Boozy Cheese Rolls

I won a couple of beers through a competition a while back, and being a teetotaler the beers have been sitting at the back of my fridge for months on end without any hope of being drunk. "Why would she enter a beer competition when she doesn't drink?" I hear you say. It's all very logical, it wasn't just a beer competition but a pie and beer competition, with pies made by a very well-known local pie maker. And believe me, once you've tasted their pies you definitely would not pass up the chance to get them for free!

Now, back to the beer. I've been thinking of ways to use it and the only options I could think of was either to use it in a stew or use it to make bread. I'm not a very big meat-eater so I never have meat lying around in the fridge so that ruled out option 1. So here I am, showing you a Boozy Cheese Bread.

I've used a mix of three flours: white, wholemeal and rye just because I've been making too much white bread lately so felt like varying it up a little. Obviously you can use whatever bread flour you want but just keep in mind how much water you need as white bread flour tends to absorb less water than wholemeal and rye bread flour.

This recipe makes 16 rolls...enough to keep us going for the week!

Ingredients
600g white bread flour
200g rye bread flour
200g wholemeal bread flour
14g dried active yeast
7g salt
15g sugar
20ml olive oil
440ml can of beer
220ml warm water (approx.)
150g cheddar cheese, grated

Method

1. Put all the dried ingredients (except the cheese) in bowl, keeping the salt and the yeast on opposite sides of the bowl.
2. Add the olive oil and beer. Start mixing the dough and gradually add the water. A little judgement is required here, as you want enough water to form a nice dough ball that's soft but not too wet. I would say it's a texture that you can easily knead with.
3. Knead the dough until smooth and elastic and leave to prove until double in size.
4. After the first proving, mix in the grated cheese and divide the dough into 16 balls.
5. Shape the balls into rolls or buns. I've done half and half. Prove again until double in size.
6. Bake in a preheated oven of 210C/190C fan for 25mins until the rolls/buns sound hollow when tapped on the underside.

The great thing about making rolls is that there's no need for slicing so once they're cool enough to handle, tear apart and eat! Mmmm...cheesy goodness.

-Aubergine

Soft White Baps

...or soft white buns for non-UK residents! This is a recipe I've found on the Guardian website by baking guru Dan Lepard. These baps are perfect burger buns and now that summer has finally arrived in the UK there's no reason not to make them for your summer BBQ.

The recipe can be found here. Here's how mine turned out:

I deliberately placed them close together to get the same look as those burger buns you find in the bakery section of your local supermarket.

I've been very slack at updating this blog so I'll definitely bake more stuff to show you guys.

- Aubergine

Okonomiyaki Three2Tea edition

Okonomiyaki is a savoury japanese pancake, traditionally made with cabbage, flour, yam, eggs and water. This is then topped with japanese mayonnaise, okonomiyaki sauce and bonito flakes.

Here is Three2Tea's version: