Tag: bread

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The Bonnag Trilogy (Cappuccino on the Foredeck)

My job usually involves a lot of business travel which I’ve been direly missing during the pandemic. As a surrogate, I’ve started exploring many parts of the world through Youtube videos of boat trips and maritime expeditions. Most of them don’t fail to talk about local cuisine.

That’s how I came across Bonnag, a buttermilk soda bread originating from the Isle of Man. Luckily enough, a pal of mine grew up there and was able to find me a family recipe. I turned it into three Bonnag variants – just in time for the Cappuccino on the Foredeck last Sunday!

Let’s start by preheating the oven to 190°C.

The dough is made by mixing the following ingredients thoroughly by hand:

  • 1000 g white flour
  • 20 g baking soda
  • 10 g salt
  • 750 ml buttermilk at room temperature

Now split the dough into three equal parts. Use one part for each of the following variants.

Plain Bonnag

  • Incorporate 20 g of white sugar into the dough.
  • Shape into two or three balls and place on baking sheet.
  • Bake for 30-40 minutes until browned. Knock on the bottom of the Bonnags with a knuckle. If you hear a hollow sound, they’re done!

Raisin Bonnag

  • Proceed like for plain Bonnag, but, in addition to the sugar, incorporate a handful of raisins into the dough before shaping.
Plain Bonnag
Raisin Bonnag

Spicy Bonnag

  • Incorporate 1 crushed or finely chopped clove of garlic, 100 g grated cheese (2/3 gruyère and 1/3 parmesan worked well) and 3 tablespoons of chopped herbs (rosemary, thyme, flat-leafed parsley, chervil) into the dough.
  • Shape into one loaf.
  • Bake for 40-50 minutes.

The Spicy Bonnag turned out to be my favorite while the First Mate preferred the plain variant and the Second Mate the one with raisins. So there was one to please every taste!

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Cappuccino on The Foredeck: Scones

It was a silent moment this morning when my First Mate and I realized that we had no fresh bread left for breakfast. Then she grabbed our new copy of 100 Great Breads by Paul Hollywood and flipped through it frantically. “Scones!” One hour later, we sat on our imaginary foredeck with coffee and our freshly baked treats loaded with grandma’s blueberry jam. No clotted cream, unfortunately, but still a really good start into the day!

Makes 12 scones with approximately 250 kcal / 1025 kJ each.

Scone
Scone with blueberry jam

Ingredients

  • 500 g white flour
  • 2 eggs
  • 75 g sugar (preferably caster sugar)
  • 30 g baking powder
  • 75 g butter
  • 225 ml milk
  • 1 egg yolk
  • (optional) 100 g raisins

Method

  • Beat the eggs.
  • Soften the butter with a fork.
  • Mix all ingredients up to milk by hand for 5 minutes.
  • (optional) Incorporate the raisins.
  • Tip on lightly floured surface and roll to 3-4 cm thick.
  • Cut out scones of 5-8 cm diameter.
  • Put on lined baking tray and brush with egg yolk.
  • Leave to sit in the fridge for 30 minutes. In the meantime, preheat your oven to 220° Celsius.
  • Brush with egg yolk again.
  • Bake for 15 minutes.
  • Serve warm.
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Cappuccino on the Foredeck: Cuchaule (Swiss Sweet Saffron Bread)

Cuchale - Swiss Saffron Sweetbread

This post marks two firsts: It introduces the Galley category where I publish my favorite recipes. The recipes that are particulary suitable for these serene moments when you’re sitting outside at sunrise with a freshly brewed cup of coffee in your hand will become part of the “Cappuccino on the Foredeck” series.

Cuchaule [cue-shoal] is not just a bread to me, but a veritable soul food. My memories of it go back to when my grandma used it to bring it to my bed on Sunday morning when I was at her house – with no coffee yet then, but in large chunks covered in butter and jam.

The recipe originates from my home canton (that’s what the Swiss call their states) of Fribourg and is a Sunday classic there. It takes some time to prepare, but believe me, you’ll be fully rewarded upon your first bite.The recipe is transcribed from [German] Aus Schweizer Küchen (From Swiss Kitchens), a standard for Swiss cuisine by culinary legend Marianne Kaltenbach.

Ingredients

  • 1 kg white flour
  • 40 g fresh yeast (or 13 grams of dried yeast)
  • 150 g sugar
  • 2.5 dl milk
  • 2.5 dl water
  • 80 g butter
  • 1 dl cream
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 whole egg
  • 250 mg powdered saffron
  • 1 eggyolk

Method

  • Sieve the flour into a large, pre-warmed bowl. Create a well in the middle.
  • Mix sugar and yeast until liquid.
  • Mix 2 tbsp of milk and 1 tbsp of flour to a paste.
  • Pour liquid and paste into the well and stir carefully (not including any additional flour).
  • Leave to rest for 20 minutes in a warm place.
  • Heat milk and water. Remove from heat.
  • Melt butter in liquid.
  • Add cream.
  • Mix into bowl in portions until integrated.
  • Mix salt, egg and saffron.
  • Add to dough and knead until no longer sticky.
  • Leave to rise until volume doubles (approximately 1.5 hours).
  • Separate into two or three loaves.
  • With a sharp knife, carve a coarse grid into the top of each of the loaves.
  • Leave to rest in a cool place for 10 minutes.
  • Glaze loaves in whisked egg yolk.
  • Bake for 35-40 minutes (depending on size) at 190° Celsius (375° Fahrenheit)