Spiced orange and currant rolls and another food show disappointment

Once again I watched a TV cooking show only to get disappointed with the winner – I should have learned from “Top Chef”, shouldn’t I? :/

* spoilers of “The Great British Bake Off” seasons 2 and 3 *

Choosing John over Brendan was completely unfair – Valentina thinks they went for the one who would look better on TV and cookbook/magazine covers, and I agree with her. I own John Whaite’s cookbook and after watching “The Great British Bake Off” I felt that the book doesn’t sound much like him; the recipes look delicious, but in my opinion they don’t match the boy I watched on TV – from the book he seems to be a lot more skilled than he was on the show.

I haven’t watched season 2 of “The Great British Bake Off”, but I bought Jo Wheatley’s cookbook, which is packed with wonderful recipes. I don’t know how well she did throughout the competition but if these rolls are any indication I guess she deserved to win after all – the boozy currants are my contribution to the recipe.

Spiced orange and currant rolls
adapted from the beautiful A Passion for Baking (I bought mine here)

Dough:
350g all purpose flour
1 1/8 teaspoons dried yeast
¼ cup (50g) granulated sugar
pinch of salt
½ cup (120ml) whole milk, warm
finely grated zest of 1 orange
¼ cup (60ml) freshly squeezed orange juice
30g unsalted butter, melted
1 large egg
½ teaspoon vanilla extract

Filling:
2/3 cup currants
1/3 cup Marsala wine
¼ cup (50g) demerara sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ cup (55g) pecans, finely chopped
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted

In the large bowl of an electric mixer place flour, yeast, sugar. Place the salt in the bowl away from the yeast. Add the milk, orange zest and juice, butter, egg and vanilla and, using the hook attachment, knead until smooth and elastic, about 8 minutes. Transfer to a lightly buttered large bowl, cover with plastic and set in a warm place for about 1½ hours or until the dough has doubled in size. Meanwhile, butter 8 cavities of a 12-hole (1/3 cup capacity each cavity) muffin pan and make the filling: place the currants and Marsala in a small saucepan over medium heat. When it boils, remove from the heat and cool completely. In a small bowl, mix the sugar, cinnamon and pecans. Set aside.

Punch the dough with your fist to deflate, then transfer to a lightly floured surface. Roll the dough out to a 40x30cm (16x12in) rectangle. Brush the dough with the melted butter and sprinkle the pecan mixture evenly over it. Drain the currants (discard the wine) and scatter over the filling. Starting from a long edge, roll up the dough into a long, thin sausage shape.
Using a small sharp knife, cut the dough into 8 even-sized pieces. Place them with their cut sides up in the prepared pan. Cover loosely with a piece of plastic wrap and leave to rise again (prove) for about 1 hour until the buns have risen. Towards the end of the proving time, preheat the oven to 200°C/400°C. Before placing the rolls in the oven, fill each empty cavity halfway through with cold water.
Bake the rolls for 25 minutes or until golden brown. Cool in the pan over a wire rack for about 8 minutes, then carefully remove and transfer to the rack. Dust with confectioners’ sugar before serving – you can serve the rolls warm or at room temperature. They also reheat very well.

Makes 8