Christmas Bun Wreath with Sherry Caramel

Christmas Bun Wreath with Sherry Caramel

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There are a few things that define being a South African; if you use the word ‘Ja’ instead of ‘yes’, if you know what a ‘bakkie’ is, if you call it a granadilla instead of a passion fruit and, if you have at least one memory of OBS (Old Brown Sherry). Mine specifically revolves around Christmas and the generous glug my Great Aunty Margot always adds to the family trifle, but my story isn’t nearly as exciting as the one’s Sedgwick’s have compiled in a sweet little book to celebrate their 100-year birthday! One story, specifically, had me in fits of giggles because it sounded exactly like something my late grandmother would do! It’s called ‘The Undefeatable Tipsy Tart’ and was submitted by A. Nel.

“For over 15 years, my Grandmother was the reigning Tipsy Tart Queen of the local Agricultural Show. No other tannie could come close and every year, as she walked away with another first-prize ribbon, you would see them flocking around, fishing for her “secret ingredient”. Ouma would just laugh and say: “It’s made with love”.

 

Two years ago, my Gran passed away and my mother inherited all of her cookbooks and the hand-written recipes she had collected over the decades. Obviously the first dish my mother tried to replicate was the Undefeatable Tipsy Tart and while it tasted delicious, well, it wasn’t THAT good.

 

It was only 6 months later, after the gentleman who had been the judge for all those years stepped down, that Grandma’s trick was finally revealed. Turns out, the “secret ingredient” wasn’t actually part of her recipe – it was the shot of Sedgwick’s she always gave him beforehand that sealed the deal!”

If you’d love to get your hands on this special book (and a bottle of Sedgwick’s to drink while you mull over the stories), I’m giving away a gift set over on my Facebook page this week so click here to enter! You can also read all the funny OBS tales over on Sedgwick’s website here. But before you head on over, I’ve made some deliciously sticky Christmas buns stuffed with proper almond marzipan and fruit mince and drizzled with a Sedgwicks caramel which, if I could, I would bath in! Make them on Christmas eve, pop them in the fridge to prove overnight and bake them on Christmas morning to nibble on while you open presents! Merry Christmas everyone!

Sticky Christmas Bun Wreath with Marzipan and Sedgwick’s Caramel

Makes 12

 

DOUGH

500g flour

2 tsp ground cinnamon

2 tsp mixed spice

75g muscovado sugar

75g butter, softened

2 eggs

2 egg yolks

10g instant dry yeast

10g salt

175ml lukewarm milk (or water)

 

FILLING

60g butter, softened

½ cup fruit mince

100g almond marzipan (not persipan*) – optional, grated, plus extra for star cut-outs

 

SHERRY CARAMEL

1 cup light brown sugar

½ cup Sedgwick’s OBS

60g butter

1 tbsp cream

 

Make the dough by placing all the ingredients in a mixing bowl (I use a stand mixer to make it easier) and combine until a soft dough forms. Knead the dough for 8-10 minutes or until it’s smooth and springs back when poked with a finger. Cover the dough and leave to rise in a warm place until doubled in size (about 1 hour). You can also do this in the fridge overnight which gives it a lovely sourdough flavour. In the meantime, prepare the baking tray by rubbing a large 30cm spring form cake tin with butter. Knock down the dough and knead it lightly to press out the air then roll out into a 20x30cm rectangle. Spread the dough with the softened butter then spread with fruit mince and sprinkle with grated marzipan. Roll the dough up tightly (from the longest side) to form a sausage then slice into 2cm thick wheels. Pack the buns around the outside of the prepared cake tin and place a small ramekin in the middle (to keep the wreath shape. Then cover loosely with cling wrap and allow to rise in a warm place until doubled in size. In the meantime, make the caramel; place the sugar in a pan or saucepan with 2 tbsp water and heat gently until dissolved. Bring to the boil and simmer until deep golden brown. Add the OBS, butter and cream and swirl to combine. Allow to cool. Preheat the oven to 200C (conventional, 180 fan-forced) and bake for 20-30 minutes until golden (with the ramekin in the middle). Allow to cool slightly before serving warm, drizzled with the sherry caramel. Decorate with marzipan stars.

 

TIP You know when people say they hate marzipan? What they really mean is they hate persipan – the fake marzipan sold in most shops which is actually made from peach and apricot kernels and tastes like almond essence (also fake). Woolies now sell proper marzipan so do yourself a favour and give the real deal a try.

Sticky Toffee Pudding with Dates

Sticky Toffee Pudding with Dates

There’s nothing fancy or frilly about a baked pudding. It’s plain and simple but there is something deeply satisfying and supremely indulgent about a sticky pudding complete with pools of sticky toffee sauce and of course,  a good glug of piping hot custard. Something else which always accompanies a baked pudding, is a big spoonful of nostalgia. And this one, if it’s even possible, comes with an extra dose – because the recipe is over 60 years old.
When my great aunt Gwen passed away recently, I was given a great gift; 3 large falling-apart boxes filled with her love of recipe hoarding and all sorts of vintage kitchen paraphernalia. There were pages upon pages of recipes – not in a book or file but just stacks of cuttings torn out of magazines, from the back of soup packets and old shopping lists, some even quickly jotted down on the back of a church hymn booklet. But it was amongst these droves of recipes, that I discovered a few real gems.
And this recipe is one of them.
Cape Times Newspaper – Wednesday, June 16, 1954
 Margaret Pollitt writes: ‘One of the biggest problems of winter menu-planning is how to ring the changes with the sweet course – those sturdy summer standbys, ice cream, jellies and fruit salads, are of no use now to the mother whose children crave a big helping of pudding after the main course has been polished off.’
I cropped out the advert for corsetry services in the bottom right, although, in hindsight, that advert placement was very good!

Amongst recipes for pancakes (Margaret advises budding cooks that ‘tossing pancakes only comes with experience!’- you’ve been warned.), hot orange pudding, steamed sago pudding and roly poly, a date pud caught my attention. And it would be perfection when baked in my vintage pudding bowl (side note: how beautiful is this?!)

As a child I never appreciated puddings; I wanted to be a pastry chef and the simplicity of a baked pudding was completely lost on me. I only yearned to make the complicated, intricate desserts I saw in my cheffy cookbooks and magazines. My young imagination extended so much further than a quick-mix sponge drowned in thick UltraMel custard. How times have changed. Now… it’s the very thing I crave when the weather turns wet and grim. Perhaps that’s what makes pudding so universally soothing and rich in nostalgia. The fragrance of a baking pudding takes me back to Sunday afternoon lunches where we had to endure the delicious smell all the way through lunch. Torture. Followed by sheer bliss.

1954 Sticky Toffee Date Pudding

Serves 6-8

 

250g dried, pitted dates

250ml (1 cup) hot water

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

250g cake flour

250g butter

1 tsp (5ml) baking powder

2 large eggs

100g (1/2 cup) brown sugar

100g toasted pecans or walnuts, chopped

Soaking syrup:

60g butter

1 cup sugar

11/2 cups milk

2-3 tbsp sweet sherry (optional, or add 1 tsp vanilla)

Preheat the oven to 180C, fan-forced 160C. Grease 12 small dariole moulds or ramekins or a large 26 x 16 baking dish. Place the dates in a medium bowl and pour over the hot water. Sprinkle over the bicarbonate of soda and allow to stand for 30-45 minutes or until very soft. Place the softened dates (and the water) in a food processor with the rest of the pudding ingredients (except the nuts) and blend until smooth and combined. Stir in the nuts then pour into greased individual moulds or one large dish. For small puddings, bake for 10-15 minutes and large pudding, 30-35 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean. In the meantime, make the syrup; place all the ingredients in a saucepan and bring to the boil. Keep hot. Pour the hot syrup over the puddings as soon as they come out the oven. Serve immediately with salted caramel sauce (recipe below), vanilla custard or thick cream.

Salted Caramel Sauce

Makes 500ml

 

1 (395g) tin condensed milk

250ml (1 cup) cream

3 tbsp (45ml) brown sugar (like Demerara or Muscovado)

Pinch of good-quality salt (I used local Oryx desert salt)

Place the condensed milk, cream and sugar in a small saucepan and stir over low heat until the sugar is dissolved. Bring to the boil and simmer, stirring constantly until golden brown. Allow to cool, then sprinkle in the sea salt.