Kitchen~Garden~Studio: Easter Magic on Bowen Island

Coconut Swirly Buns and Poppyseed Swirly Buns

It has been an eventful Easter holiday. I made poppyseed swirly buns, coconut swirly buns, citrus and sour cherry honey buns with marzipan centres, and hot cross buns. I use my dear Grand-dad's recipe for hot cross buns with a few changes: I use my home made citrus peel and I sometimes add apricots and sour cherries to the mix.

Daffodils from my garden.

In between all the bread proofing, I took some time to weed in my garden. There were random daffodils all over the lawn and throughout the garden beds. I managed to put together a pretty decent bouquet without having to pick every flower in the garden.

On Saturday, a friend and I took a day trip to Bowen Island. On our hike around Killarney Lake, we almost stepped on this little creature. This is a rough-skinned newt. I didn't know that until I got home and looked it up so I called it a Magic Salamander (Mag for short). We moved Mag off the middle of the path and carried on our way.

Mag the Magic Salamander

Here is my Grand-Dad's recipe for Hot Cross Buns

(I use a stand mixer but this could easily be mixed by hand)

1 large russet potato

4 cups flour (+ 1 1/2 cups extra)

2 Tablespoons regular yeast

1/4 cup sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon

3/4 teaspoon nutmeg

3/4 teaspoon allspice

1 cup raisins (I use a mix of currants, sultanas, and golden)

1/2 cup mixed peel

3/4 cup water

1/2 cup milk

1/4 cup butter

2 large eggs

For the crosses

Mix 3 tablespoons flour with 1 tablespoon water to form a gooey paste. put in a piping bag with a small round tip.

Citrus Glaze

I like to glaze my buns when they come out of the oven. I zest a lemon or orange (sometimes both), add the juice of one lemon and enough icing sugar (2 cups) to make a thick glaze.

A: Peel and boil potato. Put through a ricer or grate on large holes of a box grater. Set aside 3/4 of a cup

B: Mix dry ingredients in bowl of a stand mixer with dough hook attachment. Add 3/4 cup riced potato, mix.

C: Scald wet ingredients. Let cool to lukewarm. Add to dry ingredients with stand mixer running

D: Slightly beat eggs, add to stand mixer

This is a wet dough. Turn it out and knead it. Try to add as little extra flour as possible. Form a ball. Place in a lightly oiled bowl. Cover with plastic wrap or a tea towel. Allow to rise until dough has doubled.

Turn oven on to preheat at 325 degrees. Put rack in second highest position.

Punch down. Portion into about 24 rolls. I like 60 gram rolls. Place rolls in a rectangular baking tray. Let them rise to double in size. Pipe crosses on. Bake for 25 minutes. I rotate my pans at 15 minutes and bake for 10 more.

Once the buns come out of the oven, I spread the glaze over them. I let them cool fully before eating.