Biscoff Babka (Dairy Free)

It’s been a while since I ventured into making babka. I love my pistachio version, but the filling I used was unavailable here in Australia for the majority of last year, only coming back on the shelves in November or December. 

It was definitely time to try a new flavour, so when I bought a jar of Crunchy Biscoff Spread, it occurred to me that it could be a really good filling for a babka, amongst other things. I tried it, and can confirm it is delicious. It’s also something that is easily bought at many supermarkets (I bought mine at Woolworths), and is dairy free. And since I still believe that challah is the best type of bread, I again used that as my babka base, and that combined with the Biscoff spread makes this whole recipe dairy free.

You could of course use many other things as your babka filling, Nutella is another spread that is easy to come by. If using, you’d only need about 200g or so of it, since it has a smoother, thinner and even more spreadable consistency than Biscoff spread. 

And as a note, I am still exclusively using the Monday Morning Cooking Club challah recipe, as it genuinely works every time and tastes great made a traditional challah or adapted into something like this. The recipe is in their first self titled book (which I highly recommend, you can read more about it here), and can be found on their website here as well. 

Biscoff (Challah) Babka

Ingredients: 

500g plain flour, plus extra

250ml warm water

9g dried yeast

85g caster sugar

3/4 tsp salt

1 egg, beaten

63ml canola or vegetable oil

250-300g Crunchy Biscoff Spread 

cooking spray

Ingredients for the Glaze: 

50g white sugar

60ml water

Method:

Place the flour into a large bowl (one that fits your stand mixer if you have one). Make a well in the centre of the flour, then pour in the warm water. Add the yeast and 60g of the caster sugar and stir (don’t mix in the flour at this stage). Leave for 10-15 minutes, or until the yeast has become foamy. 

Then add the salt and remaining sugar, stir again (don’t mix in the flour at this stage), and wait 5-10 minutes for the yeast to become foamy again. 

Once the yeast is foamy, add the egg and the oil to the yeast mixture and combine. Then start to gradually incorporate the flour into the wet mixture. Once everything is combined, attach your bowl to your stand mixer fitted with the dough hook, and knead on a medium speed for about five minutes. The dough will be smooth and a little sticky once done. If the dough is too sticky, add a little more flour (1-2 tbsp). 

While the dough is kneading, lightly oil a large bowl. 

Once the dough is ready, place into the oiled bowl and cover. Leave in a warm spot for 1-1.5 hours, or until the dough has risen and doubled in size. 

Spray a 22 x 10 x 8.5cm (approx.) loaf tin with the cooking spray. 

Once the dough has risen, flour your work surface and tip the dough out. Lightly flour the top of the dough to prevent it sticking to your rolling pin. Using a rolling pin, roll out the dough into a rectangle (approx. 20 x 5cm). 

Place the Biscoff spread in a heatproof bowl or dish, and put in the microwave for about 10 seconds. This will made it easier to spread over the dough.

Dust any excess flour from the top of the dough, then spread the Biscoff Spread over the surface of the dough. Don’t worry if your sough stretches as you spread the filling over, once the dough is rolled up you can gently push it from either end to make it a little less long.

Roll the dough tightly from one of the long edges to form a long log. Trim the ends off to neaten it up, and cut the log evenly down the middle. 

Turn the cut side of each piece of dough so it is facing up, then twist the two strands of dough together. Tuck the ends under, and gently squash the dough from either end to make it a bit more tight if it has become quite long. 

Place the dough into the prepared tin, cover and leave in a warm spot for about 30 minutes, or until the dough has risen. 

While the dough is rising, preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius.

Once the dough has risen, place in the oven for 40 minutes. Check after 20 minutes, and loosely place some foil over the top to prevent the babka from over browning. 

While the babka is baking, make the glaze. Place the water and sugar in a small saucepan over medium heat and stir until the sugar has dissolved. Allow it to come to the boil, and then simmer for 3-5 minutes. Remove from the heat and allow to cool. 

The babka will be ready when it is golden on top, and sounds hollow when gently tapped. Remove babka from the oven, and place on a wire rack. Using a pastry brush, paint the top of the babka in about three layers of the syrup (this will help preserve the babka and stop it drying out), then leave to cool for 15-20 minutes. 

Once the babka has had a little time to cool, remove from the tin, and either cut into slices and serve immediately or allow to cool completely then slice. 

Babka like many homemade breads, is best eaten on the day it is made. If you won’t be eating all on day it is made, once the babka has cooled, cut into slices and freeze each individually.

Reference: ‘Monday Morning Cooking Club - The Food, The Stories, The Sisterhood’ by Merelyn Frank Chalmers, Natanya Eskin, Lauren Fink, Lisa Goldberg, Paula Horwitz and Jacqui Israel (HarperCollins, 2013), p.263.

Vanilla Scented Challah Hot Cross Buns

Yes, I know what you are thinking. Again with the challah? I made a babka with challah dough not that long ago, and as I said then, I believe challah is the best type of bread so it could only ever improve a recipe. 

I am also aware that this recipe is in no way ‘kosher’. Challah is a Jewish bread most commonly eaten at Friday night Shabbat, and hot cross buns are made to celebrate the Christian holiday of Easter. I am also quite aware that the Jewish holiday of Passover often falls at the same time as Easter (as it does this year), and that leavened foods such as challah are not eaten during this time. So, definitely not ‘kosher’. 

Despite this, I maintain that challah is the best kind of bread, so trying to make hot cross buns with it was always going to happen for me. And if the religious contradictions are just too much, call them (challah) spiced fruit buns (great for any time of year) and leave it at that.

I often find when making hot cross buns, that I can never get them to look identical, and that using the same recipe doesn’t always yield a batch that looks the same as last time. I have found this occurs for a few reasons. Firstly, I never weigh the dough so I never get my individual buns exactly the same weight/size. I may try this next time I make them (which should be soon since we are socially isolating right not and not going to the shops to specifically buy hot cross buns so homemade is it for now!), and if I do I will update the recipe below. 

Secondly, I find it depends how my dough proofs. When making bread dough in warmer conditions I don’t have any issues with my dough rising. Now the weather has cooled down a bit, I am finding my bread doughs are not rising the same amount in the same time frame. To combat this, the last time I made these, I proofed the dough in our plate warming drawer under our oven, at 30 degrees Celsius (which is it’s lowest temperature) leaving the drawer open as the ideal temperature for proofing dough is about 25-28 degrees Celsius. 

First Attempt

Second Attempt

This batch of challah hot cross buns turned out larger than the previous batch, which had been proofed closer to room temperature. This first batch were smaller, and had cracks in the dough on the top, which I later found out was a sign that a dough is under proofed. For some more tips on proofing bread dough check out this blog post from BakeClub I found quite helpful. 

Thirdly, I always do the final proof and bake of my hot cross buns on a flat baking tray. This means the dough can spread in away way it wants. Using a baking tray with sides may help get a more even look to my hot cross buns as the dough will not be able to rise and spread in any which way. Again, if I try it this way next time I will update the recipe below. 

On a final note, you don’t have to soak the sultanas in anything but I prefer them to be a little plumped up. The addition of the vanilla when soaking the sultanas is lovely, and the more fragrant the vanilla extract you use the better - I have found using the vanilla extract from Grounded Pleasures yields the best flavour. Just make sure the sultanas are well drained before adding to the dough. And for reference the quantity of spices I use for the dough adds up to approximately 12-13g, so if you wish to alter the quantities of individual spices or types of spices just keep it to that total weight (or add in more plain flour to make up the difference). 

Vanilla Scented Challah Hot Cross Buns

Ingredients for the Dough: 

200g golden sultanas or raisins (cut in half if very large)

2 tbsp vanilla extract

2 tbsp hot water

490g plain flour, plus extra

250ml warm water

9g dried yeast

85g golden caster sugar

3/4 tsp salt

1 egg, beaten

63ml canola or vegetable oil, plus extra

1 tsp vanilla bean paste

2 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp ground ginger

1 tsp ground cardamom

1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

1/2 tsp mixed spice

Ingredients for the Glaze: 

100ml water

50g caster sugar

50g vanilla sugar (see here for how to make your own vanilla sugar)

Ingredients for the Cross (if using): 

90g plain flour

8g icing sugar (confectioners)

pinch of salt

15ml canola or vegetable oil

75ml water (room temperature/tepid is best)

Method:

Place the sultanas in a small bowl, and cover with the hot water and vanilla. Set aside. 

Place the flour into a large bowl (one that fits your stand mixer if you have one). Make a well in the centre of the flour, then pour in the warm water. Add the yeast and 60g of the golden caster sugar and stir (don’t mix in the flour at this stage). Leave for 10-15 minutes, or until the yeast has become foamy. 

Then add the salt and remaining sugar, stir again (don’t mix in the flour at this stage), and wait 5-10 minutes for the yeast to become foamy again. 

Once the yeast is foamy, add the egg, oil and vanilla to the yeast mixture and combine. Then start to gradually incorporate the flour into the wet mixture. Once everything is combined, attach your bowl to your stand mixer fitted with the dough hook, add the spices, and knead on a medium speed for about five minutes. The dough will be smooth and a little sticky once done. If the dough is too sticky, add a little more flour (1-2 tbsp). 

While the dough is kneading, lightly oil a large bowl and drain the raisins well. 

Dust your work surface with flour and tip the dough out. Add the raisins and knead by hand to combine into the dough. Add small amounts of flour if necessary to counterbalance any moisture the sultanas have added and to make the dough a bit less sticky. There is no need to knead the dough for too long, as your stand mixer has done most of the work already. 

Once the sultanas are incorporated into the dough, place into the oiled bowl and cover. Leave in a warm spot for about 1.5 hours, or until the dough has risen and doubled in size. 

While the dough is proofing, make the glaze. Place all ingredients into a small saucepan and place over medium/high heat. Bring to the boil, and allow to bubble for 30 seconds. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool. 

Line a baking tray with baking paper.

Once the dough has risen, flour your work surface and tip the dough out. Lightly flour the top of the dough if necessary. Cut the dough into 12 equal pieces - I do this by shaping the dough into a fat log shape, then cutting it in half, then dividing the two halves into six pieces each. 

Roll each piece of dough into a bun shape by folding the sides of each piece to the centre and pinch to close. This will now be the underside of your bun. Place the pinched side down, and cover your hand over the ball of dough like a loose claw. Rotate the ball of dough under your hand using the claw shape, to gently smooth the dough and form into a nice ball shape.

Place each ball of dough on the prepared tray, in a 4 x 3 formation. I usually leave a little space in between each to allow for more rising during the final proof and during baking. 

Cover the dough again and leave in a warm spot for about 30 minutes, or until the dough has risen. 

While the dough is rising, preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius.

If using, make the cross paste by whisking together all the ingredients in a medium bowl until it is a smooth yet paste like consistency. The warmer the water is in this the runnier it will be, I often use warm water rather than room temperature, which is why my crosses are thicker and fat as the paste is a little runnier.

Place a piping bag or zip lock bag inside a large glass and turn the edges of the bag over the outside of the glass. Fill the piping bag with the cross mixture, and twist the top to close (I like use a peg to seal the top a bit more). 

Once the dough has risen, cut a small amount of the piping bag tip off and pipe the cross over each bun. Do this by piping one long line over each row of buns, then finish it off doing the same in the other direction. 

Bake for 20-25 minutes, rotating the tray in the oven about half way to help the buns cook and brown more evenly. The buns will be ready when they are golden on top and sound hollow when tapped. 

Remove from the oven, and place the tray on a wire rack. Using a pastry brush, paint the tops of each hot cross bun with the glaze. You will not need all of the glaze - if you think you will make another batch soon, store it in a jar in the fridge and it can be used again (just bring it to room temperature before glazing).  

These challah hot cross buns are delicious served warm from the oven, or toasted under a grill the next day. They also freeze well, and I recommend you do so if they won’t all be eaten soon after baking. 

Recipe Notes (12/04/2020):

• The next couple of times I made these I have weighed the dough and each bun needed to weigh between 97-100g. I found this did help make them look even more uniform. So I would definitely recommend weighing your dough after the first proofing and dividing that number by 12 to get exactly the weight of each bun based on your dough at the time.

• I have found that one batch of the sugar syrup is enough for 4 separate batches of hot cross buns.

• The amount of mixture you need for the cross seems very dependent on how big or small you cut into your piping bag. Sometimes I feel a barely have enough for all the buns as I have cut a larger slit into the bag, other times there are leftovers as I have cut a much smaller slit!

References: ‘Monday Morning Cooking Club - The Food, The Stories, The Sisterhood’ by Merelyn Frank Chalmers, Natanya Eskin, Lauren Fink, Lisa Goldberg, Paula Horwitz and Jacqui Israel (HarperCollins, 2013), p.263; ‘Beatrix Bakes’ by Natalie Paull (Hardie Grant Books, 2020), pp.176 & 192-3.

Pistachio Challah Babka

If you follow along regularly with the recipes I post on this blog, you will know pistachio is one of my most favourite flavours. I seem to be endlessly drawn to it, which means it makes its way into many things I bake. 

And this babka is no exception. I have been wanting to make a babka for quite a while, and seeing as they aren’t sold widely in Sydney, making one myself was almost my only option if I wanted to eat one. 

I decided to use a challah dough to make the babka, hence this recipes name ‘challah babka’. In my mind challah is the best kind of bread, so a babka could only be improved by using it. I always use the challah recipe from the Monday Morning Cooking Club’s first book, and it works really well every time. 

Initially, I made my own pistachio and white chocolate butter (based on the recipe in my Cosy Winter Bakes eBook) for the babka filling. The taste and colour were amazing, but being a homemade nut butter the consistency was a little thick which made the filling hard to spread over the dough. This also made the distribution of the filling quite uneven throughout the cooked babka (as you can see in the images below). 

I had made the filling this way to deliberately avoid using a jar of Italian crema di pistacchio, mostly due to the cost of it (between $14.95-$24.95 AUD/200g jar). However I also didn’t want to create a recipe that was difficult for others to replicate, and seeing as I have only recently found crema di pistacchio in a couple of stores here in Sydney, I am assuming it isn’t widely available, or available at all, in most places. And if you did find some, I would understand based on the price of it, that you might not want to use a whole jar of it in one recipe! 

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Cream di Pistacchio I used for my babka filling

Despite all that, a jar of crema di pistacchio turned out to be the perfect babka filling. Babka is often filled with Nutella, so something of that kind of consistency would be a perfect substitute. Crema di pistacchio has a wonderful creamy spreadable consistency similar to Nutella (it is essentially the pistachio version of Nutella after all), which makes it easy to spread over the dough and distributes more evenly amongst the babka as a result. 

If you can find and are happy to use crema di pistacchio for your challah babka, you will end up with a fantastic result. If you prefer to make your own pistachio butter, the taste of your challah babka will still be amazing, you just might not get the wonderful dainty swirls of filling throughout your babka. Honestly either way the taste is amazing, and well worth making babka from scratch!

Click the button below for the Pistachio & White Chocolate Butter recipe I used for my first babka attempt. The recipe makes enough for one babka filling.

Pistachio Challah Babka made with Crema di Pistacchio

Pistachio Challah Babka

Ingredients: 

500g plain flour, plus extra

250ml warm water

9g dried yeast

85g caster sugar

3/4 tsp salt

1 egg, beaten

63ml canola or vegetable oil

200g crema di pistacchio 

cooking spray

Ingredients for the Glaze: 

50g white sugar

60ml water

Method:

Place the flour into a large bowl (one that fits your stand mixer if you have one). Make a well in the centre of the flour, then pour in the warm water. Add the yeast and 60g of the caster sugar and stir (don’t mix in the flour at this stage). Leave for 10-15 minutes, or until the yeast has become foamy. 

Then add the salt and remaining sugar, stir again (don’t mix in the flour at this stage), and wait 5-10 minutes for the yeast to become foamy again. 

Once the yeast is foamy, add the egg and the oil to the yeast mixture and combine. Then start to gradually incorporate the flour into the wet mixture. Once everything is combined, attach your bowl to your stand mixer fitted with the dough hook, and knead on a medium speed for about five minutes. The dough will be smooth and a little sticky once done. If the dough is too sticky, add a little more flour (1-2 tbsp). 

While the dough is kneading, lightly oil a large bowl. 

Once the dough is ready, place into the oiled bowl and cover. Leave in a warm spot for 1-1.5 hours, or until the dough has risen and doubled in size. 

Spray a 22 x 10 x 8.5cm (approx.) loaf tin with the cooking spray. 

Once the dough has risen, flour your work surface and tip the dough out. Lightly flour the top of the dough to prevent it sticking to your rolling pin. Using a rolling pin, roll out the dough into a rectangle (approx. 20 x 5cm). 

Dust any excess flour from the top of the dough, then spread the crema di pistacchio over the surface of the dough. 

Roll the dough tightly from one of the long edges to form a long log. Trim the ends off to neaten it up, and cut the log evenly down the middle. 

Turn the cut side of each piece of dough so it is facing up, then twist the two strands of dough together. Tuck the ends under, and gently squash the dough from either end to make it a bit more tight if it has become quite long. 

Place the dough into the prepared tin, cover and leave in a warm spot for about 30 minutes, or until the dough has risen. 

While the dough is rising, preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius.

Once the dough has risen, place in the oven for 40 minutes. Check after 20 minutes, and loosely place some foil over the top to prevent the babka from over browning. 

While the babka is baking, make the glaze. Place the water and sugar in a small saucepan over medium heat and stir until the sugar has dissolved. Allow it to come to the boil, and then simmer for 3-5 minutes. Remove from the heat and allow to cool. 

The babka will be ready when it is golden on top, and sounds hollow when gently tapped. Remove babka from the oven, and place on a wire rack. Using a pastry brush, paint the top of the babka in about three layers of the syrup (this will help preserve the babka and stop it drying out), then leave to cool for 15-20 minutes. 

Once the babka has had a little time to cool, remove from the tin, and either cut into slices and serve immediately or allow to cool completely then slice. 

Babka like many homemade breads, is best eaten on the day it is made. If you won’t be eating all on day it is made, once the babka has cooled, cut into slices and freeze each individually. 

References: ‘Monday Morning Cooking Club - The Food, The Stories, The Sisterhood’ by Merelyn Frank Chalmers, Natanya Eskin, Lauren Fink, Lisa Goldberg, Paula Horwitz and Jacqui Israel (HarperCollins, 2013), p.263; ‘The Jewish Cookbook’ by Leah Koenig (Phaidon Press Limited, 2019), p.324; ‘Breaking Breads’ by Uri Scheft (Artisan, 2016), pp.74-79.

Monday Morning Cooking Club @ Cornersmith + Challah with Egg and Onion

Earlier this month I went to a cooking class at the Cornersmith Picklery with the Monday Morning Cooking Club (MMCC). The class was all about Jewish Comfort Food, and the day the class was held was so cold it was a perfect day to be cooking and eating warming comfort food. We all sat and watched three of the lovely MMCC ladies demonstrate each dish, then we got to sample them. 

First we ate egg & onion dip with challah, a staple at the Friday night table. I have been wanting to make challah myself for years now and just never got round to it, but with the amount of it I eat I really should have had a go! The egg dip was super simple, boiled eggs grated and mixed with onions cooked until they were soft and golden with little salt and pepper. The combination doesn’t sound much, and this is probably why I’ve never tried making it before, but it was heaven. I knew I would be making both these things, very very soon. 

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We then had matzo ball soup, a traditional dish of Passover. I made some of my own over the Passover/Easter long weekend this year, and it was nice, but the MMCC’s one was so much better. I had used a recipe in Ottolenghi’s book Jerusalem, because it made a smaller quantity and used more herbs which I hoped would add more flavour to the soup. But I will definitely be using the MMCC’s recipe next time, as mine didn’t have nearly as much flavour as I had hoped. 

We then ate brisket with a salad. Now, I haven’t eaten red meat in at least 20 years - I have never been able to stand the taste and the texture. But I did try the brisket and I didn’t mind it. The sweetness of the honey and caramelised onions was really nice, and sliced really thinly I could imagine myself eating it on a really good reuben sandwich.  

Then came the Blintzes, a dish often served during the festival of Shavout. Consisting of individual crepes filled with a cream cheese filling and then baked with more cream, it was a decadent dessert and definitely worthy of the title comfort food. 

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As the MMCC ladies were making each dish, we heard tips and tricks they had for each recipe, sometimes learnt from the person whose recipe it had been originally or things they had worked out themselves after making it many times. The stories behind each dish were fascinating to me, as I love the history of food and the preservation of heirloom recipes. Which is of course in part why I love the MMCC so much. The stories contained in each of their books are just as interesting to me as discovering the recipes held within each book. Then the recipes themselves have opened up a whole new world of cooking and flavours for me and my family, that we now can’t live without. 

Egg & Onion

To that end, and after being inspired by this wonderful class at Cornersmith, I decided the following weekend that it was finally time to make my own challah and serve it with egg and onion. Since I was cooking only for me, I made a much smaller quantity of the egg and onion, and once the challah’s had cooled I sliced them up and placed each loaf in a zip lock bag and froze them. I found they defrosted really well, and of course toasted really well too. The egg and onion also keeps well in the fridge if stored correctly. 

Here are links for the MMCC’s Challah recipe and the egg and onion, but I have also included my paired down version of the egg and onion recipe here - something I have since gone on to make 3 times in about 2 weeks! For this recipe, the idea is to cater for one egg per person. 

Six Strand Challah

Six Strand Challah

Egg & Onion

Ingredients: 

x3 eggs, at room temperature

1/2 small/medium brown onion 

2 tbsp vegetable oil 

salt

ground pepper

Method: 

Peel and dice the onion, and heat the oil in a small fry pan. Add the onion and cook on a medium heat for about 10 minutes, or until the onion is nice and soft and golden in colour. 

Meanwhile, place the eggs in a medium saucepan and cover with cold tap water. Bring to the boil on a high heat, and continue to cook for a further 8 minutes once the water comes to a boil. The eggs should not be boiled for longer than 8 minutes. Once the eggs have cooked for 8 minutes transfer to a bowl of cold water. 

Once the onions have finished cooking, take them off the heat and set aside. 

When the eggs are cool enough to handle peel away the shells. Using a grater sitting in a wide but shallow bowl, grate the eggs into the bowl using the coarse side of the grater. Add the cooked onions to the eggs, allowing most of the oil to remain in the pan. Add a pinch of salt and ground pepper, and mix with a wooden spoon until combined and the salt has dissolved. 

The mixture should lightly hold together if you try to roll it into a ball with your fingers, so if it is too dry add a little more of the oil from cooking the onions. 

Serve at room temperature with slices of challah. 

If not serving immediately, cover the egg and onion with plastic wrap ensuring the wrap is touching the mixture and directly covering it, not just covering the bowl. 

Left overs can be kept covered in the same way in the fridge, and will last a few days. 

Challah with Egg and Onion

Challah with Egg and Onion

These recipes can also be found in ‘Monday Morning Cooking Club - The Food, The Stories, The Sisterhood’ by Merelyn Frank Chalmers, Natanya Eskin, Lauren Fink, Lisa Goldberg, Paula Horwitz and Jacqui Israel (HarperCollins, 2013), pp.78 & 263.

Challah with Egg and Onion

Local is Lovely Workshop, July 2016 - A Photo Recap

I feel like I'm always saying this, but it's been a while since I posted anything here. If you follow me on Instagram you will have seen what I've been up to in the past month or so, including attending another wonderful weekend away at a Local is Lovely Workshop. 

I was lucky enough to attend the first ever Local is Lovely Workshop back in November 2014 (posts here and here), and always knew I wanted to go back. When I saw Sophie (Local is Lovely) and Luisa would be teaming up with Molly Yeh (My Name is Yeh), I knew this was a best opportunity to go back to Kimbri Farm. Meeting Molly, and all the other workshop participants was just super lovely. I never tire of meeting new like minded people and listening to how food and photography intertwines their lives. I also never tire of Sophie's amazing food, and the wonderful opportunity of being in the country and having an amazing setting to relax in and shoot great photos (almost no styling needed!). 

I have included a few of my favourite photos from the weekend, and yes, those blood orange challah doughnuts were as good as they looked (Molly has the recipe on her blog just FYI!)!

I would also like to recommend a really great podcast called My Open Kitchen, put together by Sophie Hansen and Skye Manson, which has just released it's first episode. During the first episode Molly is interviewed (which was recorded during the time she was here for the workshop), and its a really great interview. The whole podcast is great to listen to and I for one loved listening to it on the train home from work - a much more enjoyable ride than normal!

Apart from spending time at amazing workshops, I have been working and trying to enjoy baking in our new kitchen as much as possible. I have been in the kitchen so much that I have hardly been on the computer (to edit photos and write blog posts!), in a few weeks! I do have recipes in the works and things ready to post here, I just can't stand spending the whole weekend on the computer and not in the kitchen! Especially as I have four months of not cooking to make up for!

Anyway, I have some delicious things coming to the blog soon (or my version of ‘soon’, I should say), including a blood orange cake which I am quite excited about. I made it a couple of weeks ago and I’m pretty sure I ate most of it myself, which when you see the cake you will understand the seriousness of that statement! 

For now I’ll leave you with my photo recap of the wonderful weekend that was the Local is Lovely Workshop. Don’t forget to check out my Instagram and Instagram Story for what I’m up to in the kitchen in between blog posts!

Rhubarb & Olive Oil Cakes - Made by Molly Yeh

Molly icing her cake with tahini buttercream

Molly decorating her cake - complete with a marzipan kangaroo!

The beginnings of challah doughnuts - making the dough

Challah dough

Molly with her freshly fried doughnuts

Blood orange glaze

Challah doughnuts with Blood Orange glaze

Making sourdough

Finished sourdough 

Beautiful fresh produce from Epicurean Harvest

Molly making Shakshuka

Shakshuka with homemade sourdough