Of shopping malls and English gardens

How the heck does either of these things have anything in common, let alone anything to do with bread? Is there some queer reference in a Shakespearean play to the current economic situation of our local shopping centre? Or perhaps Hugh Grant was appearing at our local Macy’s doing a book signing for his latest seller “Pancake and me: Love syrup.”

No, none of this is how they relate, but it was a good guess, and I’ll give you a slug of chewing gum for a best effort. They tie in very nicely I think and relate to all the baking that I did this weekend for the bread. I had decided last weekend not to make anything, due to our vacation and the keen knowledge that I was saving the Cinnamon Bun recipe for our annual Thanksgiving Day tradition of said sweet treat. This year, however, I opted for the home made kind rather than the store bought pre packaged exploding tube of goodness.

You see, I have not eaten a T.J. Cinnabon, ever (the mall reference). You might find that odd, but every time I watch them create these devilishly sinful treats, I just can’t bring myself to consume such large and concentrated forms of delectable goodness (never mind the 8billion calories.) So, when last week’s recipe switch came to be, I decided mine would be just as good, but with considerably less sugar. This one was only difficult from a shaping and proofing aspect. I rolled up the dough, but the cinnamon sugar acted as a barrier and I was unable to seal the seam together nicely and the two ends were uneven, and came apart. However, they browned up nicely and after a glaze of fondant, they were ready to eat. They tasted pretty good and I even shared with the neighbors.

This weekend’s next bread was English muffins (hence the English reference.) And these seemed like they would be fun to me. The neat part that I didn’t know was English muffins are fried on a griddle, and then finished in the oven to get the center done. I think they turned out ok. They look like real English muffins from the outside, and they taste like them too, but on the inside I was missing the trademark big holes. The recipe said wet dough will help to get the big holes and I thought I had that, but apparently not. I decided then to make English muffin loaf bread instead of the actual muffins for work since I know I couldn’t make enough of the muffins for everyone.

Next week: Focaccia