Muffin Monday - Carrot Spice Muffins

I am so busy doing nothing... that the idea of doing anything - which as you know, always leads to something - cuts into the nothing and then forces me to have to drop everything.

~ Jerry Seinfeld

I've always had a weakness for moist carrot cake, packed to the brim with grated carrots, nuts and dried fruits and topped with the most decadent cream cheese frosting. So you can imagine how much I was looking forward to making this week's Muffin Monday recipe, Carrot Spice Muffins. Our host, Anuradha of Baker Street blog specified that this was to be a healthy muffin, so I reluctantly tossed out the evil frosting idea and ended up with a healthier topping instead.

French Fridays with Dorie - Cinnamon Crunch Chicken

I'll get straight to the point - I liked this recipe. It had only 3 ingredients (three!) - chicken, crème fraiche and spéculoos.  Specu....what? 

Okay, I'll spare you the misery and tell you that these are spicy shortcrust cookies traditionally baked around Christmastime in the Netherlands, Belgium, France and Germany. Spices used in spéculoos are, in different variations, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, ginger, cardamom and white pepper. I know this because I used to eat tons of them when I lived in Europe. Safe to say, my tastebuds have very fond memories of that time. 

Of Figs, Mangoes, Pull-Apart Bread and Pudding Cake. A Guest Post Exchange with Evelyne of CEE.

Have I got something special for you today! Well, it's two recipes actually....one here and one over at Evelyne's blog, Cheap Ethnic Eatz, because we have both decided to do a guest post exchange cooking something that inspired us out of the other person's blog. By way of an intro, I first met Evelyne at an online cooking party (IIP). Through her various posts, I got to know that she's one adventurous gal and pretty fearless at trying out exotic and unusual flavors in her recipes. She's plenty of fun, has a big heart and gets really excited whenever she's out at the farmer's market because she tries to buy a little bit of everything.... Wait, am I describing Evelyne here or myself? Definitely Evelyne! But we're so much alike and that's probably why I said yes! when she asked me to do this fun project with her. 

      

I chose to bake her sweet potato pudding cake because I'd been dazzled by her description and photos of it from the word go. You can check the recipe out on my guest post on her blog. In the meantime, please join me in warmly welcoming Evelyne with her sweet-savory version of my pull-apart bread. The flavor combinations here just blew me away, and I know you'll feel the same way!

____________________________________________

Mango, Cinnamon and Raspberry Pull-Apart Rolls, and YBR

No beets to be found anywhere for this week's French Fridays with Dorie recipe, but here...here's another mango recipe. And I'm truly sorry about it. Isn't it odd, me apologizing for having too many mango recipes as a consequence of too many mangoes growing on our tree outside? Well, brace yourself this month, because I've scheduled several other mango posts, and you may start to get sick of this sweet, aromatic fruit. God forbid it, though.

You'll be glad to know that I've lightened up the mango overload by adding some raspberries into the mix. Growing up, we ate plenty of mangoes but not a single raspberry. Until I moved to study overseas, that is. Sad thing was, the taste of raspberries failed to enchant me as much as the sweetness of mangoes did. I guess there's a lot to be said about memory-associated eating... however, now that we have easy access to raspberries (albeit airflown ones), I have warmed up to the fruit a fair bit.

Rhubarb-Coconut-Cinnamon and Raspberry Popsicles

“I felt I was painting with a Popsicle.”
~ Robert Merrill

"What did one tomato say to the other as they were rolling down the hill?"

"Go ahead, I'll ketchup."

Ever wonder who makes up those corny jokes on popsicle sticks that you can only read fully once you finish the popsicle? And how much do they get paid for that job? Oh well, I hadn't eaten too many store-bought popsicles over the last decade (or two) so I'm not sure whether these jokes still exist and if they do, whether they're still not that funny... 
 
Today's not a regular French Friday offering, as you can probably tell if you've read this far. While the rest of the French Fridays with Dorie crew are happily roasting rhubarb (for that's the recipe this week), I am left holding a can of discolored rhubarb. Unfortunately, this fresh vegetable is not currently available to those of us residing in the Southern hemisphere. 'Tis simply not in season and my plans to participate in this week's online cook-out have been utterly and quite literally, canned.

Bread Pudding-On-The-Go: Hot Buttered Molasses Bread Pudding Muffins

My contribution for this month's Bread Pudding of the Month Club hosted by Victoria of Mission: Food is something of a take-out version of bread pudding. Wrapped in homemade muffin liners and topped with crunchy, buttery bread flowers, these bread pudding muffins are adorably shabby chic. Yes, not only interior décor, muffins can now enjoy a chic reputation as well....

I flavored this bread pudding with distinct-tasting ingredients - cinnamon, brown sugar, nutmeg, molasses and vanilla. Coupled with the smell of heated bread and milk, the aromatically-laden muffins gave off the most amazing smell the day I baked them. I felt comforted simply just sniffing them, so can you imagine my joy after tucking into one (or two, or perhaps three) of these?

The paper muffin liners you see here were really easy to shape. I just cut 5 x 5 inch squares out of parchment paper, folded each into wide cones then pressed them down into the bottom of a muffin tray cup using my fingers. To demonstrate how easy this ahem...technique is, below is a super-cute video of two young ladies making cupcake liners using origami papers. You can also purchase them ready-made from Fancy Flours, they even come in a variety of lovely colors.

I really like the size and portability of this bread pudding. You can take it to work, to a picnic or have it in your gym bag to munch on after your workout (hey, why not? You deserve it). Apart from that, I also love the crispy, bread topping made from extra, cubed bread coated in butter and sprinkled with cinnamon sugar. The crispiness of the toasted topping was a wonderful contrast to the moistness of the bread pudding underneath it. The muffin tastes really, really good when it’s warm and even better when it’s topped with a dollop of cream or a single scoop of ice-cream. I simply sprinkled some icing sugar on top and it was already quite divine!

Hot Buttered Molasses Bread Pudding Muffins
Ingredients:
Pudding
8 cups cubed bread
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1/2 cup milk
3 eggs
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup white sugar
1 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1 1/2 tablespoons molasses (black treacle)

Topping
3 tablespoons melted salted butter
1 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon powder

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 325F. Line a 12-cup muffin tin with cupcake liners.

2. Cut bread into approx. 3/4-inch cubes. Set aside two cups of the bread cubes for the topping. Add the rest to a large bowl.

3. In another medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, cream, milk, brown sugar, white sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and molasses. Pour the wet mixture over the bread cubes in the large bowl and toss gently. Let sit at room temperature for 30 minutes so that the bread has time to soak in the liquid.

4. Divide the mixture between the 12 muffin cups. They should take about 1/2 cup each. Pour any remaining custard over the bread pudding/muffins.

5. For the topping, pour the melted butter over the remaining 2 cups of bread cubes (I cut mine into flowers here). Toss gently. Mix the sugar and cinnamon together, then sprinkle over cubes. Toss gently.

6. Divide the topping evenly between each muffin, placing them close to the center of each. You’ll probably have about three or four cubes per muffin.

7. Bake at 325F/170C for 30 minutes, until they’re set and the top is golden and crisp. Dust, while warm, with a little powdered sugar.

8. Cool on a rack for five to 10 minutes, and then enjoy with a little whipped cream or vanilla ice cream. If you’re not enjoying them right away, keep them refrigerated – they keep for 3-4 days.

International Incident Party: Healthy Breakfast Sundae

The theme for this month's IIP is Sundae. I looooove ice cream and desserts to my own detriment because this sweet addiction often translates into an annoying but rather endearing "muffin-top".While doing some *cough* research on this theme, I came across a sundae served in a hot dog bun and while I thought it was an interesting concept, I'm not sure if I'd be tempted to eat that sundae, even while holidaying in Thailand.  It's like combining last month's theme (Hot Dog) with this one's! Totally absurd.

I decided to go in a different direction, creating my own twist on the old ice cream sundae. Prepare to set aside any guilt, for you can eat my sundae for breakfast. Now ice cream for breakfast isn't as crazy as it sounds when you think about the amount of sugar-soaked calories in a typical stack of pancakes, smeared jams on toast and a bowl of processed cereal. And when you consider that this ice cream is eggless (sadly, not cream-less) and machiavellianly made with oatmeal, the whole concept starts to feel vaguely *winks* healthy.

The other twist is that instead of serving the ice cream in scoops as per usual in a sundae, these frozen babies were shaped into cones. Upside-down cones, yes sure, but conically-shaped nonetheless to pay homage to the most popular way of eating ice-cream (a.k.a. in a waffle cone).

So that’s the ice cream part sorted out, but where’s the actual Sundae, you ask? I started to grapple with the idea of a healthy dessert that can actually be eaten for breakfast without any guilt. Well, not much guilt, I should say. After a bit of umm-aahhing, I decided to serve the breakfast sundae in the following ways:

1. Oatmeal Ice Cream Sundae with Chocolate Roti Jala, topped with Honey-Passion Fruit Sauce, and...

2. Oatmeal Ice Cream Sundae with Apple Waffle, topped with Blueberry Yoghurt
and Toasted Almonds.

Roti jala or “net bread” are lacy, net-like pancakes or crepes (they’re very thin) that are popular in Malaysia and around this region in general. They are created using a special deep ladle with several syringe-like holes at the bottom where the runny batter can flow through into the hot pan. Normally, they would be served as a savory item alongside a meat or curry dish, and they would be yellow in color due to the turmeric powder used. However, here I decided to make a chocolate version of roti jala. Drizzled with the honey-passion fruit sauce, they proved to be a perfect accompaniment to my oatmeal sundae. I just couldn’t photograph all my steps quickly enough before the crepes started burning, so here’s a good video to show you how it’s cooked.

The other breakfast sundae version with apple waffle wasn’t too bad either. I just don’t think I need to go into a lengthy explanation on what constitute waffles, and no, no, I didn’t make the blueberry yoghurt myself – it was store bought. Once the ice cream lost its conical shape and melted into the roti jala/waffles (it took a fair while as the oats were pretty good at holding everything together), the guilt factor of having to eat both of these breakfast sundaes in one sitting melted away as well... ;-)

Thank you Penny a.k.a. Jeroxie for being a fabulous host, as always! Do check out the other sundae creations by some of the most talented bloggers I know by clicking on their thumbnails below.

Eggless Oatmeal Ice Cream 'Cones'

(makes 3/4 L)

Ingredients:

100g brown sugar

1 tablespoon glutinous rice flour

1/4 tsp salt

200ml single cream

200ml milk

250g quickcook oatmeal

Method:

1. Place all ingredients in a saucepan and whisk to combine. Bring mixture to simmer over medium heat, stirring constantly. Cook until mixture has fully thickened, about 1-2 minutes. Let cool completely either in an ice bath or in the fridge. I put mine over the ice bath, while stirring to quicken it. Pour into ice cream machine and churn according to manufacturer’s instructions.

2. In the meantime, prepare cone moulds. Cut four 20cm x 25cm sheets of baking paper. Trim four sheets of A4 paper or aluminium foil into the same size. Lay a baking paper sheet over a sheet of regular paper or foil, bring top right corner down to the middle of the paper and roll to form a cone shape. Secure with a sticky tape. Repeat with the other papers and place each cone in 4 tall slim glasses or containers.

3. Scoop the soft ice cream mixture into the paper cones, packing down ice cream tightly and leveling the top. Transfer to the freezer for at least 6 hours or overnight. To serve, remove tape and unwrap paper. Invert cones onto serving plates.

Chocolate Roti Jala

Makes 4 net pancakes

Ingredients:

1 cup of all-purpose flour

2 tablespoons Dutch-processed cocoa powder

2 tablespoons cinnamon sugar

1 1/4 cup of milk

1 tablespoon butter, melted

Method:

1. Mix all the above ingredients thoroughly. There should not be any lumps. You can either pass the batter through a sieve or blend the mixture in a blender to get a smooth mixture.

2. Heat a non-stick pan and brush lightly with some melted butter. Fill 1/4 of the roti jala mold with the mix and move it over the hot pan in a continuous spiral motion. Hold the mold close to the pan otherwise the mixture will form into droplets rather than continuous strings of batter. (If the batter is too thick or does not flow well, add 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil to the batter).

3. It cooks very fast, about a minute so make sure you keep your eye on the pancake. Lift the edges and fold the pancake into half, then into half again to make a wedge/triangular shape.

Apple Waffles

Makes: 4

Ingredients:

1 ½ cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon caster sugar

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 large apple, peeled, cored and finely chopped

¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon

¼ teaspoon salt

2 large eggs

1 cup milk

¼ teaspoon butter, melted

Method:

1. Preheat a waffle iron and oil as required.

2. In a bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, apple, cinnamon and salt with a fork. In another bowl, beat the eggs with an electric mixer on medium speed until foamy. Combine the two mixtures, blending until the dry ingredients are well moistened and the batter is smooth.

3. Pour ½ cup of the batter onto the waffle iron and bake according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Remove waffle from the iron and continue until all the batter is used.

Honey-Passion Fruit Sauce

Ingredients:

1/2 cup honey

1 passion fruit

Scoop the passionfruit contents and mix into the honey. Use as a topping by spooning onto ice-cream and pancakes.

Two ways with the Healthy Breakfast Sundae:

1. Make the roti jala, place oatmeal icecream on top or side of it and drizzle generously with the honey-passion fruit sauce. Serve immediately.

2. Make the apple waffle, place oatmeal icecream on top and drizzle with blueberry yoghurt. Sprinkle with some toasted almonds. Serve immediately.

Bread Pudding Club: Cinnamon-Tangerine Bread Pudding

At the age of 15, I was sent off to boarding school. There was nothing particularly wrong with the food at boarding school, but there was no choice of menu and you were forced to eat whatever was served up. We never ate bread and butter pudding at home but at that school, we had it for lunch nearly every week. Since it was quite novel to me, I grew to love this British dish instead of hating it just because we had it so often at school (if you saw how they served it at the cafeteria, you would wonder why... its presentation in the large buffet trays was downright dog ugly!). Now anytime I come across bread pudding, it takes me right back to my boarding school days. Oh the joy!

When my friend Victoria of Mission Food mentioned that she was starting a Bread Pudding of the Month Club, I was immediately inspired by the vision of presenting this humble, homely dish as something a bit more exciting flavor-wise that I... gatecrashed her party. Ok, she did kindly invite me to join her in posting this bread pudding recipe (after I asked her). So, many thanks Victoria, for this fun opportunity and for your generosity of spirit.

Just about every culture that makes bread has its own version of bread pudding. The breads of Asia, though are quite different to European types of bread as many are unleavened. There are some which use yeast, yet are not baked in large, light loaves which lend themselves to slicing. They are somewhat flat compared to Western bread, but have very special flavors. Asian breads are not usually baked in an oven, since ovens are not normally a feature of the average Asian kitchen. Instead, they are griddle-baked, shallow fried or deep fried. In the case of Chinese breads, they are steamed in bamboo steamers or any other kind of steamer available. Most Asian breads are found in South Asia (India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka) and other countries where the Indian influence is strong.

Hailing from neither China nor South Asia, bread was never a traditional staple for my family. You will understand when I say that I've only ever made bread pudding at home twice in my life. This was to be my third time, so I decided to take things easy. Easy on flavors, I mean. This time of year coincides with Chinese/Lunar New Year and as usual we are inundated with oranges, tangerines, satsumas, kumquats, etc. What better way to incorporate the abundant citrusy flavor than in a bread pudding, hey?

I used tiny-sized tangerines as they're seedless and the segments could be tucked nicely in between the bread slices. Cinnamon pairs well with the sweet, tangy taste of the tangerine, which pops in your mouth as you take a bite of the pudding. Orange-flavored caramel sauce poured over the cooked pudding and a dollop of whipped cream completed the dish. It was pretty good for my third ever experience baking bread pudding, and I can't wait for the next time! 

Victoria has created a special, tropically-inspired bread pudding today. If you want a whiff of her wondrous Piña Colada Bread Pudding below, you should head out to her site now!

Cinnamon-Tangerine Bread Pudding

Serves: 6
Ingredients:
8 slices stale bread
50g cold butter
1 litre milk
1 cinnamon stick or 1 teaspoon cinnamon
4-5 cloves
2 eggs
3/4 cup brown sugar
4 tangerines, peeled

Orange Caramel Sauce

1 cup freshly squeezed orange juice or regular orange juice

1/2 cup heavy cream

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

1/2 cup granulated sugar

Method:

1. Remove the crust from the bread and slice each bread diagonally into 4 triangles. Chop the crust into small chunks and set aside.

2. Butter a shallow baking dish (1-2 inch deep) and leave the rest of the butter for later.

3. Arrange the bread slices along the base of the tart dish, leaning against each other in one layer. Fill the gaps along the outer edges with the chopped crust.

4. Slice/shave the cold butter on top of the bread slices.

5. Separate the tangerines into individual segments, peeling away using your fingers. Slide in 1-2 tangerines into the spaces between/behind the rectangular bread slices.

6. Place the milk, cinnamon and cloves in a pan and heat until just starting to boil, stirring constantly to prevent the milk from burning. Remove from heat and set aside while you prepare the egg mixture.

7. Whisk eggs and sugar in a small bowl, then add a cup of the warm milk and beat further. Pour this mixture back into the pan with the rest of the milk and stir until it just starts to simmer. Strain the mixture into another bowl to remove the spices and any foam.

8. Carefully spoon the custard onto the bread slices until they are completely soaked and the custard reaches to just below the rim of the tart dish.

9. Bake at 175C for 40 minutes. The pudding will expand in the oven, but will settle down once cooled.

10. For the orange-caramel sauce, bring orange juice to a simmer over medium-high heat in a saucepan for about 5 minutes to reduce. Strain through a fine sieve into a bowl, add cream, and set aside. In another saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Add sugar and continue to cook, stirring frequently until sugar is lightly caramelized, about 3 minutes. Add the orange juice mixture, stirring constantly. Simmer for 5 minutes and strain through a fine sieve.

11. Serve the pudding warm, drizzle with orange-flavored caramel, top with a dollop of whipped cream and a dusting of powdered sugar.

Coconut-Cheese Ice Cream with Thyme, Cranberry Sauce and Spiced Walnuts

Growing up in the tropics, cheese really didn't feature much in our everyday diet. We had durians and fermented shrimp paste (belacan), and that was enough odorous foods for one culture to have to endure. It's all very different the kids growing up in this more global world now, of course. 

Coconut milk, on the other hand, does feature a lot in our tropical cuisine, from breakfast snacks, main meals and desserts. Saying that, however, our use of it nowadays is in more measured amounts due to the high oil and sugar content (coconut cream especially).

Like chalk and cheese

I've been toying with the idea of mixing one of the most Eastern ingredient with one of the most Western and finally came up with this Coconut-Cheese ice cream recipe. My tastebuds know for a fact that thyme goes extremely well with cheese so that was thrown in for good measure. On its own, this creamy, distinctively Cheddary ice cream is already worthy of a gasp. But try eating a spoonful of it drizzled with warm, cinnamon-scented cranberry-orange sauce and topped with spicy, gingery walnuts, and you're bound to hear absolute silence as the world around you stops moving! Trust me when I say this, it is that good.

 Top: Cranberry-Orange sauce,  Bottom: Spicy walnuts

 

Out of the oven - spicy, sweet, crisp walnuts with ginger and cayenne pepper

Next time you have guests over for a party, be daring enough to serve this understatedly sexy, elegant and complex dessert all rolled into one. Oh, and remember to print out copies of the recipe as your guests will be asking for it!

If you're making this dessert for any adorable tiny tots, just substitute the coconut milk with regular milk and leave out the salt and spices.

Coconut-Cheese Ice Cream with Thyme, Cranberry Sauce and Spiced Walnuts

Ingredients:
Coconut-Cheese Ice Cream with Thyme
• 1 cup coconut milk
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 125g (4oz) cheddar cheese, grated
• 125g (4oz) cream cheese, diced
• 1/2 teaspoon ground thyme
• 3/4 cup honey
• 1/8 teaspoon salt

Cranberry-Orange Sauce
• 1 cup dried cranberries (or 2 cups fresh berries)
• 1/2 cup orange juice
• 1/4 cup brown sugar or honey
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 1 tablespoon water

Spiced Walnuts
• 1 egg white
• 1 teaspoon water
• 2 cups walnuts
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper or chilli powder

Method:
Coconut-Cheese Ice Cream with Thyme

1. In a small heavy bottom sauce pot, bring the coconut milk and heavy cream to a boil.

2. Remove from heat and whisk in the cheddar cheese, cream cheese, honey, thyme and salt.

3. Blend this mixture in a blender until smooth. Transfer to a bowl, then cool completely before freezing mixture in ice-cream maker.

4. Transfer to an airtight container and put in freezer to harden, at least 2 hours. Let ice-cream soften 5 minutes before serving.

Cranberry-Orange Sauce

1. Combine cranberries, orange juice, sugar/honey, vanilla and cinnamon stick in medium saucepan. Bring to boil over high heat, stirring until sugar dissolves; boil for 1 minute.

2. Strain into bowl. Reserve cranberries. Return juices and cinnamon stick to the same pan. Mix 1 tablespoon water and cornstarch in small bowl; stir into juices in pan. Stir over medium heat until juices boil and thicken, about 1 minute. Mix in reserved cranberries. Chill compote 2 hours.

Spiced Walnuts

1. Preheat oven to 120°C/250°F.

2. Whisk together egg white and water in a large bowl until frothy and stir in nuts. Stir together sugar, ground ginger and cayenne pepper/chilli powder and stir into nuts, coating well. Spread nuts on a lightly buttered pan and bake in middle of oven until dry, about 50 minutes. Cool and chop into bite-size chunks.

Assembly

To serve, scoop ice cream into sundae glasses, top with cranberry-orange sauce and chopped spiced walnuts.

Poetry Thursday #2 & The Evil Twin of Cinnabon

Poetry Thursday #2:

There is a place where the sidewalk ends

And before the street begins,
And there the grass grows soft and white,
And there the sun burns crimson bright,
And there the moon-bird rests from his flight
To cool in the peppermint wind.

Let us leave this place where the smoke blows black
And the dark street winds and bends.
Past the pits where the asphalt flowers grow
We shall walk with a walk that is measured and slow,
And watch where the chalk-white arrows go
To the place where the sidewalk ends.

Yes we'll walk with a walk that is measured and slow,
And we'll go where the chalk-white arrows go,
For the children, they mark, and the children, they know
The place where the sidewalk ends.

Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein 

My friend LAZsie had a craving for chocolate last week and challenged me to a baking "project" (subtext: can we have some free food, please?) with chocolate as one of the ingredients. Not that I minded, it's no secret that I already had a number of good, chocolate-laden recipes in my trusty cookbook, but I really wanted to try something new. New to me, anyway.

Luckily for her (yes you, madame!), I'd been meaning to attempt baking cinnamon rolls for a while, and I thought this was a good opportunity to finally do it. Of course, along with the cinnamon filling, I'd planned to add a generous amount of chocolate. Although not too generous that the cinnamon gets washed away by the chocolatey-ness. No, I still want them to get along really well and be a gorgeous-tasting couple. An  attention-grabbing couple too on the weekly red carpet world of Yeastspotting (to which I'm submitting this post! LOL).

All that brown sugar, cinnamon and chocolate. I could just faint!

It didn't take me long to surf and locate the best-looking cinnamon rolls on the internet. From the drippingly delicious pictures to the number of people who have tried this recipe, I decided Memoria's (of Mangio Da Sola) cinnamon rolls have got to be IT. And I chose wisely, for she makes truly beautiful things out of her kitchen and I also sense, out of her heart.

I wasn't disappointed with the results, and neither were my (I remind them again) very lucky friends. The dough was to die for and I would definitely add more chocolate in the filling when I bake these again. Biting into one these evil Cinnabon clones, I was immediately taken to that place where the sidewalk ends. *smiles*

Below is Memoria's recipe. Have fun!

Evil Twin of Cinnabon: Chocolate-Cinnamon Rolls

Makes: 12 rolls

Ingredients:

Dough:

1 teaspoon dry, instant yeast

1 cup warm milk

1/2 cup white sugar

1/3 cup margarine (or butter), melted and cooled

1 teaspoon salt

2 large eggs, room temperature

4 1/2 cups bread flour

Chocolate-Cinnamon Filling

1/3 cup butter, softened

1 cup dark brown sugar, packed

2 1/2 tablespoons ground cinnamon

100g good quality chocolate, shaved

(NB - I used this Cadbury's Marble chocolate)

Cream Cheese Frosting

1 package (250g) cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 1/2 cups icing sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/8 teaspoon salt
Extra chocolate shavings, for sprinkling

Method:

1. Dissolve the yeast in the warm milk in a large bowl. Mix in the sugar, margarine, salt, and eggs. Add flour and mix well. Knead the dough into a large ball for about 5 minutes. Put in a bowl, cover and let rise in a warm place about 1 hour, or until doubled in size.

2. After the dough has doubled in size, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface, cover and let rest for 10 minutes. In a small bowl, combine brown sugar and cinnamon.

3. Roll dough into a 16x21 inch rectangle and after that prepare the cinnamon-brown sugar-chocolate filling.

4. Chocolate-Cinnamon Filling: Spread dough with 1/3 cup butter and sprinkle evenly with sugar/cinnamon mixture. Lightly roll the mixture into the dough. Shave the chocolate on top of this layer.

5. Roll up dough and cut into 12 rolls. Place rolls in a lightly greased 9x13 inch baking pan. (You can leave these overnight in the fridge at this point. Take them out of the fridge 60 minutes before you bake them). Cover and let rise until nearly doubled, about 30 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 200C/400F.

6. Bake rolls in a preheated oven until golden brown, about 15 minutes. While rolls are baking, beat together cream cheese and butter until smooth. Then add icing sugar gradually, vanilla extract and salt. Spread frosting on warm rolls before serving.

Ginger-Cinnamon Cookies

Here's another sweet treat I made for my bratty friends this morning ;-). The taste of the ginger and cinnamon nicely complemented each other and everything was held together with golden syrup and butter (below). Yummms....

Cute little dots of cookie batter.

I had no time to be fancy with this, I only had about 40 minutes before I had to get out of the house! All that hurriedness, and I was early while they were LATE. Again.

Hope you enjoyed them, guys!

Next time, they will be more chewy, I promise.