White Bread

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I have just made my first loaf of bread and it tastes fantastic. My husband said it tasted great both with peanut butter and without. It has a crispy crust and springs back when you press on it, almost like a sponge. It has a hollow sound and a nice golden brown colour. My son loves his bread with cream cheese.
3 cups all purpose flour
2 1/4 teaspoons instant yeast
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk, warm
1 egg white,
3 tablespoons butter, melted
2 tablespoons honey

Glaze:

1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon water.

Directions
  • Dissolve yeast in warm milk.
  • Melt butter, about 30 seconds in a microwave.
  • Add melted butter to yeast and milk mixture and stir.
  • Place the flour and salt in a large bowl and mix.
  • Add egg white, honey, milk, yeast and butter mixture to the flour and mix until dough forms.
  • Cover dough with plastic wrap and leave to rise for 1 hour at room temperature until dough has doubled in size.
  • Punch dough once to deflate.
  • Gently form dough into a rectangle and place dough into a greased 9 by 5 inch loaf pan, ensure the dough touches all four sides.
  • Cover pan with plastic wrap and let rise for 45 minutes. Meanwhile preheat oven to 350°F.
  • Coat dough with the egg wash after it has risen a second time.
  • Place dough into a preheated oven and bake for 30 – 40 minutes or until golden brown.
  • Remove dough from pan and place on a rack to cool.

Orange Cookies

6:23 AM Posted In Edit This 0 Comments »
These cookies taste so delicious and crunchy, they have this wonderful orange scent and flavour, my son even helped me to make them. He used raisins to make faces on some of them. The orange cookies were a lot of fun to make. I think the cookie dough yielded about 25 cookies, I'm not quite sure because the cookies seem to have disappeared, so I never really got a chance to count them.

2 ½ cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
1 cup (8oz) butter (room temperature)
2/3 cup granulated sugar
2 egg yolks
2 tablespoon orange rind
2 tablespoon orange juice

Directions
  • Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease baking sheets.
  • In a large bowl add flour, salt and baking powder and stir.
  • In another bowl cream butter and sugar with an electric mixer until light and fluffy.
  • Add the egg yolks, orange juice and orange rind to the creamed butter and sugar and beat with mixer.
  • Gradually add flour to the creamed butter and sugar mixture and mix the ingredients until it forms a dough.
  • Form the dough into 1 inch balls and slightly press with the palm of your hands and flatten to about 1/2 inch thick and place them on greased baking sheets 1 inch apart.
  • Bake until golden brown, about 14 - 20 minutes.
  • Place on a cooling rack.

Beef Puff

8:57 PM Posted In Edit This 1 Comment »
      
           Made and Photographed by Reggae Chef

My family enjoyed eating the these delicious flaky beef puffs, they have a great buttery flavour. I used boerwors sausage because my family enjoys its flavour, but you can substitute with your favourite sausage.

Pastry Dough:

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons cold water
1 1/2 cup unsalted butter or 12 ounces
1 egg, beaten with 1 tablespoon water for egg wash

Beef Filling:

1 1/2 - 2 boerwors sausage link

Directions

For Dough:

  • Add flour and salt to food processor bowl (use steel blades) and pulse for 2 seconds.
  • Add 4 tablespoons of butter to flour mixture and pulse 10 - 12 times (1 second per pulse) until butter is absorbed.
  • Add the remaining butter and pulse 2 times to distribute, there should still be chunks of butter in the bowl.
  • Add the water and pulse 3 - 4 times until dough starts to form. (Do Not Over Mix)
  • Place dough on a lightly floured surface and form into a rectangle. Lightly flour top of dough to prevent sticking.
  • Flatten dough with a rolling pin and roll back and forth to form dough into a smooth rectangle that is about 1/4 inch thick.
  • Then fold dough into 3 parts like a letter and roll flat.
  • You will still see pieces of butter in the dough but by rolling it into a rectangle then folding it into 3 parts like a letter and repeating the process about 5 - 6 more times it will melt into the flour. The butter causes the flaky layer of the crust to form. (If at any time the dough becomes soft and sticky, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes to 1 hour)
  • Fold dough into 3 parts like a letter, wrap in plastic and refrigerate for 1 hour.
For Filling:

  • Split the sausage casings length wise and scoop the meat into a bowl. Sausage is already seasoned.
For Dough:

  • Lay the puff pastry dough on a lightly floured surface and unfold.
  • Use a rolling pin to smooth out the surface, just a couple of rolls will do.
  • Cut the dough into 6 inch circles.
  • Spoon 2 tablespoons of meat onto half of the circle leaving space at the edge of the dough.
  • Lightly brush the edge with water and fold the other half of the dough over the meat to enclose it, press down on the edge with a fork to seal dough.
  • Place pastry on a greased baking sheet.
  • Glaze top of pastry with egg wash using a brush (1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon water).
  • Place pastry in a preheated oven at 350°F for 20 – 30 minutes. It should have a light golden brown colour.
  • Remove from oven and cool, and then serve.

Croissant

10:01 AM Posted In , Edit This 0 Comments »

           Made and Photographed by Reggae Chef

These croissants are very light and airy and has a great buttery flavour. They taste incredible. I can't believe I actually made croissants. After this I think I can tackle anything and come out on top.  So bring on the next project. It was a long process, the mixing the waiting, the shaping, but it was also nerve racking exciting and in the end wonderful.

There are videos at the end this post demonstrating how to cut and shape croissants, really helpful and one showing how to mix the dough.

Dough:

2 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
2 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup warm water
1/2 cup milk, at room temperature
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1 teaspoon salt
8 ounces cold unsalted butter

Directions
  • Dissolve yeast in warm water for 3 minutes.
  • Add the milk, 1 egg, sugar, and salt to dissolved yeast and mix; set aside.
  • Place flour in food processor work bowl fitted with steel blade.
  • Cut the butter into ¼ inch pieces and put into food processor along with flour.
  • Pulse for 8 - 10 seconds (1 second per pulse), until the butter is cut into ½ in pieces.
  • Place the flour and butter mixture into a bowl and pour in the yeast, egg, milk sugar and salt mixture and fold in ingredients gently with a spatula until a moist dough is formed, do not break up butter.
  • Cover dough with plastic wrap and place in refrigerator for 8 hours or overnight. It can also be stored in refrigerator for up to 4 days.
  • Place the dough onto a lightly floured surface and form dough into a square.
  • Roll out dough into a rectangle using a rolling pin. (If at any time the dough becomes soft and sticky, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour)
  • Fold dough into three parts like a letter, and then roll into a long rectangle.
  • Repeat folding and rolling process 3 more times, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes. The folding and rolling process allows the butter to be incorporated into the flour and that is what causes the flaky buttery layors that croissants are known for.
  • Remove dough from refrigerator and unfold onto a lightly floured surface.
  • Roll dough in a ¼ inch thick sheet.
  • Use a sharp knife or pizza cuuter to cut dough into triangles at least 3 inch at the base and 5 ½ inches for the sides.
  • Roll dough into a crescent shape starting from the 3 inch base, roll to the top of the triangle and hold ends and curve it slightly, place them on greased cookie sheet.
  • Cover dough with plastic wrap and leave to rise for 2 hours until dough has doubled in size.
  • Beat 1 egg with 1 tablespoon water to use as an egg wash.
  • Remove plastic wrap and use a brush to dip in egg wash and lightly glaze the tops of the dough with it.
  • Place croissant in a preheated oven at 375°F for 10 minutes or until golden brown.
  • Remove from oven and cool on a rack.
This video is demonstrating how to mix the pastry dough in a food processor.



This is a video showing how to cut and shape croissants.

Strawberry Danish

9:34 AM Posted In , Edit This 0 Comments »
      
         Made and Photographed by Reggae Chef

Wow, I just made danish. I have always loved the taste of danish, its sweet buttery flavour and its light flaky texture. It never even occurred to me that I could actually make it. Well I did and it tastes wonderful. My family totally enjoys them. I am totally looking forward to breakfast on christmas morning. 

Making them was nerve racking, exciting and hard work, but it was worth it. Be sure to watch the videos at the end of this post showing you how to make danish by hand or by using a food processor.

Dough:

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup warm water
1/2 cup milk
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1 teaspoon salt
8 ounces cold unsalted butter (cut into 1/4 inch slices)

Filling:

2 1/2 cups coarsely chopped hulled strawberries
1/2 cup sugar
2 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch

Directions

Dough:
  • Dissolve yeast in warm water for 3 minutes.
  • Add the milk, 1 egg, sugar, and salt to dissolved yeast mixture and stir; set aside.
  • Pour flour into food processor work bowl fitted with steel blade.
  • Cut the butter into ¼ inch pieces and put into food processor along with flour.
  • Pulse 8 - 10 times (1 seconds per pulse), until the butter is in ½ in chunks.
  • Place the flour and butter mixture into a bowl and pour in the yeast, egg, milk, sugar and salt mixture and fold in ingredients gently with a spatula until a moist dough is formed, be careful not to break up the butter pieces while mixing.
  • Cover dough with plastic wrap and place in refrigerator for 8 hours or overnight. It can also be stored in refrigerator for up to 4 days.
  • Place the dough onto a lightly floured surface and form dough into a square.
  • Roll out dough into a rectangle using a rolling pin. (If at any time the dough becomes soft and sticky, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour)
  • Fold dough into three parts like a letter, and then roll into a long rectangle.
  • Repeat process three more times by folding the dough into three parts and then rolling out with a rolling pin. The folding and rolling process allows the butter to be incorporated into the flour and that is what causes the flaky buttery layors that danish are known for.
  • Cover dough with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
  • Mean while, make strawberry filling for danish.
Filling Directions
  • Mix in the cornstarch with the sugar.
  • Put strawberries, sugar and cornstarch into a heavy bottomed sauce pan on medium heat.
  • Bring all ingredients to a boil stirring constantly, use a potato masher to crush the strawberries while it boils.
  • Let strawberry filling boil for 4 minutes or until it thickens.
  • Pour into a bowl and cool.
For Danish
  • Remove dough from refrigerator and unfold onto a lightly floured surface.
  • Roll dough in a ¼ inch thick sheet.
  • Roll up rectangular dough starting from the longest side into a cylindrical or log shape.
  • Slice dough into 1 ½ inch thick spirals.
  • Lay flat on greased baking sheet one inch apart and cover with plastic wrap and leave to rise and double in size for 2 hours at room temperature.
  • Remove plastic wrap and use your finger to press the centre of the dough slightly to make an indentation for the filling to sit in.
  • Glaze danish with egg wash by first beating 1 egg with 1 tablespoon water then using a brush to lightly glaze pastry .
  • Place strawberry filling in the centre of the danish.
  • Place danish in a preheated oven at 375°F for 10 minutes or until golden brown.
  • Remove from oven and cool on a rack.
This is a video demonstrating how to mix danish dough using a food processor.


This video demonstrates how to make danish pastry by hand.

Toffee Fudge

7:05 AM Posted In , Edit This 0 Comments »
 
           Made and Photographed by Reggae Chef

This toffee fudge not only looks delicious but also tastes delicious. This is also my first time making candy and the end result is absolutely fabulous. I used brown sugar to give it a darker look but granulated sugar can also be used in this recipe.

1 cup butter
1 ½ cups brown sugar
1 ¼ cups milk

Directions
  • Line 9 x 5 inch cookie sheet with foil paper.
  • Melt butter in a heavy bottomed saucepan on medium heat.
  • Add sugar and milk to melted butter stirring constantly with a spatula, bring mixture to boil.
  • Let boil for 15 – 20 minutes stirring constantly until it looks foamy or until candy thermometer reaches 239°F.
  • Remove from heat and stir until toffee fudge starts to thicken and has a smooth consistency.
  • Pour toffee fudge onto baking sheet.
  • Refrigerate for about 20 minutes or until toffee fudge hardens.
  • Remove fudge from refrigerator and leave it at room temperature for 15 minutes.
  • Cut up and enjoy.

Cinnamon Buns

7:39 PM Posted In , Edit This 0 Comments »

           Made and Photographed by Reggae Chef

This recipe makes incredible cinnamon buns and they give Cinnabon a run for their money.  My family thoroughly enjoyed the finished product and it was very exciting to create these tasty treats from scratch.  Definitely a labour of  love.

Dough:

3  1/2 cups all-purpose flour (sifted)
2  1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 cup warm water
3 tablespoons butter (melted)
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 egg (beaten)

Filling:

3/4 cup brown sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 tablespoons butter, melted and cooled

Icing:

 1  1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
 3 tablespoons butter, melted and cooled
 3 tablespoons milk

Directions
  • Dissolve the yeast in warm water. Leave for 10 minutes until it looks foamy.
  • In a large bowl combine sugar, salt and flour then stir in the melted butter, egg and dissolved yeast mixture. Put dough on a lightly floured surface and knead for 10 minutes until the dough is soft and smooth. Place dough back into bowl and cover with plastic wrap and leave dough to rise for 2 hours at room temperature.
  • Grease a square baking pan. Mix together sugar and cinnamon for the filling.
  • Place dough on lightly floured surface and use a rolling pin to roll dough into a 1/4 inch rectangle.
  • Use a brush to coat dough with melted butter, then sprinkle the sugar and cinnamon filling over the surface and gently press it onto the dough.
  • Roll the longest side of the dough and slice it using a sharp knife.
  • Place the buns in the baking pan about an inch apart. Cover pan with plastic wrap and let the buns rise for an hour at room temperature, then remove plastic wrap and bake in a preheated oven at 350°F for 15 - 20 minutes.
  • Meanwhile, make the icing by putting the confectioners’ sugar in a bowl and mix in the melted butter and milk with an electric mixer. When buns are finished spoon the icing over them and let them sit for about 10 minutes.

Orange Cupcake

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       Made and Photographed by Reggae Chef

These cupcakes taste absolutely delicious, it has the incredible taste and aroma of fresh oranges, it's almost like eating the actual orange.

1 1/2 cup all purpose flour (sifted)
1/4 cup cornflour
1 cup brown sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 whole egg
2 egg yolks
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 tsp orange rind (grated)
3/4 cup orange juice

Directions
  • Preheat oven to 350°F, line muffin tins and set aside.
  • In a large bowl combine flour, cornflour, baking powder, salt and brown sugar.
  • Then add eggs, oil, orange juice and orange rind to the mixture, stir until the batter has a creamy consistency.
  • Pour mixture into the lined muffin tins and bake for 15 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.

Banana Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

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      Made and Photographed by Reggae Chef

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3/4 cup margerine
1 egg, beaten
1 cup mashed ripe bananas
1 3/4 cups rolled oats
1/2 cup raisins

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).

  • In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg.
  • Cut in margerine until the mixture looks like bread crumbs.
  • Stir in the egg and bananas; mix well.
  • Finally, stir in the oats and raisins. 
  • Use a tablespoon to place mixture onto ungreased cookie sheets 2 inches apart.
  • Bake for 12 to 15 minutes in the preheated oven, or until edges are browned.
  • Remove from pans immediately to cool on wire racks.

Let's Cook

2:00 AM Posted In Edit This 0 Comments »
Cooking is an art, from four course meals that take hours to prepare to 30 minute meals that could include the previous days leftovers made into a new dish or pre made store bought ingredients that can cut cooking time by half if not more. 30 minute meals are possible because Rachel Ray has mastered the art of it, then there is Martha Stewart who produces these gorgeous meals with several courses without breaking a sweat. There is a time and place for both, it just depends on your schedule.

My aim as Reggae Chef is to post recipes that I have tried and proven to work and the pictures that will be attached to each post will be those that I have taken showing my end result. I hope you will enjoy each recipe the way I will enjoy making them.
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