SASKO and Jenny Morris Celebrate the Easter Baker in you

At the end of November 2018, SASKO launched its Top Bakers programme, a celebration of top industry, for-profit and enthusiast bakers as well as the SASKO flour which helps make their baking so exceptional.

 

 

For the Top Bakers Easter Edition, SASKO and celebrity chef, Jenny Morris, pair up to create three recipes with an alternative take on the traditional favourites.

 

Delight your guests with Jenny’s delicious Easter buns, chocolate and berry crepe cake and Mediterranean style bread which are all perfect for entertaining over the Easter weekend.

Le-Anne Engelbrecht, executive marketing director for SASKO, explains why Top Bakers was created. “At SASKO, we have something for every skill level – bake mixes for mom’s who are time-strapped, through to the finest flours used by bakeries that run 24/7 to ensure millions of tummies are full during the day, or those who wake up at 2am to feed commuters queuing to catch taxis or buses before the sun rises. Top Bakers is about celebrating these people.”

Jenny’s recipes ( see below ) showcase how traditional dishes and recipes can receive a twist to make them exciting again, ensuring they’re a topic of conversation around the table over meal times. These recipes are much like the SASKO Top Bakers group – encouraging baking enthusiasts to let their imaginations run wild. Jenny’s recipes will help you to get creative too.

To keep updated on SASKO Top Bakers head to www.sasko.co.za, SASKO’s Facebook page and the SASKO Top Bakers Facebook group and meet a few of SASKO’s Top Bakers in South Africa.

 

JENNY MORRIS’S FILLED EASTER BUNS WITH CHOCOLATE SAUCE

Ingredients:
The buns
110g SASKO CAKE WHEAT FLOUR
175ml water
75g butter – cubed
Salt – a pinch
3 eggs

Chocolate sauce
200g dark chocolate – finely chopped

Cream cheese mixture
Zest of 1 orange – finely grated
Honey – to taste
150g cream cheese
100g mascarpone

To serve
Icing sugar for dusting
50g flaked almonds
Fresh strawberries or seasonal fruits

Method:
Preheat the oven to 200 C
1. Sift the flour.
2. Pour the water into a saucepan and bring to the boil.
3. Add the butter and a pinch of salt to the hot water.
4. Once the butter has melted, add all the flour and stir until the flour is incorporated and starts to pull away from the sides of the saucepan as one ball.
5. Remove the saucepan from the heat and allow to cool.
6. Now beat the eggs in one at a time with an electric whisk until it is smooth and glossy.
7. Drop 8 mounds of dough onto a silicone-covered baking sheet.
8. Bake in a preheated oven for 25-30 minutes or until well risen and golden.
9. Prick buns with a skewer to let the steam escape.
10. Turn the oven off and return the buns to dry out.

Chocolate sauce
1. Melt the chocolate pieces in a glass bowl over a saucepan filled with boiling water (don’t let the base of the bowl touch the water).
2. Leave it to one side until you serve.

Cream cheese mixture
1. Zest the orange into a bowl.
2. Add the honey and cream cheese and mix together.
3. Mash the mascarpone into the mixture.

To assemble and serve
1. Split the pastry delights in half.
2. Dip the top halves in the chocolate sauce.
3. Spread cream cheese mixture onto the bottom halves.
4. Put the tops back on the bottom halves.
5. Dust with icing sugars
6. Sprinkle with some almonds.
7. Add some fresh strawberries or seasonal berries to the plate and serve.

JENNY MORRIS’S RASPBERRY AND CHOCOLATE CREPE STACK

Easter time is chocolate time in any shape or form. If you are really in the mood for chocolate you can add a few chocolate balls to the top.

Ingredients:
Crepes
2 large eggs – beaten
3/4 cup warm milk
3 Tbs melted butter
1 cup SASKO Cake Wheat Flour sifted
¼ tsp salt
½ cup soda water

Chocolate Sauce
225 g 70% dark chocolate
1 cup full fat cream
Chop chocolate finely. Place in a medium sized heatproof bowl.
Heat cream gently in a small saucepan until it almost comes to a boil, remove from the heat and pour over chocolate and stir until chocolate melts and the mixture is nice and smooth.
Let cool slightly before assembly your crepe stack.

The Filling:
500g raspberries
Icing sugar for dusting
Honey for drizzling
A few pretty edible flowers to garnish

Method:
Crepes
1. In a bowl, mix together the melted butter, eggs, combine and then add the milk and whisk together.
2. In another bowl, sift in the SASKO Cake Wheat Flour, salt and mix together. Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients and whisk in the wet ingredients until the mixture is smooth and all the ingredients are incorporated, don’t over mix, stir in the soda water.
3. Cover the batter with plastic and place in the fridge for at least 8 hours or overnight.
4. Heat your pan and add a little olive oil to coat, pour a small ladle full of batter into the center of the pan and swirl till it covers the pan, cook for about 30 seconds or so and then flip over and continue to cook the other side.
5. Keep them warm and stack them between sheets of parchment paper to keep them separate. Continue until all batter is gone.

Chocolate Sauce
1. Chop chocolate finely.
2. Place in a medium-sized heatproof bowl.
3. Heat cream gently in a small saucepan until it almost comes to a boil, remove from the heat and pour over chocolate and stir until chocolate melts and the mixture is nice and smooth.
4. Let cool slightly before assembly your crepe stack.

To serve:
1. Place a crêpe onto a serving plate, layer on some raspberries and chocolate sauce, another crêpe, some more raspberries, and chocolate sauce, continue till you reach the last layer.
2. Top with more raspberries, drizzle over the chocolate sauce and a little honey to sweeten things up, dust with a little icing sugar and garnish with flowers.

JENNY MORRIS’S MEDITERRANEAN BRAAI BREAD

Ingredients:

Basic Bread Dough
4 cups SASKO Cake Wheat Flour
2 tsp salt
4 tsp sugar
10 g instant yeast
1 Tbs olive oil (sunflower will do)
400 ml lukewarm water

The Filling
8 tbls sun-dried tomato pesto
8 tbls basil pesto
8 tbls crumbled feta
8 tbls grated mozzarella cheese

Instructions:
1. First, place all the dry ingredients into a bowl and make a well in the center.
2. Add the oil and three-quarters of the water, and mix to form a soft dough.
3. Add a little more water if need be; if it is too wet, add a small amount of flour.
4. Knead the dough until it is smooth and elastic to the touch; about 15 minutes.
5. Place the dough back into the bowl and oil the top; cover with a clean cloth and place it in a warm place to rise to twice its size.
6. Once the bread dough has proved, punch it down and divide into 8 portions.
7. Push or roll each portion into a thin circle.
8. Spread the sun-dried tomato pesto into the base, top with feta and grated mozzarella cheese, dot with basil pesto and roll up.
9. Sprinkle a little flour onto them.
10. Place the prepared dough into a braai grid and cook turning till golden and cooked through.

Note: You can also bake them in the oven.
11. Preheat your oven to 200C
12. Place onto a baking sheet, let them rise to twice their size.
13. Bake in an oven for 25 minutes.