This is the first time I have ever in my life used yeast.
Yes, the first time ever. I feel as if I missed the boat because of course I should have been using it for years. But yet, no. Don’t forget, when I came to Turkey in the 70s, there was no internet, no TV with cooking programmes, no English bookshops with English cookbooks and noone around me cooking with yeast!
This is my very first attempt to bake with yeast and I am certainly not saying there is no room for improvement. But it was exciting, really exciting. Waiting for the dough to rise. Wonder of wonders, it did! And the smell was just as it was supposed to be: doughy, yeasty, warm, and redolent with promise!
the exact amount you will need |
before and after |
· For the filling, knock the dough back to its original size and turn out onto a lightly floured surface. Roll it into a 1 cm-thick rectangle. Brush all over with the melted butter, then sprinkle over the sugar, cinnamon and fruit.
the icing sugar and lemon zest |
and here they are: Christmas Buns! |
Enjoy!
PS If you have any tips to share with me about using yeast, I would love to hear them!
great job claudia! they look terrific! once you get over the yeast hump, there is nothing to it. if you can find rapid rise yeast it is the best and not so fussy to work with!
They look yummy! I look forward to hearing about all of the new things you try with yeast. Camille over at Croque-Camille just wrote a very good informative post about yeast. http://croquecamille.wordpress.com/2011/12/07/on-yeast-and-starter. I learned a lot.
Those look wonderful Claudia.
I've been using the small pkts of yeast for about 10 years now, mostly for making scotch pancakes, poğaca and bread. Although I don't have recipes as such…it's all done by guesswork!
Those buns look fabulous!
I used to get fresh yeast from the baker and keep sour dough cultures but that was so long ago I've forgotten how to do it. I was delighted to see you can get little cubes of real live yeast in the supermarkets here, but I've not got round to using any. Our 'real' baking books are still in storage in Enfield awaiting enough boxes to fill up a container to Izmir. Ashley is the bread expert – he made wonderful bread when we lived in London but the bread we buy here is so good that he doesn't bother. The baker, after all, has a better oven!
These look so beautiful ! and craberries , apricot with the lemon sounds wonderful I will try it !
I'm happy you tried yeast !
Hey thanks for your comments and encouragement!
Jaz: good tip 🙂
Michel: I'm going to check that link immediately!
Ayak: you're amazing!
Omentide: yes, I can see that you wouldn't have the same motivation with the bread!
Rox: thanks for coming by my blog!
Seeing that it is Dr. Oetker yeast I think it probably came to Turkey because all those Turks who have lived in Germany got used to baking with it there.
The most important tip to working with yeast Claudia is to never let it catch cold – let it prove at an even temperature well protected from draughts.
Lovely! My dad would love these! May have to try this week if I feel inspired. =)
I must admit I've smuggled back a bunch of Red Star brand yeast from the US, and that's what I've been using in Istanbul. Happy to hear Dr. Oetker works though.
hi claudia! thank you for the comment on my blog! a stick of butter is 4 oz.. i am going through lots of sticks of butter!
These look so delicious and ever so Christmassy! Wonderful!
Hi Joy! How's your holiday going? Do you have any time for baking?
Jaz: thanks for that all-important info!
Stella: thanks for coming by my blog and for the lovely comment!
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