STEMS & FORKS

Beautiful musings of flora and fare.

Breakfast

Espresso Cinnamon Buns

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When my Belgian husband Pierre first immigrated to Canada, he was taken aback by the coffee culture here in Canada. “I find it so bizarre that North Americans can guzzle down this watery, sad version of what you call coffee.” This is where I explained to him coffee here wasn’t just about functionality and flavour profile. There’s an enormous social and cultural undercurrent surrounding coffee here. “Let’s do coffee.” Synonymous to let’s gather. Let’s gather and talk about anything and everything which will potentially take more than a few minutes…in which case we’ll need a heaping cup of coffee and some dessert to go with it. 

Of course Pierre, who was accustomed to little espresso shots in Europe has finally acclimatized to the Canadian coffee culture. Now, he’s the biggest advocate for taking the time to enjoy an oversized mug of java over long and meaningful conversations with loved ones. It only took ten years…

And I suppose that’s where this virtual coffee party all started. The talented Nate of the Terminatetor Kitchen wanted to “do coffee” with a few international fellow food bloggers. What better way to celebrate and connect but through a coffee recipe.

So I invite you to call a few friends, gather, brew a pot of java, bake these buns (which by the way are SUBLIME) and “do coffee”. 

Check out some of the other amazing coffee inspired recipes by my fellow food bloggers below:

Alexcrumb • Vegan chocolate meringue pie

Ananás e Hortelã • Strawberry Rolls with White Chocolate Glaze

Black.White.Vivid • Emirati Sweet Dumplings with Coffee Syrup (Luqaimat)

Cloudy Kitchen • Tiramisu Sheet Cake

DisplacedHousewife • Banana Espresso Cake with Espresso Bean Buttercream

Feed Me With Amanda • Tea Infused Shortbread

Feed The Swimmers • Fudgy Espresso Sweet Potato and Black Bean Brownies with Hazelnuts

and a Coffee Cream Cheese Frosting

Flor de Cerejeira • Mocha Orange Entremet

Flour Covered Apron • Espresso Banana Muffins with Chocolate Espresso Glaze

From Scratch Mostly • Argentinian Dulce de Leche Churros, Dipped in Coffee Chocolate Sauce

Harvest & Honey • Mocha-Braised Pork & Polenta Bowls

HonestlyYUM • Cafe Con Tres Leches Cake

Love Olive • Breakfast Almond Pancakes with Coffee Syrup

Milk of Thy Kindness • Best and Easy Coffee & Avocado Indo Style

Stems & Forks • Espresso Cinnamon Buns

TermiNatetor Kitchen • Blueberry Creme Fraiche Coffee Cake

The Almond Eater • Mocha Tahini Fudge

The Cinnaman • espresso ricotta cheesecake with emirati date crumb (batheeth)

The Korean Vegan • Vegan Tiramisu

Bon app!

Espresso and Cinnamon Twist Buns
Serves 8
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Prep Time
4 hr
Cook Time
22 min
Prep Time
4 hr
Cook Time
22 min
FOR THE DOUGH
  1. 1 teaspoon white granulated sugar for the yeast
  2. 1 tablespoon traditional active dry yeast
  3. 1/3 cup milk
  4. 3 3/4 cups - 4 cups or 490 grams - 520 grams of all purpose flour
  5. 1 teaspoon salt
  6. 1/2 cup or 100 grams white granulated sugar
  7. 3/4 cup buttermilk room temperature
  8. 6 table spoons very soft room temperature unsalted butter
  9. 2 large eggs room temperature
FOR THE FILLING
  1. 1 stick or 1/2 cup or 115 grams of unsalted butter room temperature
  2. 3/4 cup or 175 grams brown sugar
  3. 1 1/2 tablespoons cinnamon powder
  4. 3 tablespoons instant espresso powder (if its in flake form, put in ziploc and roll a rolling pin over it till it becomes a powder) Substitutes: instant coffee but won't be as flavourful
GLAZE
  1. 1/4 cup heavy cream
FOR THE FROSTING
  1. 3 ounces or 85 grams cream cheese room temperature
  2. 1/4 cup or 55 grams unsalted butter room temperature
  3. 1 1/4 cup or 155 grams icing/powdered sugar
Instructions
  1. Instructions for the dough
  2. Scald 1/3 cup milk in small sauce pan till small bubbles form at side of pan or until it reaches a temperature of 110-120 F and is very warm to the touch but not so hot that it’s unbearable to touch
  3. Gently stir in the teaspoon of sugar and tablespoon of yeast. Set aside to poof to double it’s size… about 8-10 minutes
  4. In stand mixer with paddle attachment, mix the buttermilk, the eggs, salt and 1/2 cup sugar with the 6 tablespoons of very soft room temperature butter… Don’t worry too much if the butter is lumpy.
  5. Once the yeast has poofed pour into the stand mixer bowl and stir for a few seconds
  6. Swap out the paddle attachment now with the hook attachment
  7. Add about half the flour in until shaggy and somewhat combined, then add the rest of the flour and knead for about 8 minutes on low speed.
  8. Dough should be smooth, shiny, tacky and stick to the bottom of the bowl (not the sides) don’t be tempted to keep adding flour. Only add more if it’s sticking to sides and bottom…and add a spoonful at a time only. Less is more here. If it’s too dry, add a spoon of milk
  9. Transfer to a lightly oiled bowl keeping in mind the dough will double…cover with plastic and allow to rise in a warm part of home…2 - 2 1/2 hours
  10. Line with parchment or generously butter a 12 inch baking pan or pizza pan (with no holes on the bottom. I used a pizza pan) and set aside
  11. In a medium bowl, mix the cinnamon, brown sugar and espresso powder together and set aside
  12. Once the dough has risen to at least double, lightly dust a work surface with flour
  13. Punch dough down and transfer to counter. Take sharp serrated knife or dough scraper and cut the dough into 4 equal parts.
  14. Roll each of the pieces out in a rectangular shape about 8 inches by 12 inches
  15. Slather/spread about two tablespoons (from the half cup butter) on each rectangle using your fingers and leaving about half an inch on the edge of the entire border
  16. Sprinkle and spread about a quarter of the filling per rectangle and roll snuggly
  17. Not mandatory but very helpful at this point to chill the rolled dough for about 15 minutes before proceeding to next step - slightly chilled dough makes it easier to work with.
  18. Once all four have been rolled, take a very sharp serrated knife and cut down lengthwise centre and set aside
  19. You should have 8 tendrils now
  20. Refer to pics above for the following steps
  21. Take the tendril and bend at the center to make a “U”
  22. Twist/braid the the two 'legs' so they weave together
  23. Now starting from the center end, roll the weaved tendril all the way in a swirl motion.
  24. Once you’ve reached the end, tuck that tail under the bun
  25. Repeat with all 8 tendrils
  26. Arrange your rosy buns on your baking pan or pizza pan and completely cover with a damp cheesecloth or light kitchen towel (dampen cloths by soaking with water than wringing out excess water)
  27. Place in warm area for the second rise (until they’ve almost doubled in size) about 1 hour
  28. Preheat oven to 375 F and place rack to middle position in oven
  29. Brush on/pour over the 1/4 cup of cream all over the buns…make sure you use the entire 1/4 cup…its okay if it puddles between the buns…the liquid will get absorbed as it bakes
  30. Bake for 20-22 minutes…I usually tent mine with aluminum foil for the last 5 minutes as my buns tend to brown rather quickly towards the end. All ovens vary, so keep an eye on your buns to avoid over browning!
  31. They are ready once the internal temperature in the center of the buns reads 185 F on a thermometer and no longer looks doughy.
  32. While the buns are baking, prepare the frosting
  33. With paddle attachment, beat the room temperature cream cheese until smooth and creamy, then add the butter and beat until fully incorporated (if it gets lumpy, blow a hair dryer over the frosting while it’s beating for a few seconds)
  34. Add the powdered sugar and beat until smooth and silky
HOW TO SERVE
  1. There are a few ways to serve with the frosting.
  2. You can slather the entire pan of buns with the frosting while they are still a bit warm (not hot)
  3. Probably the most appetizing, but also the messiest and unestheitcally pleasing as the frosting completely covers the beautiful rosette buns
  4. The other way to serve is by lightly drizzling the frosting over the buns with a spoon or fork once they’ve cooled and serving with a heaping dollup of extra frosting on the side.
  5. Or serve these buns as is with a side of frosting for dunking.
  6. Anyway you pick, it’ll all be super yummy and fun.
Notes
  1. If using a pizza pan to to bake buns, make sure you line the bottom of your oven with some aluminum foil as there could be some excess filling that spills over
  2. Buns are ideal same day they are baked. However, keeps well for up to 3 days wrapped or in an airtight container.
STEMS & FORKS https://www.stemsandforks.com/

Earl Grey, Sesame and Cassonade Weave Bread

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As I continue on my Stems & Forks journey, I’m learning that my recipes are truly about taking the ordinary and making them extraordinary. Such as this weave brioche. I’ve taken this classic weave bread and doubled up on the layers by having 4 tendrils of dough rather than 2 crisscrossing. In fact, altogether there are 8 tendrils weaving in and out, creating a kaleidoscope of sugar, dough and buttered sesame seeds. If you love a more “pillowy” bread, feel free to make this into a two-roll (but with 4 tendrils) bread. I just love having loads of buttery sesame seeds intertwined with the brioche.

I know you’re thinking, “This looks hard!” I assure you it’s not! If I had to compare it to another task that might seem initially difficult- it’s like sewing a button. Actually, I don’t know how to sew a button. Rewind. Erase. It’s like learning to tie a shoelace. It seems complicated at first, but once you get into it, you’ll find your groove and it’s a cinch. A kid could even weave this bread. It’s that simple. You just need to follow the steps. And the pictures below will make it a no-brainer. I promise.

I don’t say this often, but this has definitely become one of my favourite recipes. I made this on a Friday but photographed it the following day. It was still moist and wonderful. Now I say it’s enough for 5-6 people, and with that being said, my husband and I finished it with a pot of coffee in less than an hour. But I guess my husband and I don’t qualify as normal people. We have no self-discipline when it comes to deliciousness! Make 2 if you expect company.

Wishing you and your family a happy Easter, Passover, Spring.

Bon App!

2. Take about a quarter of the filling and spread leaving about half an inch on the edge

3. Roll up nice and tight

4.With a sharp serrated knife, cut the rolls down the centre middle in half lengthwise.

6.Overlap the tendril pairs so they are alternating with the overlaps

 

 

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Earl Grey, Sesame and Cassonade Weave Bread
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
 
Ingredients
  • FOR THE BREAD:
  • 2½ cups or 325 grams all purpose flour
  • ¼ cup or 50 grams white granulated sugar
  • 1 teaspoon white granulated sugar
  • 1 teaspoon table salt
  • 1½ teaspoons traditional active dry yeast
  • 1 cup milk (will be reduced to a little less than a cup of milk)
  • 2 Earl Grey Tea bags
  • 2 fresh eggs room temperature
  • 6 tablespoons softened unsalted butter
  • 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
  • FOR THE FILLING:
  • ½ cup or 113 grams softened unsalted butter
  • ½ cup or 100 grams brown cassonade sugar
  • ⅓ cup or 40 grams toasted sesame seeds
  • GLAZE:
  • 2 tablespoons pure maple syrup
Instructions
  1. In stand mixer bowl with hook attachment, sift flour, sugar and salt and give quick mix (with a whisk)
  2. In small sauce pan, on medium low heat, scald the milk until it forms little bubbles on the side of pan or reaches a temperature of 180 F. Turn heat off and allow to cool to about 110 F or touch with hand. Should be very warm to the touch... but not too hot that it's unbearable to touch
  3. Measure out ½ cup of the warm milk in a bowl and add the yeast and 1 teaspoon white sugar and give quick stir. Set aside and allow to poof (double its size)- about 10 minutes
  4. Drop the 2 Earl Grey tea bags in the remaining warm milk in sauce pan and let steep for 4 minutes. Remove bags and squeeze excess milk
  5. You should be left with about ⅓ cup of Earl Grey infused milk
  6. In stand mixer, still with kneading hook, stir in the Earl Grey infused milk
  7. Then add the milk with yeast and stir - Mixture will look shaggy and ragged. This is okay.
  8. Add the eggs in one at a time while stirring on low- scrape sides and bottom with a spatula a couple times while kneading.
  9. Add the butter in a table spoon at a time. waiting for butter to be incorporated fully before adding the next chunk in - dough will look sticky but keep kneading until the dough looks shiny and smooth
  10. If still dry and not coming together after 2 or 3 minutes, add a teaspoon of water or milk until dough comes together. If opposite issue of too wet, add an extra flour, a tablespoon at a time. You don't want it too sticky like pizza dough nor too taut... refer to pic above.
  11. Continue to knead for 10 minutes until the dough is smooth, shiny and no longer sticky
  12. Form the dough into a ball
  13. Grease with vegetable oil a large bowl until it is lightly covered
  14. Lightly roll the dough around in the greased bowl (Make sure bowl is large enough to accommodate the fact that dough will double in size)
  15. Cover with plastic film and allow to rise in warm area of home for 3 hours.
  16. In the meanwhile make the FILLING
  17. Loosely crush the sesame seeds in a mortar and pestle or zip in blender for a few seconds or put in ziplock and crush with rolling pin. You want a few seeds crushed. Crushing it will release some lovely nutty flavour
  18. Mix with spatula in bowl, the softened ½ cup butter and ½ cup brown cassonade until well blended- set aside
  19. ASSEMBLING THE WEAVE:
  20. *There are a series of pictures above which will help with the assembly
  21. After the first rise, take dough and cut into 4 equal pieces
  22. Roll each piece into flat oval shapes - about 12 inches in diameter
  23. Take about a quarter of the filling and spread leaving about half an inch on the edge
  24. Roll up all the way
  25. Do this for the rest of the dough sections
  26. Pop in refrigerator for 15 minutes on baking tray lined with parchment paper covered with plastic (Optional- I find this step helps keep the dough a bit firm when shaping)
  27. With a sharp serrated knife, cut the rolls down the centre middle in half lengthwise.
  28. Create a "tic tac toe" grid with the tendrils (refer to pic)
  29. Overlap the tendril pairs so they are alternating with the overlaps (see pic)
  30. Take all the tendril pairs that are on the underneath another tendril pair to overlap the pair that is clockwise to it. (refer to pic)
  31. Carefully tuck the tendril ends under the loaf
  32. Put on a large baking tray lined with parchment with at least 4 inches on all sides (to allow for the second rise and the spread during bake)
  33. Cover with a damp tea towel for second rise, place in warm part of house- about 1½ hours
  34. BAKING THE WEAVE:
  35. Preheat oven to 375 F
  36. Remove tea towel and bake for 20 minutes or until somewhat browned on the top
  37. Remove from oven and cover loosely with sheet of foil and bake for another 15-18 minutes
  38. Test bread by pressing close to centre...should be firm
  39. Immediately brush maple syrup all over bread
  40. NOTES:
  41. *When yeast doesn't poof, it usually means the milk was too warm or too cold. If you don't have a food thermometer, test by touching water. It should be very warm but not so hot that your fingers can't take it.
  42. Another issue could be the yeast has expired or simply died.
  43. If you only have raw sesame seeds, toast on pan over medium high heat for about 3 minutes stirring occasionally.
  44. This weave bread is best consumed within a couple days, however can be kept up to 5 days at room temperature wrapped with plastic
  45. Can also be frozen for about a month

 

 

Matcha and Black Sesame Crêpes

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My mother in law would probably pucker her lips till they turned white and wrinkled much like her backside exit if I ever told her what I did to the base of her crêpe recipe. I asianized it.

For the old school Belgian or Frenchie, crêpes are a kind of sacred dish. My mother in law has never deviated from the simple recipe of just flour, eggs, milk, sugar. She normally serves it with some cassonade (brown sugar), nutella or some jam on the table. I remember once serving crêpes for lunch with sour cream, bacon and chives…and yup the puckered backside  lips appeared. “Quelle horreur” she exclaimed. Awww…. Always love her candour! She skipped the bacon and cheese and went straight to the cupboards to grab the brown sugar. She refused to even try! Old school and I forgot to mention, stubborn.

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French Crullers

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I recall when my husband Pierre immigrated here (Canada) in 2005 from Europe, he was fascinated by the Canadian obsession with Tim Hortons. He would without fail, cry out, “Quelle horreur!” every time we’d pass one. He couldn’t understand why Canadians would line up 24/7 for a large water-downed coffee and deep-fried, saccharin-drenched, yeast-leavened rings known as the donut.

Coming from Belgium he is definitely a food snob. Delicious and perfect Croissants and eclairs can be found on every street corner in Brussels. Here in Toronto, there are only a small handful of authentic Patiserrie/boulanger. Sure I get it. Tim Hortons looks and tastes nothing like Herman van Dender or Pierre Herme, but Tim Hortons is not bad. It’s consistent and for me it’s “comfort pastries” and an iconic Canadian experience. 

In fact my love for “pastries” started probably in kindergarten when my mother bought me my first chocolate walnut cruller at Mister Donut (now Dunkin Donuts). I still remember that donut to this day. I was standing in line twirling around in my brown floral dress feeling like Liesel from The Sound of Music, when my mom passed me what I thought looked like feces. Of course being 4 years old I immediately said no. That’s when my dad firmly told me to at least try. The donut was bliss. The glaze, the crunch, and the soft chocolate dough whirled around in my mouth like a beautiful symphony.

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