Along with bank holiday weekends, pitchers of Pimm’s, and weeknight barbecuing, August brings with it one other highly significant event: The Great British Bake Off. Week three was devoted to bread and saw the ten remaining contestant push the limits (worth paying tribute here to Norman’s experimentation with ‘exotic’ pesto. Legend.). As you may or may not be aware, selected recipes from the show are posted to the BBC website, so I thought I’d try my hand at Kate’s orange and cardamom rye bread knots. I’d never made a layered bread before, but it was good fun and the resulting rolls were far more interesting than the usual sort.
The only thing I might try differently the next time is crushing the cardamom seeds beforehand, as every now and then I’d find myself with an overly fragrant mouthful.
What you’ll need
For the dark cardamom dough
2 tbsp black treacle (molasses to the North American audience)
30g dark muscovado sugar (I used light brown soft sugar)
150g strong white bread flour, plus extra for dusting
150g dark rye flour
25 cardamom pods, seeds removed, pods discarded (I might try 20 crushed next time)
1 tsp fast-action yeast
1 tsp flaked sea salt
1 tbsp olive oil, plus extra for greasing
For the orange dough
2 oranges, zest and juice only
100g rye flour
200g strong white bread flour
1 tsp fast-action yeast
1 tsp flaked sea salt
1 tbsp white caster sugar
1 tbsp olive oil
For the glaze
1 orange, juice only
1 tbsp dark muscovado sugar (I used light brown soft sugar)
What to do
For the dark cardamom dough
In a small bowl, add the black treacle and dark muscovado sugar to 200ml of warm water. Stir until combined and set aside.
Next, in a large bowl, measure out the strong white bread flour and the dark rye flour. Add the cardamom seeds and the yeast to one side of the bowl and the salt to the other. Using one hand to mix the dough and the other to add the molasses liquid, pour about 3/4 of the liquid into the bowl and mix until combined. Add the tbsp of olive oil and as much of the remaining liquid as required to get a sticky dough.
Lightly grease your work surface (and hands) with olive oil, then turn the dough out and knead for 5-8 minutes or until the dough is smooth and elastic. Return the dough to a large bowl, cover and place in a warm spot to prove for an hour (the dough should double in size).
For the orange dough
Put the orange juice and zest into a small measuring jug, then add warm water until you have a total volume of 200ml. Stir and set aside.
Next, in a large bowl, measure out the strong white bread flour and the dark rye flour. Add the yeast to one side of the bowl and the salt to the other. Using one hand to mix the dough and the other to add the orange liquid, pour about 3/4 of the liquid into the bowl and mix until combined. Add the tbsp of olive oil and the caster sugar and continue to mix. Add as much of the remaining liquid as required to get a sticky dough.
Lightly grease your work surface (and hands) with olive oil, then turn the dough out and knead for 5-8 minutes or until the dough is smooth and elastic. Return the dough to a large bowl, cover and place in a warm spot to prove for an hour (the dough should double in size).
For both doughs
Once proved, turn the cardamom dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and knock back. Then, using a rolling pin, roll into a 20cm x 30cm rectangle. Slice in half lengthways (so that you have 2 10cm x 30cm rectangles). Repeat with the orange dough.
You should now have 4 long rectangles of dough. Brush the top of a cardamom rectangle with water then place an orange rectangle on top. Brush the top of this orange rectangle with water and place a cardamom rectangle on top. Repeat with the final orange rectangle.
Reshape the dough so that it maintains its neat rectangular shape, then slice into 12 even strips (each 10cm long).
Now, here comes the fun part – you’d need to call on your childhood play dough skills and roll each strip (like a worm) until it’s about 20cm long, then tie it in a knot. Place the knots on two baking trays covered with baking parchment. Cover with a bag or clingfilm and leave to prove for at least another hour or until the rolls have doubled in size.
For the glaze, you’ll need to bring the orange juice and dark muscovado sugar to a boil in a small saucepan. Reduce the heat and simmer until the liquid has a glaze-like consistency. Set aside.
Preheat the oven to 220°C/200°C fan/425°F, and 5 minutes before you’re ready to put the rolls in, preheat the baking sheets you’ll use (you should be able to slide the parchment with the rolls off them fairly easily). After 5 minutes, remove the sheets from the oven, transfer the rolls (with the parchment) to the trays, then pop them into the oven. Leave to bake for 10 minutes, then reduce the head to 180°C/160°C fan/350°F for a further 5-10 minutes or until the rolls sound hollow when tapped on the bottom.
Remove from the oven, transfer to a wire rack then brush with the glaze. Leave to cool.
Definitely try a couple after 5 or 10 minutes, while they’re still warm.
A generous lashing of butter, a cup of tea, and life seems pretty good…
