Strawberry Filled Brioche Rolls

 

I do get sent the nicest things.   I am sure you get quite tired of reading about the latest things I have been sent to try sometimes, but I do try to make my posts more interesting by creating something tasty with whatever it is that I have been sent!



The East India Company recently sent me a couple of their products, a pot of Strawberry and Pepper Jam and a jar of Chocolate Island Cane Sugar.   I had not heard of the East India Company before they contacted me but what I learned about them was very interesting indeed.

Granted a Royal Charter by Queen Elizabeth I in 1600, The East India Company was founded to explore the mysteries of the East. As The Company grew, it mapped trade routes through unchartered territory and changed social customs, tastes and ways of thought to influence the very fabric of our lives today.




The Company’s pioneering spirit and sense of adventure created British India, founded Hong Kong and Singapore and introduced tea to Britain and India. Their warehouses were places of wonder, stocking never before seen silks, chintzes, calicos, porcelain, coffees, chocolates and spices from around the world. They played a pivotal role in writing our history by planting the first teas in Darjeeling, causing the Boston Tea Party; holding Napoleon captive; and generating the fortune of Elihu Yale, founder of Yale University.



Strawberries and Black Pepper are a beautiful combination.  I often sprinkle my berries with black pepper, and in fact shared a recipe for you a while back for  Strawberry Shortcakes with Black Pepper and Elderflower Cream, which was fabulous.  So I was really excited about trying this Strawberry and Pepper Jam.   It was wonderful.   We love jam in this house and there is just the right combination of sweet, with a nice burst of peppery.   Ten out of ten!  You can buy this jam on their page.  At £6.95 it's a tad bit pricey, but that is often the case with speciality goods and this is definitely a speciality good.



I was also sent a jar of their Chocolate Island Cane Sugar.  From their page:

 A blend of organic hand-grown and harvested sugar combined with the irresistible flavour of cocoa. A dash of this artisan chocolate sugar will breathe devilish goodness into any recipe.

Presented in an attractive jar, with a cork lid and red seal on the top, it looked quite nice and there was a nice burst of chocolate scent when I opened the jar.  It also tasted very chocolatey, and left a nice coating of cocoa on my fingers after I ran them through it.   It, too, is a bit pricey, at £10, but once again, it is a speciality item.   You would and should expect to pay more for something like this.   This would make a fabulous gift for the chocolate lover in your life.



I was able to use some of each to create these delicious breakfast brioche rolls.  Using tender and buttery  French Milk Brioche Rolls that I usually have in the house and some eggs, and just a bit of each ingredients these rolls made a wonderfully different breakfast roll that was a treat and not so hard to make as you would think.



It's as simple as gently tearing a hold in the centre of the rolls, dipping them into beaten egg and then rolling them in cinnamon sugar . . .



Spooning some jam down the centre into the hole you have torn . . . sprinkling them with the chocolate sugar (or regular demerara sugar if that is all you have), placing them in a baking tin, dotting some butter around and then  baking them for several  minutes.



The end result being a moreishly butter bun, with a crunchy cinnamon sugar coating and a delicious jam filling.   What's not to like about that I ask?    Absolutely nothing I say !  These were simply quite quite fabulous.

 

*Strawberry Filled Brioche Rolls*

Makes 6

PrintableRecipe 

Kind of like a jam bread and butter pudding, except it's enclosed . . . in buttery brioche rolls that are dipped in cinnamon sugar and baked with butter around them.  Decadently delicious breakfast treat.

2 large free range eggs, beaten with a fork

6 TBS granulated sugar, plus extra for sprinkling

2 tsp ground cinnamon

6 small French Milk Brioche Rolls

12 tsp of strawberry preserves

4 TBS of cold butter, cut into small cubes

Preheat the oven to 190*C/375*F/ gas mark 5.  Line a baking dish with foil and spray with nonstick cooking spray.  Set aside.

Stir together the sugar and cinnamon in a shallow bowl, mixing thoroughly.  Beat the eggs together in another shallow bowl.    Take the brioche rolls and gently tear them apart in the centre so that you have a hollow down the length of the roll, leaving them intact at either ends, without removing any bread.  Just gently tear and press an opening into the centres.   Dip the rolls into the beaten eggs, letting it soak in a bit to the interior, and then allowing any excess to drain off.   Roll the tops of the rolls into the cinnamon sugar and then place into the prepared baking dish.   Spoon 2 teaspoons of jam down the centre of each.   Sprinkle with the extra granulated sugar evenly over top.  Drop the small cubes of butter around and between each roll and the sides of the pan.

Bake for about 10 minutes in the heated oven until the butter has melted and soaked into the rolls and the rolls are golden brown and lightly crisped and the jam is bubbling.   Allow to cool slightly before eating.  These can be stored in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

If you are looking for something just a little bit unique and special for that foodie in your life, I would highly recommend the East India Company.  You can order from a fairly extensive line of fine foods online, and they also have some retail stores that you can shop in the London area.  (Mayfair, Blue Water and Covent Garden)  You can also find their products in Selfridges, Harrods, The British  Library, Mitsukoshi, and the National Maritime Museum.  (Again all in the London area.)

Many thanks to the East India Company for sending these lovely items to me.

Note:  Although I was sent these articles to try, all opinions are my own.

Chocolate Chip Muffins

I love muffins.  I love them even more than cupcakes.   Cupcakes are nice, but they don't stay with you as long as a muffin does.  Muffins are heavier and when you eat one, you feel satisfied.  A muffin is a meal that feels and tastes like a real treat. 

 

I saw a joke poster the other day that said that once you lick the frosting off a cupcake that turns it into a muffin . . . so that made it a healthy option.  I beg to differ on several fronts.  A cupcake can never be a muffin . . . muffins aren't cake.   And a muffin can't be a cupcake, not if it's a true muffin that is . . . they are two completely different animals.  Mind you . . . that is only my opinion.



They also differ greatly when it comes down to mixing them up.   Cupcake batter is mixed like cake batter . . . you cream the fats and sugars together first until light and then you beat in the egg (s) . . . adding the dry and wet ingredient alternately and normally mixing to a smooth batter before putting it into the tin (s).

 

In making a muffin generally you mix together all the dry ingredients together in one bowl . . .  all the wet in a measure . . .  and then you add the wet to the dry and mix just to combine.  Lumps are ok and in fact an overmixed muffin is tough.   The best muffins come from a batter that's only been lightly used and mixed together.  Muffins tend to have a much heavier texture than  cake and taste wonderful served warm with some butter or even jam, depending on the flavour of muffin. Corn muffins served hot with butter AND jam are a marriage made in heaven . . .



I used to own my own coffee shop and I baked and sold tons of muffins each day.  The favourite was the carrot muffins, with the banana ones following closely at their heels.   The third place was a toss up between blueberry muffins and these delicious chocolate chip muffins.   Of course that could vary as well . . . with taste.   Some people would crawl through fire to get a good chocolate chip muffin.

I am one of those.



A Chocolate Chip muffin lover.  These are the best.  I add chopped walnuts to mine and sometimes I even add sultanas . . . but then again I have been known to add those to my chocolate chip cookies too.  It's a matter of taste, but if you are looking for a great basic chocolate chip muffin that is moist, and stogged to the hilt with chocolate chips, look no further.   These chocolate chip muffins are quite simply the best.

In my opinion.

 

*Chocolate Chip Muffins*
Makes 12 large  

Printable Recipe

We love these muffins in this house.  A beautifully dense and buttery muffin just filled to the brim with delicious bits of milk  chocolate.  Try to use the best chocolate you can afford to buy.  These are incredibly moreish, just so you know.  Also, when I say large I do NOT mean texas sized, but the next size down.


2 cups flour  (198g)
1/3 cup soft light brown sugar, packed (66g)
1/2 cup white sugar (95g)
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2/3 cup milk (160ml)
1/2 cup butter, melted and cooled (115g)
2 large free range eggs, lightly beaten
1 tsp vanilla

11 ounces milk chocolate chips (311g)
1/2 cup chopped toasted nuts, pecans or walnuts (optional) (57g)






Pre-heat the oven to 200*C/400*F/ gas mark 6.  Generously grease 12 large muffin cups, or line with paper liners.  Set aside.

Sift the flour, baking powder and salt into a large bowl.  Whisk in the sugars, until the mixture is well blended.

In another bowl, stir together the milk, eggs, butter and vanilla.  Blend together well.

Make a well in the dry ingredients and then add the milk mixture all at once.  Stir together just to combine.  It doesn't matter if the batter it lumpy.  All you want is the dry ingredients to be moistened.  Fold in the chocolate pieces and the nuts, if using.  Spoon batter into the prepared muffin cups, filling them 2/3 full.  Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until well risen and a toothpick inserted in the centre of one comes out clean.  Remove from the oven and let sit for 5 minutes before removing the muffins from the tin to a wire rack to finish cooling.  Serve warm.

These also freeze very well.  To re-heat from frozen just pop the frozen muffin into the microwave on a piece of paper toweling and zap it for about 30 seconds.