mayurisjikoni

an early Christmas treat!    What is a Swedish tea ring? Its a sweet pastry/ bread traditionally served during Christmas as a tea time treat or for breakfast. Thus the name tea ring. Its very much like the cinnamon buns but this tea ring is shaped into a wreath. The filling can vary from nuts to dried fruits and different spices. When Gayathri the initiator of the Baking Eggless group sent the recipe as the challenge for this month, I took one look at the picture and thought, that it would be complicated. It actually is not and its fun to make different shapes with yeast dough. I will be certainly making this recipe again and again as the tea ring was absolutely delicious. Perhaps I felt that way because I love cinnamon. I baked the ring when my niece and her family were visiting. Her daughter, my grand niece, had it again the next day as dessert.       Normally, its easier to substitute eggs in a yeast dough, as adding a bit more milk or yogurt does the trick. However, this time I de

  The more that you read, the more things you will know.  The more that you learn, the more places you'll go. Dr. Suess    I cannot claim to be a voracious reader, but I do love reading. I love reading fiction, and usually read books recommended by friends or family. I love reading stories based on true life but am open to reading thrillers, science fiction, romance etc. I tend to read at my own pace, sometimes just a couple of pages sometimes an entire chapter, depends on how interesting I find the story. Stories have a tendency to transport one to another world, re kindle your fantasy, create imagination and above all know a bit more about cultures, the world, different people etc. Recently I finished reading  The River Between by Ngugi wa Thiong'o. He is a Kenyan author and this is the first book of his that I have read. I want to read his other books, Weep Not Child, A Grain of Wheat, Petals of Blood to name a few. I loved his simple way of writing but getting the message a

Eid Mubarak         Wishing all fellow bloggers, followers and friends a very happy Eid. Lets pray that there is a conscious effort to maintain and bring peace world over, we don't need more innocent people being killed, we don't need to be scared of coming out of our homes to carry out every day chores and above all in this very short life that God has granted us we need to be more loving and tolerant towards other cultures.         For the past few months, life in Mombasa is not what we have known for so many years- a sleepy, friendly, happy coastal town. Grenades in buses, on the beach, killings in villages around, has changed Mombasa forever. Every day Julius our house help voices his fear that crossing the Likoni Channel by ferry is a great risk as they fear someone maybe carrying a bomb. Security checks are not enough. The term Raha Mombasa is no more applicable to this tourist town. Raha in kiswahili means happiness or joy. People are not happy, jobs are scarce as touris

J'adore ce pain       The July challenge from the we knead to bake group  was Gibassier (pronounced as zee-bah-see-ay). This aromatic, delicious, rich, breakfast bread or pastry hails from the Lourmarin village in the Provence region of France. It is usually flavoured with candied orange peel, orange zest, orange blossom water and anise seeds (fennel seeds). It is brushed with clarified butter and sprinkled with caster sugar. It is believed that the doughnut like bread or pastry got its name from the mountain Le Gibas that can be seen in the horizon of the village. For more information about this delicious bread or cookie as some in France call it visit Aparna's blog, M y Diverse Kitchen.       I was doing more research on the bread on the internet and hubby dear comes to see what has got me so engrossed. He saw the photos and asked, do they have a special machine to shape this bread, it looks so beautiful. Its really heartening to know my hubby is taking a keen interest in wha

aroma therapy   While the bread was baking, the whole house was filled with the aroma of basil. My neighbour smelt basil all the way near the lift of our floor. She came to check what was cooking. Remember in my last post I mentioned that I made some pesto, well I used it to make some delicious bread which I wanted to bake for such a long time. Using biga to make the bread was the other temptation. Using biga makes the bread more flavourful. It gives more strength to weak flour. So the plain flour that we get in Kenya and India is quite weak compared to the ones available in the western countries. Its also amazing how two pinches of yeast can ferment a whole loaf of bread. Biga is the Italian word for preferment. Traditionally, bakers use a bit of the previous fermented dough to make a new batch. At home its easier to mix flour, water and a pinch of yeast to start the biga.The biga should appear wet and sticky. The biga is left covered with cling film at room temperature for 6 to 24 ho