There’s nothing quite like having your kitchen smelling like freshly baked goods! Especially during lockdown and having to better cooking skills because all restaurants are closed. I made up this brunch board one Sunday during lockdown. There’s something that is extra special to me about making things for the people I love, and then getting to indulge in the goodness together! The banana bread and croissants were even more delicious than they look. Although these recipes are not both the easiest ones I’ve attempted, they definitely were the most worth it (so far)! Enjoy and please share your attempts with me ! 😀
Banana Bread
Courtesy of my friend, Ash
1/3 packet of unsalted butter
3/4 cup of sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla essence
3/4 cup of mashed banana
2 cups of self-raising flour
Heat oven to 180’C.
Grease a bread loaf tin with some butter.
Put the butter and sugar in a mixing bowl and mic with a hand mixer until light and creamy.
Add the eggs one at a time and beat well.
Add the vanilla essence and mashed banana and blend.
Sift the flour and the salt into the mixture and blend well.
Bake in the oven for 1 hour or until a skewer comes out clean.
Remove and let the loaf rest for 5 minutes, then turn onto a cooling rack to cool.
Serve with some butter and a warm cup of tea!
Croissants
This recipe took me two days to make. I’ll also add the YT link below where I got the recipe.
130g water @±38’C
6g active dry yeast
250g bread flour
30g granulated sugar
5g sea salt
25g melted unsalted butter
1 egg yolk
138g of unsalted butter (try and get a more expensive one if possible)
Bloom your yeast: mix 6g of yeast powder into a measuring jug with water. Let it set for 10 minutes, until some foam appears on top.
In a mixing bowl, mix your flour, sugar and salt.
Add your bloomed yeast, egg yolk, and 25g unsalted butter (melted).
Using a spatula (and then your hands) mix until it forms a dough.
Strengthen your dough: pick up the dough and lightly slap it down on the counter and fold it over slightly. I’d recommend watching the video for this, it’s hard to explain..
Make a ball-shaped dough piece and put it back into your bowl, cover with plastic wrap and put it in your fridge for 10 minutes.
It’s first turn: pull an edge and fold over itself, pat it down and repeat this around the dough. Place it seem side down, cover with plastic wrap and place it back in the fridge for 10 minutes. Repeat this step again for two turns and let it rest for 25 minutes this time.
Place the dough on wax paper and roll it into a square about 15cmx15cm. Watch the video for a tip to roll your dough into a square. Make sure the surface is smooth and even. place it in the fridge for 12 hours/overnight.
Lamination: 138g butter cut as evenly as possibly, laid out on wax paper in a 12cmx12cm square. the butter can be a little smaller because you’re going to pound it so that it spreads out. Put it in the fridge for 15-20 minutes.
Flour your surface and place your dough down. Roll out the dough by rolling the edges to elongate the shape. Place your butter diagonally in the centre. Stretch and fold each corner of the dough to encase the butter completely. Let it sit for 1 minute.
Lightly flour a rolling pin and dough, press down on the dough and then roll with even pressure into a long rectangle (±70cm long). Fold the bottom up 3/4 and fold the top half the other 1/4 down. Pat them together. Fold the long bit over the short bit like an envelope. Lightly tap it, wrap it in plastic wrap and place in the fridge for 1 hour.
Flour your surface and place your dough down. Pat down and then roll your dough lengthwise to create a long rectangle (±70cm long). Fold the dough letter style, with the top down 1/3 of the way and then the bottom up over the top fold. You’ll almost get an even square shape now. Cover in plastic wrap and place in the fridge for up to 12 hours (1 hour if you’re wanting to cook your croissants now).
Final roll: Roll the dough into a wider and thicker rectangle (±40cm wide and 1cm thick). When rolling your dough, if there is any resistance wrap it up and place it back in the fridge for about 30 minutes (it should be easy to roll out).
Shape the croissants: on the bottom, make marks at 18cm intervals. At the top make marks in the middle of the bottom intervals. Using a long knife, connect each point. You should get ±5-6 long triangles after this.
Slightly pull the triangles to elongate them, roll them in from the thick side to the thin side.
Proofing: place the croissants on a baking tray (tail side facing down). Brush the tops with egg wash (1 egg). Cover the baking tray with an inverted baking tray or in an oven with JUST THE LIGHT ON. Leave for 2 hours for your croissants to double in size.
Brush gently with egg wash again. Bake for 15-20 minutes at 205’C until they are golden brown.
A Piece Of Cait 