Monkey Business

For the February Don't Call Me Chef column (which appears in The Star the first Monday each month, i.e tomorrow. Will post link up soonest), we (Jane, Ivy and I) decided to write about the one ingredient or dish that we love most. With Valentine's day around the corner and all, I decided to declare my undying love for the one ingredient I would not give up for anything (well, lets not jinx it. For almost anything): Butter.

I love butter. Don't give me margarine or shortening. It's butter all the way, baby. Butter on my toast. Butter in my omelette. Butter in pastry. Butter in my bread. Well, in this case, it's butter in and on my bread.

Monkey bread is a yeasted pull-apart bread that is soaked in butter. Oh Mamma! There is butter IN the dough. Then, once the dough is ready and shaped into tiny balls, it is dipped in MELTED BUTTER and then coated in a cinnamon-sugar mix. THEN, the leftover butter is drizzled on the balls of dough that have been staked in a baking pan before it goes in the oven.

What you end up with is a lumpy and marbled bread ring that just glistens with ... BUTTER.

I've always wondered where this bread derived its name. It sure doesn't look like a monkey. So I did a little digging (you tend to have some time on your hands when you bake bread; waiting patiently for the dough to rise). There are many theories as to the origins of the bread: that it was influenced by the crescent-shaped Parker house rolls that are baked side by side, that they were named after the Chilean Monkey Puzzle tree (I googled it and it takes some imagination to see the resemblance) or that it was named by silent film actress ZaSu Pitts and her neighbour Ann King who dubbed the neighbourhood children "meddling monkeys" for pinching the freshly baked breads the ladies used to make. King apparently went on to open a bakery some time in the 1940s which became known for this sort of bread.

The stories vary but the bread can definitely be traced back to as early as the 1940s. Apparently former US first lady Nancy Reagan amped up its popularity once again when she served a version of the bread at a Christmas tea some time in the 1980s.

No matter the history, this bread is delicious. Soft, sweet, buttery goodness. Perfect for breakfast and, if there is any leftover, for tea too.

The only issue I had was handling the dough which was pretty sticky. I tried kneading it with my hands right from the start, for I love the feel of dough as it is worked, but I had to leave off after a few minutes and let the dough hook of my mixer do the work for me in the initial stages. The dough was just a little too sticky. Not wet, but almost there. After about five minutes in the mixer, it became not just smoother but easier to handle, allowing me to switch back to using my hands. Nice!

Sticky, Gooey, Cinnamon Monkey Bread
Dough
30g butter, melted
1 cup warm milk (temp about 43 C)
1/3 cup warm water (also 43C)
1/4 cup castor sugar
1 tbsp (scant) instant yeast
31/4 cup all purpose flour
2 tsp salt

Cinnamon Sugar Coating
1 cup brown sugar
2 tsp cinnamon
1 vanilla bean, split and seeded (optional)

For Dipping
50g butter, melted

For the Glaze
1 cup icing sugar
3-4 tbsp milk

Equipment
1 Bundt pan (or, as I did, an Angel Cake pan)

Generously butter the baking pan with some softened butter (not in the recipe) and set aside.

Mix the milk, water, 30g melted butter and yeast together and set aside, allowing the yeast to be activated.

Mix the flour and salt in the bowl of your mixer. With the dough paddle attached, start the mixer on low (speed 2 on a Kenwood/Kitchen Aid) and gradually add the milk-water-butter mixture (the yeast should be bubbly and the mixture, frothy). Once the dough comes together, increase the speed a notch and knead until the dough becomes smooth, about 5-6 mins. 

Transfer the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead with your hand until the dough gets smoother and more elastic and comes together in a ball. The dough will still be a little sticky but it can be handled pretty easily. 

Transfer the ball of dough into a lightly greased bowl (with oil or butter) and leave it, covered with a towel, for about an hour or until it doubles in size.

While the dough is rising, mix the cinnamon, sugar and vanilla beans together in a bowl. And, if you haven't already, melt the 50g butter for dipping.

Once the dough has risen, transfer it onto a very lightly floured surface and shape into a rectangle. Cut the dough into small squares, about 4cm X 4cm, or slightly smaller (I got about 30 squares).  Roll each square into a rough ball.

Dip the balls, one by one, into the butter first and then roll them in the cinnamon sugar and place them in the prepared pan, layering them as you go along. You should get about two or three layers of coated balls.

Drizzle the remaining butter over the balls; cover with a cloth and let the balls rise till it reaches the rim of the pan, about 40-50 mins.

Preheat the oven to 180C.

When the balls have puffed up, bake for about 30 mins or until the top layer is brown and caramelised and the sugar is bubbling around the seams and sides.

Remove, let the bread cool in the pan for about 15 mins before tipping the ring over on a plate/platter.

Prepare the glaze by mixing 1 cup icing sugar with 3-4 tbsp milk (depending how thick you want the glaze).

Once the bread has been tipped and has cooled, drizzle the glaze over the top, allowing it to drip down the sides. If you prefer a less sweet treat (but, why?), you can skip the glaze altogether. But again, WHY?

Crispy Churros

The best way to eat churros? No, not with chocolate sauce, nutella or custard (though these are all excellent dipping sauces). The best way to eat churros is when they're hot. Almost piping hot: you know, barely seconds out of the fryer. OK, not seconds, maybe a minute or so. So hot that the crust outside is so, so crunchy and the insides are still warm and almost custardy. So hot that the cinnamon-sugar you dust on the sticks almost seem to caramelise on the crust. Almost.

Yes, a hot churros are great. They're nice when they cool down too; just not great.

Churros are sometimes called Spanish doughnuts. Honestly, I don't see the comparison to doughnuts. Sure, they are both basically fried dough but the texture of the two are miles apart. For one thing, doughnuts don't have the wonderfully crunchy skin that churros have. Also, yeasted doughnuts are a lot more spongy than the churro. Cake doughnuts on the other hand may have the crisp on the outside but they aren't as soft inside. 

What they resemble more closely are our local Chinese delicacy, Yau Char Kway. Not surprising since one of the stories about the origins of the churro points to China. Still, the Yau Char Kway (also a favourite of mine) is savoury while the churro is mostly eaten sweet — the dough itself isn't sweet but it is topped with cinnamon sugar (or vanilla sugar) or filled with custard/mousse/chocolate. 

I've never made Yau Char Kway before but I have read through many recipes and am building up the courage to try it one day soon. It's a lot more complicated to make than the churro. 

To make the churro, you need just a few ingredients: eggs, flour, butter, water, salt and sugar which you combine to make a pate a choux (the same batter you use for cream puffs). You will also need oil for deep frying the churros and some cinnamon sugar to roll it in after.

Churros
116g butter
1 cup water
pinch of salt
1/2 cup  + 1 tbsp sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1 cup flour
3 eggs
vegetable oil


Mix the one cup of sugar with the cinnamon together and set aside on a plate/flat dish.


Put the water, butter, salt and 1 tbsp sugar in a saucepan. Place the saucepan on the stove (medium heat) and cook until the butter melts and the mixture comes to a boil. Add the floor all at once and stir together with a wooden spoon until everything comes together to form a ball, coming away from the sides of the pan.


Remove from the heat and cool for about 5 mins.


Meanwhile, heat some oil in a deep frying pan or skillet. Use enough oil to properly deep fry the sticks: about 2 inches deep.

Back to the dough: add the eggs one at a time and mix until you  get a smooth, silky, thick dough. In the beginning, it may look a little sludgy but keep at it: as you mix in all the eggs and beat the dough, it will become silky smooth. 


Fill a piping bag that has been fitted with a star nozzle (a big one, if you have). The nozzle will ensure your churro has the groves that distinguish them. 


Check if the oil is hot enough. It should be about 180C but if you dont have a thermometer (I don't), you can drop a small bit of dough into the oil; if it bubbles instantly, you are good to go.
(A note on the oil: as you go on, careful not to let the oil get too hot as this will brown the outsides faster than the insides can cook)
:
Pipe the dough directly into the hot oil, in strips of about 5 to six inches (depending on the size of your pan). Pipe two or three strips at a time. Cook each side for about 2 mins. The outside should be really crusty and a deep golden brown and the bubbles around it should have reduced considerably. 


Remove, drain on a paper towel and roll in cinnamon sugar. 


Eat when it is hot!

Cinnamon Choc-Chip Scones

Scones are delicious but these Cinnamon Chocolate Chip Scones are just tooooooo delicious to describe. They're like a mix between a scone and a cookie — light, crunchy with a chewy centre, sweet and buttery, these scones are NOT to be eaten with butter, jam or clotted cream. 

No, these beauties have to be enjoyed on their own with a steaming cup of tea (spiced tea would be the perfect companion) or coffee. 

The recipe for these Cinnamon Chocolate Chip Scones are adapted from The Pioneer Woman, Ree Drummond.  A big thank you to her for my wonderful Sunday tea time treat. The Pioneer Woman's recipe has no chocolate chips. She uses cinnamon chips which, hard as I looked, are not available in any of the three grocers I visited. Since I had a half-used bag of chocolate chips at home, I went with them. Chocolate and cinnamon do go together well, after all.

They may be hybrid scones but all the rules of a traditional scone apply here: sift the flour to incorporate more air (hence a lighter texture) and don't overwork the dough. Keep your rolling pins away; just shape the wettish dough with your bare (slightly floured) hands. 

That's it. 

Cinnamon Chocolate Chip Scones

3 cups all purpose flour, sifted

5 tsp baking powder

1/3 cup sugar

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp salt

226g butter, cold and cubed

33/4 cups heavy cream

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2-3/4 cup Chocolate Chips

Topping

1/2 cup sugar

1 tsp ground cinnamon

11/2 tsp heavy cream

Sift the flour (yes, the already sifted flour), baking powder, cinnamon and salt together and mix in the sugar. Add the cubed butter and using a knife or a pastry cutter (or your mixer/food processor) and mix them together till you get what appears to be coarse breadcrumbs. Add the egg, vanilla, choc chips and the cream and mix until a dough forms. Don't worry, it is supposed to be a little wet.

Transfer the dough onto your lightly floured work surface and gently pat it into a rectangle, about 1cm thick.

Preheat the oven to 180C.

It's time to make the topping: just combine the cinnamon and the sugar and the cream together.

Rub the topping all over the surface of the dough.

Using a lightly floured knife, cut the dough into squares, rectangles or triangles — the shape is up to you.

Transfer the shapes onto a lines baking sheet and bake for 18-20 mins.