time with the egg glaze. Place the pans on the center rack of the oven and bake 40-45 minutes, or until the loaves are deep golden brown and sound hollow when tapped with your finger. Remove the loaves from the pans immediately to a cooling rack. Loaves are best slightly warm or at room temperature.