Cranberry Coffee Buns

Every Tuesday, I would check out the Cook’s Nook in The Star newspaper for recipes by Amy Beh. This celebrity chef is my aunt and she has 3 cookbooks in her name.
When I saw her recipes this week on “lovely loaves”, I knew I MUST bake it. There were 3 recipes and the one that caught my eyes was the Cranberry Coffee Loaf.
Baked it yesterday. However, instead of baking a loaf, I divided the dough into 12 equal parts and made them into buns. The aroma of freshly baked coffee buns was heavenly.

The buns are really soft and the texture is very fine. The buns are still soft after a day!

This is definitely a keeper.

Here is the recipe for your baking pleasure.

Cranberry Coffee Loaf (by Amy Beh)
Ingredients
300g high protein flour, sifted
½ tsp salt
65g soft brown sugar
5g instant yeast
160-165ml fresh milk
½ tsp coffee paste  ( I omitted this as I do not have it - updated April 2, 2012)
1 tsp instant coffee powder ( I used 2 tsp as I did not use coffee paste - updated April 2, 2012)
20g butter
80g dried cranberries
 
Method :
1. Place sifted flour and salt into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a dough hook.
2. Add sugar, yeast and butter.
3. Beat for 5 minutes.
4. Add combined coffee milk mixture and continue beating for a further 10 minutes until dough is soft and elastic
5. Place dough in a large oiled bowl. Cover and leave in a warm place for an hour or until the dough has doubled in bulk.
6. Punch down the dough and knead on a lightly floured board.
7. Add the cranberries and roll up the dough.
8. Shape into a loaf.
9. Place into a loaf pan and leave aside to rise again for 20 mins or until doubled in bulk.
10. Bake in preheated oven at 190C for 25-30mins. Remove onto a rack to cool.
Note : For the Buns, I kept them in the oven for only 12 minutes.

Bailey’s Buttercream frosting on Chocolate Coffee Cupcakes

Is it just me or did January 2012 just hit as a whirlwind???

I was looking at my calendar this morning and noticed that we are already into the 2nd week of February. Things have been moving so fast for me with our recent trip to Japan, followed by the beginning of school term, and Chinese New Year….

Now, the madness have slowly subsided and I am almost back to my normal routine…. Thank goodness!!!!

While blog-hopping a few days ago, I chanced upon a post by Elin which calls for using Bailey’s. Now, I have a bottle of Bailey’s sitting in my pantry which I hardly use. (Don’t quite know why I bought it during our last trip to Langkawi island last year).

So, this is what I made……………

The cake is moist and soft. With the combination of chocolate, coffee and almond, the aroma is to die for!!! The whole house smelt heavenly even before the cakes came out of the oven. The cake itself is not too sweet (perfect for my liking).

In fact, they tasted good without frosting. We would have normally eat them out just like that!! Now you know…. my family are not a big fan of frosting. We also find the a tad too sweet for us.

However, this time I am determined to frost these cuppies. The aroma and taste of Bailey’s is just too alluring. So, I frosted them….

This is my first attempt of piping the frosting in this way. Not too shabby for a first timer, right? The buttercream is delicious though it is still too sweet for me. Since Bailey’s is pretty rich, perhaps the next time, I should cut down more sugar and add some salt to balance it up more.

Honestly, this is a yummy recipe. If you love chocolate and Bailey’s this is definitely something you should try!!!

Bailey’s buttercream frosting on Chocolate Coffee Cupcakes (adapted from Elin)

makes 6-8 cupcakes


Ingredients :

60 gm butter
80 gm castor sugar
1 egg
90 ml milk
60 gm dark chocolate
2 teaspoon cocoa powder
2 teaspoon instant coffee granules + 30ml hot water
75 gm self raising flour
40 gm ground almonds

Method :

1. Preheat oven to 180C and prepare cupcake cases on baking tray.
2. Combine instant coffee granules and hot water. Set aside. Melt the dark chocolate. Set aside.
3. Cream butter and sugar till light and fluffy. Add in egg and mix till well combined.
4. Sieve together flour, cocoa powder and add half to the butter mixture. Add in the ground almonds.
5. Add melted dark chocolate to the butter mixture.
6. Add in the milk and the balance of the flour mixture and mix well.
7. Scoop batter into cupcake cases and bake in preheated oven for approximately 20-25 minutes.
8. Take out and cool them on rack .

Bailey's Buttercream Frosting

40 gm butter
80 gm icing sugar
1 tbsp shortening
3 tbsp/ 4 tbsp  Baileys Irish Cream

Method:
Beat the sugar till light and fluffy, add in the icing sugar bit by bit alternately with Baileys till you get the right consistency.  Scoop buttercream into piping bag with icing nozzle of your choice. Frost  cupcakes.

 

*** Bon Appétit ! ***