Date and almond hot cross buns

If you read my recent post about Easter treats, you will know that this time of the year is all about chocolate for me. I am not a huge fan of fruit in baking as I generally prefer fresh rather than dried fruit, so Simnel cake is definitely off the menu for me. When it comes to hot cross buns; I have always wanted to like them as they smell delicious and they always look good when I see them lightly toasted with a bit of butter but the currants always put me off. After seeing lots of recipes and pictures flying about with different twists on the traditional Easter recipe, I thought I would give them a go with a different flavour. I have made them in the past but never eaten one so I needed to make sure that I picked flavours that would make me want to taste this time. After looking at various recipes online, I decided to adapt this one from The BBC Good Food site and use the Dan Lepard kneading method , which has always worked well for me since discovering his brilliant Short and Sweet book. Most glazes consisted of apricot jam or a syrup but I opted for a little bit of lemon curd for an extra bit of zing. I was distracted by the little one whilst my buns were in the oven, so they are a little darker than they should be but they still taste great, lightly toasted with a good bit of butter.

Ingredients

For the buns

500g strong white bread flour
75g caster sugar
300ml full fat milk
50g butter
1 egg, beaten
7g fast action yeast
100g dates, stoned and chopped
Grated peel of one orange
Zest of one orange
Grated peel of one lemon
75g toasted almonds, chopped roughly
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp allspice
pinch ground ginger
pinch of salt

For the cross

75g plain flour
3/4 tbls water

For the glaze

3 tbls lemon curd

Method

1. Gently heat a little of the milk and pour into a small bowl with the yeast, leaving it until it goes bubbly. Heat the rest of the milk then remove from heat and add the butter. Leave to cool until it reaches hand temperature and stir in the egg.
2. Put the flour, sugar, salt, spices, dates and nuts into a large bowl, along with the zest and peel from your fruit. Make a well in the centre of the bowl and add in your like mixture and yeast. Mix well ,bringing everything together with your hands to make a sticky dough.
3. Tip onto a lightly oiled surface and knead the dough for 10 seconds. Return the dough to the bowl and cover for 10 minutes, then once again knead on an oiled surface for 10 seconds. Repeat this for a third time then leave the dough in the covered bowl for 1 hour ( see the Dan Lepard link for more detail , if required)
4. Divide the dough into 12 pieces and roll each into a small ball, on a slightly oiled surface. Place on baking trays, making sure you leave enough room for the buns to expand. Cover with a tea towel and leave for one hour.
5. Heat the oven to 220/gas 7. Mix the flour with about 5tbsp water to make the paste for the cross. Spoon into a piping bag with a small nozzle. Pipe a line along each row of buns, then repeat in the other direction to create crosses. Bake for 20 minutes on the middle shelf of oven , until golden brown.
6.Gently heat the lemon curd to melt then brush over the top of the warm buns and leave to cool.

NoLIta Cantina: Bold Street, Liverpool

Liverpool can often be caught playing catch up when it come to the latest food trends. I suppose this is natural for many cities outside of the ever changing London food scene but it can be frustrating at times to see a lack of progression throughout the city. Over the last couple of years we have seen the emergence of some great independent restaurants in and around the city that are making people think twice about visiting chain restaurants week in and week out. Innovative chefs and restaurant owners are  starting to raise the bar with great places such as Camp and Furnace and Lucha Libre offering high quality, relaxed dining. Of course we do have some good restaurants that offer a more formal dining experience but sometimes you just want something that you can really get your teeth in to; like the ' dirty ' offerings we have been seeing in the likes of ' Almost Famous ' in Manchester or ' Joe Allen ' London. A New York style diner that makes any meat lover salivate has long been missing in Liverpool,so it is with open arms we welcome NoLIta Cantina on to the Scouse food map.

With a name inspired by the area north of Little Italy in New York, a menu full of American style delights was to be expected and it certainly doesn't disappoint. Situated at the top end of Bold Street in area that has some of the best food and drink places in town, NoLIta offers informal dining in a basic but cool setting. We went along early evening and although it was very busy we did manage to get a table but think we just touched lucky as the waitress said it has been crazy since it opened up last week.  For some, it may seem like just another restaurant showcasing the latest trend and catering for the 'in ' crowd but for me any place where you can be guaranteed to get a good burger is good in my books. There are a few places in town to get a decent burger but generally it is hit and miss as to whether it will be cooked well or have the life grilled out of it. So, whilst I did look at some of the other mouthwatering offerings on the menu, I had to go for a burger. I went for the pastrami burger;  two beef patties topped with proper new york style pastrami, pickles and chipotle sauce served in a brioche bun. The dish was served with fried and came along in a little basket rather than a plate, which was a nice touch. I was a little bit disappointed with the bun as the bottom was a bit soggy but other than it was one seriously good burger. Cooked perfectly pink with juices running out and full of flavour it is something I will be going for. On the other side of the table, beef brisket was the dish of choice; tender beef coated in  NoLIta dry rub , cooked slow and served with fries, BBQ sauce and slaw. I had a little taste and we both agreed that it was a good dish packed full of flavour, although portion size may be worth looking at as it was on the small side. There are lots of great sounding starters and side dishes but as we were planning to go out drinking we were restrained and got just enough to fill us up. I definitely need to go back for a portion of Frickles ( fried pickles), can't believe I didn't order some! The only down side to the meal was the poor beer choices but I hear that the team have listened to feedback and are already planning on bringing a better selection in. The team at NoLIta have sound like they have a really creative attitude towards the food they want to cook so I am sure we will see lots of great additions to the menu and maybe they will inspire other people to set up shop and get Liverpool setting trends rather than following them.


NolIta Cantina
81a Bold Street, Liverpool

Easter Treats

I am without doubt a chocoholic. I am not a fan of hot chocolate but will pretty much eat any other form of chocolate and I am, quite frankly, a grump if I am deprived of chocolate for a few days. At my worst I have stayed up until 2am waiting for a cheap frozen chocolate cake to defrost in order to get my fix and at my best I have eaten some fantastic chocolate such as the brilliant Lauden Chocolate. Being a fan of all things local, I have to say that The Chocolate Cellar produce some delicious chocolate, particularly when it comes to their inventive range of truffles. A popular addition to the local farmers markets in and around Merseyside, you will see a queue of people lining up to buy anything from hot chocolate sticks to macaroons. You will have guessed that Easter is something I look forward to a lot so I am sure I will be snapping up some of The Chocolate Cellar's great looking eggs this year.

If you are not in Liverpool so are unable to get your hands on The Chocolate Cellars brilliant eggs ( above picture)  then here is my pick of some of the chocolate treats on offer this year, featuring my current chocolate and  peanut butter obsession.

 Connoisseur Egg Hotel chocolat
 Chocolate Hen's Eggs Rococo 
 Reester Bunny from Ocado
 Montezuma salted peanut butter eggs from  John Lewis