Tag: Bourke St Bakery

Tempting Sydney bakeries….

Am I the only one being tempted by a good bakery? I don’t think so. Here are a few words and recipes from a few tempting Sydney bakeries.

Today’s post is going to be challenging, first because of computer issues (mine is at the computer doctor) and also because I am missing a few photos because i could not complete a recipe… Not a complete disaster but well….I ran out of eggs ! I was making the first stage of a brioche dough which I will use to make small brioches for school (and me at work :-)) lunchboxes, when I realised the egg-situation.  I was short of one egg! How could that be possible?   There were two boxes of eggs in the fridge, but, as i found out, almost empty ones.  No blame there on households habits!  I should have known better, it is towards the end of the week.

I manage for my brioche dough, being one egg short but using some egg-wash from yesterday as a complement, however I did not get to prepare my gluten free raspberry chocolate fondant!  You will understand the link in a moment.

Some bakeries I like in Sydney…

What do I like in a bakery?  First I would have to like the products, maybe not all, but enough to come back (except if really outpriced!).  Second, it is about the people and how the bakery comes through on the social plan.

Do you know that on weekends, you can make great bakeries discoveries when you wonder to some markets like the Paddington market, the Orange Grove market, the Carriage Works market, Pyrmont market (which I have never been to) and so on.

There are quite a number of good bakeries these days: Iggys, Bourke St bakery, Brickfield, Labancz, Grumpy baker, Zumbo, Bondi Organic Republic (thought I have not been there for ages, this is their new name), and plenty more.   Let’s chat about Bourke St Bakery, Flour and Stone, and Brickfield Bakery.

Bourke St Bakery

Bourke St Bakery  opened quite a while ago, initially in Surry Hills, they quickly became a reference bakery.  The products are very good as you will first experience by the size of the queue, then directly trying not to buy too much!  There are now a number of other shops, often easier to get to.  Their bread is really good!

Bourke St Bakery
Bourke St Bakery, Surry Hills

Apart from their amazing bread, Bourke St bakery does a lot of small cakes and viennoiseries.  They have a book on pretty much most of their products called “The ultimate baking companion”. I borrowed the book recently at our local library and have been trying a few recipes.  I still have Bourke St bakery booknot returned the book, I would like to try some of the shortcrust pastries! I found that for a novice to bread making (I am not one of them) the bread recipes are a bit too technical or skipping a few explanation which would be very useful.   For the other recipes, the recipes are great, beware of the quantities, they are designed for large volumes! Also beware that they use fresh yeast and not dry yeast.  I did get caught on one recipe, I was furious with myself!

Tip: Rule of thumb: Dry yeast x 3 (in grams) = fresh yeast in grams

I tried a bread from that book, it was nice, oups, no photos.  Otherwise, from that book:

The Dark Chocolate and Raspberry Muffins (CLICK CLICK FOR RECIPE). muffin They are truly delicious, I highly recommend you do them.  They please adults and children!

 

 

The chocolate prune brownie (CLICK CLICK !!!).  I love the use of the _MG_9117soaked prune in that brownie, but it is very strong in chocolate (too much) and way too sweet for me.  That said, I brought it to work, left it on the bench with a little note in the office shared kitchen and I could hear people coming back from the kitchen and their  comments of appreciation (most had not even read to the bottom of the very short note to check who baked them!).  Of course, there was no left overs.  I also recommend respecting the cooking time, if the top seem stable, the bottom may be too gooey, decrease the oven and keep baking! I had to put mine straight back in the oven (the photo was taken when i first got it out).

The croissants and pains au chocolat.  They were extra! Since we cannot homemade croissantseat 24 croissants and 24 pains au chocolat upfront, I froze the croissants and pains au chocolat just after making them (uncooked, before the last rising).  I take them out the evening before breakfast, egg-wash them and let them on the kitchen bench on the tray i will bake them in, i cover them with a large humidified plastic box and bake in the morning. In terms of aesthetics, it does the trick, but i find they do not taste as good as when not frozen. I am not placing the recipe here, if you want it, contact me.

The rest very soon! I need to do my raspberry chocolate cake before speaking of Flour and Stone and it is getting late for today.

 

 

 

 

Chocolate prune brownie

This chocolate prune brownie is a  recipe from Bourke St bakery (the Ultimate Baking Companion).  the brownie is deliciously moist.  if you have a very sweet taste and love very strong chocolate brownie, keep the recipe as such.  Otherwise , use half to 2/3 of the sugar and only 200 g of chocolate.

A couple important comments :

  • Respect the cooking time
  • You may have to decrease the oven if the brownie starts to darken on the top for the last 1/2 h or so.

Serves 32 (because it is so sweet and so strong in chocolate!)

A recipe from Bourke Street Bakery.

Ingredients

  • 300 g pitted prunes, halved
  • 200 ml brandy, cognac or hot black tea
  • 55 g plain flour
  • 40 g unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 300 g good-quality dark chocolate (55% cocoa)
  • 80 g unsalted butter
  • 300 g caster (superfine) sugar
  • 4 eggs
  • 100 g sour cream
  • 145 g dark chocolate melts (buttons) (55% cocoa)

    Method

    1. Place the prunes in a bowl and pour over the brandy, cognac or tea. Cover and set aside to soak for 3 days.

    2. Preheat the oven to 170°C (325F/Gas 3). Grease a 20 x 30 x 4cm rectangular cake tin and line the base and sides with baking paper.

    3. Put the chocolate, butter and sugar into a stainless steel bowl and sit over a saucepan of simmering water – making sure the base of the bowl does not touch the water. Stir for 10 minutes, or until the chocolate has melted. Allow to cool.

    4. Sift the flour, cocoa, salt and baking powder into a separate bowl.

    5. Transfer chocolate mixture to the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Mix on medium speed and add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.

    6. Add the flour mixture, mix to combine, then add the sour cream, chocolate melts and prunes with the remaining soaking liquid and mix until just combined.

    7. Spoon the mixture into the prepared tin and bake in the oven for 1 hour, or until just set. Place your hand on top of the brownie in the centre and wobble to feel if it is set.

    8. Allow to cool completely before turning out of the tin. Use a hot knife to cut into squares.

    The brownies can be wrapped in plastic wrap and stored for up to 4 days at room temperature.

Dark Chocolate and Raspberry Muffins

This Dark Chocolate and Raspberry Muffins recipe from Bourke St bakery (the Ultimate Baking Companion) is a winner! Light, with chocolate and raspberries (what else?) and easy to make.

A couple important comments :

  • The recipe calls for large muffin trays, it is definitely the very large ones! The large ones you may have at home are perfect too, you will just end up with more muffins!
  • Use good quality muffin paper cases as the mix is quite liquid and otherwise will end up soaking the paper and the muffin will stick to the tin, it will be harder to remove them.

Makes 12 (or about 20 if you use the “home size” muffin trays)

A recipe from Bourke Street Bakery

Ingredients:

• 400 g  plain flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 300 g caster sugar
• 310 g unsalted butter
• 480 ml buttermilk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3 eggs
• 225 g dark chocolate, roughly chopped
• 225 g raspberries, fresh or frozen
• 55 g raw sugar
• Icing sugar, for dusting

Method
  1. Preheat the oven to 190°C (375°F). Lightly grease a 12-hole muffin tin and line with paper cases.
    Sift the flour and baking paper into a bowl and add the sugar, mixing well to combine.
  2.  Melt the butter in a saucepan over low heat, then remove from the heat and stir in the buttermilk. Using a whisk stir in the eggs to combine. Pour over the dry ingredients and whisk to combine. Use a large spoon to gently fold through the chocolate and raspberries. Don’t overmix.
  3. Spoon the mixture into the prepared muffin tins. Sprinkle the tops with raw sugar. Reduce the oven temperature to 180°C (350°F) and bake for 20-25 minutes. For smaller ones, cook for around 10 -15 minutes. It may be necessary to drop the temperature about 10 minutes before the end of baking time if the muffins are starting to brown on top.
  4.  To test if the muffins are done, push the top gently to feel that it is firm. Remove from the oven and allow to cool in the tins for 10 minutes before eating. Dust with icing sugar to serve.

muffin