Sunday, 28 March 2021

Ground Almond Cake With Chocolate Drizzle



This delicious Italian-style almond cake is so easy to make, yet has a professional look, with its topping of flaked nuts. Almonds are a big favourite in Italian desserts, sweets and even liqueurs, and the ground almonds in this cake is an absolute dream to eat.
Ingredients:
  • 225g butter, softened
  • 225g soft brown sugar
  • 4 medium eggs
  • 1 tsp almond extract
  • 125g self raising flour
  • 175g ground almonds
  • 30g flaked almonds 
  • 50g dark or milk chocolate, for decoration
Method:

Preheat the oven to 170ºC/150ºC for fan assist oven. Grease and line the base and sides of an 8" deep sided loose bottom cake tin or spring form cake pan, with baking paper.

Using an electric mixer, beat the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy, scraping down the sides of the bowl as you go along.

Add the eggs one at the time, adding a little flour between each one to help prevent curdling. Add the remaining flour, Almond extract along with the ground almonds, mix until well combined.

Pour the batter evenly into the prepared cake pan, scattering the flaked almonds on the top. 

This is a slow baked cake. Bake in the centre of the oven for 55-60 minutes or until baked a golden in colour, testing the centre of the cake with a skewer until it comes out clean.

Leave the cake in the tin for 5-10 minutes before turning out onto a cake rack to cool completely.

While the cake is cooling, melt the chocolate in a heat proof bowl over a pan of simmering water until all the chocolate has melted and is nice and smooth with no lumps.

Using a spoon, drizzle the chocolate over the top of the cake in a zig zag fashion. If you have any left over flaked almonds, scatter them over the top of the melted chocolate before it sets.

Wait until the chocolate has set and the cake has cooled completely before slicing



Thursday, 25 March 2021

The Ultimate Lemon Drizzle Cake

This is truly the zingiest, most delicious and moreish lemon drizzle cake you'll ever make. The light and zesty lemon sponge is glazed with a crunchy lemon drizzle icing, made with a simple sugar and lemon juice mixture. There are endless recipes for a lemon drizzle cake and endless variations. This is an easy & quick to make. This cake is made with "all-in-one" method in a mixer. If you don't have a mixer, then you can do it just by hand. 




Ingredients:

For the cake:
  • 175g butter, softened
  • 175g castor sugar
  • 115g self raising flour
  • 75g ground almond
  • ½ tsp baking powder
  • 3 large eggs, room temperature
  • 2 large unwaxed lemons zest
For the syrup:
  • 115 g granulated sugar
  • juice of 2 large lemons
Method:

Preheat oven to 180ºC/160ºC for fan assist oven. 

Lightly greased and line a 2lb loaf pan with baking paper. Put to one side.

Using a stand mixer or a hand held mixer. Sift flour and baking powder into the mixing bowl. Add in the remaining cake ingredients.

Mix in a low speed to mix all the ingredients for about 2 minutes. Then increase the speed to high and beat until all the cake ingredients are well mixed and you have a thick, smooth batter.

Pour the batter into the prepared cake tin. Place in the centre of the preheated oven and bake for 45-50 minutes or until, when a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean and dry. Place the hot cake, still in its tin, on a cooling rack.

Make the syrup by quickly mixing together the sugar and the lemon juice until the sugar is dissolved.

Using a skewer, prick the cake all over and then slowly spoon the syrup over a little at a time. Always allow the syrup to soak in before adding any more.

Let the cake cook completely in the tin. Once cold, lift the cake out and slice ready to serve. 


Lamb Rogan Josh


 Rogan josh also spelled as roghan josh or roghan ghost, is an aromatic curried meat dish of Kasmir, where the dish comes from, The dish originally from Persia where rogan means "oil" and josh means "hot". In another words, this dish is cooked with intense heat. But rogan can also mean "red". and above all this dish is red and satisfying spicy from Kashmiri  chillies. This dish usually made with red meat, traditionally lamb or goat. The yogurt marinate helps deliver the most beautifully soft and tender lamb without hiding the flavour!!

Ingredients:
  • 500g lamb, diced
  • 125ml natural yoghurt
  • 30g ginger
  • 3 garlic cloves
  • 1 star anise
  • 6 green cardamom pods
  • 4 cloves
  • 1 blade mace
  • 1 tsp black peppercorns
  • 2 tbsp cooking oil
  • 150g onion
  • ½ tsp ground cumin
  • ½ tsp ground cinnamon
  • 2 tsp Kashmiri chilli powder
  • 1 tsp ground coriander
  • 1 tsp ground turmeric
  • ½ tsp salt
  • 2 tbsp tomato puree
Method:

Cut the lamb into 2-2.5cm cubes

Marinate the lamb with the yoghurt for at least 8 hours and as long as 24 hours.

Blitz together the ginger and garlic with a little water to form a paste.

Stir half of this through the lamb and yoghurt mix. Do this a couple of hours before you cook or whilst you are preparing , a couple of hours gives the best flavour.

Cut the onion into a thin half-moon shapes.

Add the cardamom pods, black peppercorns, cloves, mace and star anise to a dry pan. Toast off over a medium-high heat for 3-4 minutes. Grind these spices in a coffee grinder or a pestle and mortar.

Reduce the heat in the pan to medium and add the cooking oil. When the oil is warm add in the ground spice mix and cook for 30 seconds.

Add in the onions, ground cumin and ground cinnamon along with the remaining garlic and ginger paste. Cook until golden brown, tis should take 10-15 minutes.

Add in the lamb and the marinade to the pan along with the Kashmiri chilli powder, turmeric and ground coriander and season with half of the salt.

Cook for 10 minutes making sure you keep it stirring to ensure it is not stick to the pan. This is normal and helps to build flavour.

After 10 minutes, add in the tomato puree and 75ml water and mix well. Reduce the heat to low and allow to simmer for 25 minutes or until the lamb is tender, adding more salt if required.

Sunday, 21 March 2021

Vegan Brioche Burger Buns

Is Brioche vegan? 
Brioche is a buttery French bread often eaten by itself or used in sweet or savoury dishes. Traditionally, brioche is not vegan as the dough is laden with eggs, dairy milk and butter. Also brioche is often glazed with an egg wash to give it a golden and shinny appearance and to trap in the moisture.

Much to my surprise, it is easy to veganise the French bread. I used simple substitutes such as vegan butter and non-dairy milk! To make the vegan brioche soft I used a Japanese method called "tongzhong"

What is tangzhong?
Tis is that magic ingredient-a paste of liquid and flour knowns as tangzhong. Tangzhng is a Japanese technique of cooking a small percentage of flour and liquid in the original recipe together until it thickens. The mix of flour and liquid is cooked together until all the moisture is absorbed into the flour and thick gelatinous mix (roux) is formed. This means that the dough made with tangzhong has higher percentage of water.




Ingredients:

Tangzhong:
  • 37g flour
  • 180g plant-based milk
Dough ingredients:
  • 440g plain flour
  • 14g dried yeast
  • 25g sugar
  • 165g plant-based milk, luke warm
  • 9g salt
  • 40g vegan butter
Vegan "egg" wash:
  • 1 tbsp maple syrup
  • 4 tbsp plant-based milk
Method:

First, make your tangzhong. Heat a pan on medium-heat and add the flour and milk. Whisk until the mixture thickens and forms a consistence paste. Set aside to cool.

Add the remaining flour, salt and sugar to a bowl. In a jug, mix the remaining milk and yeast. Allow the yeast to sit in the warm milk for 10 minutes until it goes foamy.

Pour the yeast mixture into the bowl of flour and add the tangzhong and vegan butter. Incorporate all the ingredients and hand knead for around 10-15 minutes. Once you have a nice shinny ball of dough, leave it to rise in a greased bowl for 1 hour or until it doubled in size. You may also use your electric mixer to mix the dough.

Once the dough has doubled in size, place it on your work surface and push out the air. Check the weigh and divide into 6-8 balls (6 for largerbuns and 8 for small to medium-sized buns). Place them on a tray with some baking paper, cover and leave them to rise for another hour.

Preheat your oven to 180ºC/160ºC for fan assist oven. Apply the vegan "egg" wash to the buns and add sesame seeds, poppy seeds or any kind of seeds if you wish. Place the buns inside the over and bake for 10-15 minutes. Keep a close watch on them and remove if they are browning too much.

Serve with your favourite burger and topping. Enjoy!!




Wednesday, 10 March 2021

Pearl Barley, Parsnip & Preserved Lemon Tagine




This colourful tagine is an easy veggie meal to make. With pearl barley, parsnips and sweet potatoes, it is a great winter dish to fill you up.
Barley is a great ancient grain that's been used in Mediterranean cooking for many years. It is not as popular as say quinoa, but it has a lot of great health benefits-it provides a good range of vitamins, minerals and antioxidants. And because it is so fibre-rich, barley is a great ingredients to use if you are looking to add volume to augment a meal

Ingredients:
  • 2 tbsp oil
  • 2 onions, sliced
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • ½ tsp turmeric
  • 1 tsp paprika
  • 2 tsp ras el hanout
  • 2 sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
  • 3 parsnips, cut into chunks
  • 3 carrots, cut into chunks
  • 2 preserved lemon, chopped
  • 200g pearl barley
  • 1 litre vegetable stock
  • a handful of parsley, leaves picked
  • handful of mint, leaves picked
  • 150g green olives, chopped
  •  ½ lemon, juiced
  • pomegranate seed, to serve
For the tahini yogurt 
  • 160g thick vegan Greek yogurt
  • 2-3 tbsp tahini
  • ½ lemon, juiced
Method:

Heat the oil in a casserole dish. Add onion and a pinch of salt, cook for 5 minutes until beginning to colour and soften, then stir in the garlic and spices. Cook for a minute more until fragrant, then add the sweet potato, parsnips, carrots, preserved lemon and pearl barley.

Give everything a good mix and cook for a minute or so until the vegetables and barley are coated in the spices. Pour in the stock and some seasoning, bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 45-50 minutes or until the vegetables and barley are tender.

To make the dressing, mix the yogurt with the tahini, lemon juice and some seasoning, then add a splash of water to make it spoonable. Chop most of the mint and parsley leaves. Taste the stew for seasoning, then stir through the chopped herbs, olives and lemon juice. 

Scatter over the pomegranate seeds and the remaining herbs to add colour and texture. Serve with tahini yogurt

Sunday, 7 March 2021

Semi-naked Vegan Chocolate Cake



Another celebration cake fit for a 30th birthday! As the birthday girl is intolerance to eggs, I therefore decided to make a vegan chocolate cake. However, I used the normal frosting for the cake and also which chocolate ganache for the drip. I add a teal colour to the ganache as it's her favourite colour.  I finished the cake with assortment of chocolates and fresh roses.

Confit Tandoori Chickpeas

This dish is my take on Yotam Ottolenghi confit tandoori chickpeas. This confit tandoori chickpea dish is the perfect way to spice up your chickpeas. It make the perfect appetizer, or meal. Feel free to enjoy them with some flat bread and fresh vegetables or enjoy over rice as well. As you can see from my photo I enjoy it will flat bread, fresh vegetables, rice and deep fried tofu !!!

I thought this tandoori version add some nice warming spice to them, especially what I carve in the winter months. This vegan chickpea tandoori recipe really hits the spot and I recommend trying it out- it's really simple and easy to make, requires few ingredients to create this flavourful dish.
Confit simply means to slow cook in fat. Baking chickpeas low and slow in extra virgin olive oil with all the tandoori spices and tomatoes renders them creamy and flavourful. Serve with a herby yoghurt dressing.
Ingredients:
  • 2 tsp cumin seeds
  • 2 tsp coriander seeds
  • 2x 400g tins chickpeas, drained
  • 10 cloves of garlic, peeled
  • 30g fresh ginger, peeled and julienned
  • 300g cherry tomatoes
  • 3 red chillies, to taste, slit open lengthways
  • 1 tbsp tomato puree
  • ½ tsp ground turmeric
  • 2 tbsp tandoori curry powder
  • 1 tsp sugar
  • 200ml olive oil
  • 1 tsp salt
For the yoghurt dressing:
  • 2-3 limes, 1 juice and the others cut into wedges
  • 10 tbsp roughly chopped fresh mint leaves
  • 10 tbsp roughly chopped fresh coriander leaves
  • 1 clove garlic, crushed
  • 180g Greek-style yoghurt
  • ½ tsp salt
  • pitta bread or rice for serving, optional
Method:

Preheat the oven to 170ºC/150ºC for fan assist oven.

Roughly crush the cumin and coriander seed in a pestle and mortar. Combine the crushed spices with the drained chickpeas, whole garlic, ginger, tomatoes, chillies, tomato puree, turmeric, tandoori curry powder, sugar, oil and salt in a large, ovenproof sauté pan for which you have a lid. Stir to combine, then cover and cook in the oven for 1¼ hours or until the aromatics have softened and tomatoes have broken down. Stir once halfway through the cooking time.

To make the yoghurt dressing: Combine 1 tbsp lime juice with the mint, coriander, crushed garlic, yoghurt and salt in a small bowl of a food processor. Blend until smooth.

Serve the chickpeas directly from the pan or transfer them to a shallow serving platter, with yoghurt and lime wedges. Or you can serve as how I serve in a large platter with fresh vegetables, pitta bread and rice.

Bubur Cha-Cha


Bubur cha-cha is a coconut milk dessert which commonly contains a medley of sweet potatoes ( in yellow, orange and purple colour), yam or known as taro, sago pearls, bananas and tapioca jelly. Sometimes black eye pea is also added. Bubur means porridge in Malay and Cha Cha is a type of dancing, so literally Bubur Cha Cha means dancing porridge. In Malaysia and Singapore, bubur cha-cha is usually served as a dessert or sometimes for supper. This is one of the more popular Nyonya/Peranakan desserts which is colourful yet delicious. It is served either hot or cold.
Peranakan are the descendants from intermarriages between the early Chinese immigrants and the local Malay women in Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia. Peranakan cuisine or Nyonya cuisine is the fusion of Chinese and Malay cuisines. 
This recipes is also vegan, dairy-free, soy free, nut free, egg free and refines sugar free !!!

Ingredients:
  • 100g purple sweet potatoes
  • 100g orange sweet potatoes
  • 100g yellow sweet potatoes
  • 150g yam/taro
  • 15g sago/tapioca pearls
  • 75g black eye pea, optional
Tapioca Flour Jelly:
  • 100g tapioca flour
  • ½ cup boiling water
  • red and green colouring
Coconut milk base:
  • 2.5 liters water (about 10 cups)
  • 1 cup thick coconut milk
  • 120g sugar
  • salt to taste
  • 2 pandan/screwpine leaves
  • 3 bananas, cut into ½ inches thick
Method:

Soak sago for 30 minutes, then boil until translucent and cooked.

Peel and cut all potatoes and yam into cubes or desired shapes. Steam, separately, until cooked.

To make the tapioca flour jelly, place the flour in a mixing bowl. Pour in boiling water. Mix the flour and water until well incorporated. When the dough is cool enough to handle, roll it out evenly on a well floured surface and cut into cubes or desired shapes.

Bring a pot of water, add 1 tbsp sugar, pour in banana and boiled for 5 minutes. Drain and set aside.

In another pot, boil 2.5 liters water. When the water boiled, add in thick coconut milk, sugar, salt and pandan leaves and cook over low heat about 10-20 minutes. Pour in the sweet potatoes, yam, banana, black eye pea if uses

In another pot, bring the water to a boil, then add in the shaped tapioca jelly. Cook until the jelly floats then transfer into the coconut milk base. Mix well.  Serve hot or cold, as you like.

Saturday, 27 February 2021

No Fish Smoked Salmon

Who doesn't love smoked salmon? 
A decadent treat, the rich and smoky cured fish is the perfect accompaniment to our poached eggs, cream cheese bagels or rolled up in sushi. 
But with all the great qualities, it is decidedly un-vegan, which poses a problem for plant-based folk who have had to go without it.
But what if there is such a thing as....vegan smoked salmon? You can probably guess where we are going with this....
With just a few ingredients, cooked carrot strips can actually be transformed into an authentic plant-based salmon. The smoky taste (liquid smoke), the fishy aroma (nori algae) and some fat are important for this. Gosh ! that smoky, salty flavour bomb in my mouth simply blew me away.


Ingredients:
  • handful of fresh dill
  • 1 large sheet of nori
  • 2 tbsp lemon juice
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 tbsp capers
  • 1 tbsp brine from capers
  • 1 tsp smoke liquid, optional
  • pinch of salt
  • 3 medium carrots
Method:

Using a peeler, peel the carrots into ribbons width ways and add them to a saucepan full of boiling water on a medium-heat. Simmer for 3 minutes or until the carrots are soft.

To make the marinate, roughly chop the dill and use a scissors to cut the nori into small pieces, then add both to a large flat-bottomed bowl/pan along with lemon juice, olive oil, capers, caper brine, liquid smoke and a pinch of salt. Mix well.

Drain the carrots, rinse with cold water. Squeeze out the water before adding the carrots to the marinate. Stir through so the carrots are coated in the marinade and set to one side for a minimum of 1 hour or preferably overnight so the flavours absorb into the carrots.

Serve with vegan cream cheese and some fresh rockets 


Monday, 15 February 2021

Almond London Cookies



What can I say except Almond London cookie is well-known cookie amongst Malaysians. No matter what celebration we are in.....Chinese New Year, Hari Raya or Dewali, there sure is Almond London cookies somewhere in one of those cookie jars. I don't think anyone know how the name Almond London/London Almond come about and who invented it!

Ingredients:
  • 125g butter, softened
  • 75g icing sugar, sifted
  • 1 egg yolk
  • 225g plain flour, sifted
  • 150g ground almond
  • 1 tsp almond essence
  • 350g dark chocolate
Method:

Preheat oven to 170ºC/150ºC for fan assist oven.

Using electric whisk, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.

Beat egg yolk and almond essence into batter until light pale yellow.

Add in sifted flour, fold into a dough. If too wet, may add in a bit more four.

Pinch marble-size dough and roll into balls. Line balls of dough onto baking paper on baking tray.

Bake for 20-25 minutes. Place baked cookies on tray to cool.

While cooling the cookies, line paper cups and melt dark chocolate in microwave or double boiler. Divide each sessions to 30 seconds so that you won't burn the chocolate. I did about 2-3 sessions to melt the dark chocolate.

Take several cooled cookies and place them in the melted chocolate. Coat them well with chocolate and place into a small sized cupcake paper. While the chocolate is still not set, sprinkle some almond nibs on top. Let the chocolate fully set before serving.

Sunday, 14 February 2021

Malaysian Bowls with Peanut Tofu

This dish is super healthy! It's loaded up with healthy fresh vegetables, black rice, roasted sweet potatoes, peanut tofu and of course, delicious Peanut Sauce!! A little sunshine in the midst of winter.
Not much cooking require for this dish, lots of chopping and shredding of vegetables. Once all done, just assemble the bowl the way you like it. I add fresh radishes for crunch and avocado for extra heartiness if you like.

Such a simple meal that makes the body feel alive and energized.

Ingredients:
  • a block of firm or extra firm tofu
  • 1 large sweet potatoes, cut into ¾ cubes
  • olive oil, to drizzle
  • ¾ cup uncooked black rice
Peanut sauce ingredients:
  • 2 thin slice ginger, add an extra slice if you like it gingery 
  • 1 large clove garlic
  • ¼ cup peanut butter
  • ¼ cup fresh orange juice
  • 2 tbsp soy sauce
  • 3 tbsp honey/maple syrup/agave 
  • 2 tbsp sesame oil
  • ½-1 tsp cayenne pepper
  • ¾ tsp salt
Bowl Veggie Options:
  • 1-2 cups shredded red cabbage
  • 1-2 cups shredded carrots
  • 1 cup sliced snap peas
  • ½ cup thinly sliced radish
  • 1 avocado
Method:

Preheat the oven at 200ºC/180ºC for fan assist oven.

Squeeze dry the tofu, then cut into about 2 inch square or 2-3 inch long strips. Line a baking pan with baking paper and place the tofu on the baking paper. Sprinkle lightly with salt.

Cut the sweet potatoes into ¾ inch cubes and place on the other side of the baking pan or you can use another pan. Drizzle lightly with olive oil and sprinkle with salt. Toss and spread out.

Make the peanut sauce: Place everything in a blender or a hand blender and blend until smooth. Reserve ½ of the peanut sauce for the bowls. Use the remaining to coat the tofu. Pour over tofu and brush tops and sides and lather them up. I like to leave a very generous amount on the top of each pieces. Place in the oven for 25-30 minutes.

Cook the rice like how you cook a pasta.

Prepare all your veggies. Feel free to use what you like.

When the tofu is caramelized and the sweet potatoes are tender, assemble your bowls.

Drizzle with the remaining peanut sauce or place the peanut sauce in a little dish on each bowl.



Vegan Hokkaido Milk Bread








Soft and incredibly fluffy, this famous Hokkaido Milk Bread id easy to make at home. This milk bread recipe uses the tangzhong roux method which helps create a tender loaf of bread that is perfect with a bit vegan butter on it for breakfast and snacking!
This vegan Hokkaido milk bread is dangerously good, it takes some serious willpower not to just eat the whole loaf in a day...It is seriously the softest, most flavourful bread you will ever eat!
So what is Hokkaido milk bread?  Hokkaido milk bread is like an Asian version of brioche, but it is even softer and uses a lot less butter. It has a cloud-like, tender crumb which can pull apart into flaky layers. 
It can also be sliced to make sandwiches or toast, and because it is sweet and flavourful on it's own, you can even eating it plain.
What is tangzhong? This Asian technique. Tangzhong is basically where you take a portion of the flour and liquid of the recipe and mix them together like a roux, then cook it until it forms a thick, pudding-like texture. This mixture is then cooled and added to the bread dough.
This technique pre-gelatinises the starches in the flour which means that they can absorb more water. In fact, flour will absorb twice as much hot water or milk as it does the lukewarm water or milk you would usually use in yeasted doughs.
Not only does the starch in the flour absorb more liquid; since heating the starch with water creates structure, it is able to hold onto that extra liquid throughout the kneading, baking and cooling process. This means that the bread will rise higher due to more water creating more internal steam (which makes bread rise in the oven-along with the carbon dioxide given off by the yeast.
Because the bread retains more water during baking, it will be softer and more moist and stay fresh for longer.



Ingredients:

Tangzhong:
  • 30g bread flour
  • 150ml unsweetened soy milk
Step 1:
  • 7g instant/fast action yeast
  • 5g sugar
  • 150ml lukewarm unsweetened soy milk
Step2:
  • 400g white bread flour
  • 55g caster sugar
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 3 tbsp soy milk
  • 40g vegan butter, softened
Glaze:
  • ½ tbsp maple syrup
  • 1 tbsp water
Method:

Start by making the tangzhong. Whisk together the 30g bread flour and 150ml milk in a pan until no lumps remain. Place the pan over a medium/low heat and whisk constantly until the mixture has thickened to a pudding-like consistency. Scrape into a small bowl, cover with cling film directly on the surface to prevent a skin from forming and set aside to cool to room temperature.

Once the tangzhong has cooled, it will become much thicker. Mix together the yeast with other 150ml of lukewarm milk and 5g sugar. Set aside for about 10 minutes until it goes foamy.

Mix together the 400g bread flour, 55g sugar and 1 tsp salt in a bowl of a stand mixer. Add the cooled tangzhong, the yeast mixture and the 3 tbsp milk and mix until it forms a rough dough.

Set the mixer to a medium speed and leave it to knead for about 10 minutes until the dough is stretchy. It should be soft and sticky but if it seems too wet you can add in a little flour, a tablespoon at a time.

Next, add the softened vegan butter and knead for a further 5-10 minutes until it is well incorporated and the dough is smooth, elastic and no longer feels greasy.

Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl, cover and place in a warm spot until the dough is doubled in size. You can also placed the dough in the fridge to rise overnight.

Once the dough has doubled in size, knock back the dough and give it a brief 30 second knead to knock out the air bubbles.

Divide the dough into 3 or 4 even pieces and roll each one into a ball. Line a 2lb loaf pan with baking paper.  Roll each ball into a long oval, fold one third of the oval over the middle (from the side, not the top) then the other third over the top to form a long, narrow packet.

Roll over the seam to flatten it, then roll it tightly from one end to make a fat sausage. Repeat with the other balls of dough then arrange them in the loaf tin, seam side down.

Loosely cover and leave to rise until at least doubled in size, it should rise above the top of the tin. This can take 1-3 hours depends on your house temperature. If you press the dough gently with a finger the indentation should spring back slowly but remain visible. If if springs back quickly it needs to prove for a little longer.

While the dough is rising, preheat the oven to 180ºC. Mix together the maple syrup and water in a small bowl.

Once the loaf has risen, gently brush the top with maple syrup mixture, making sure that none drips down the sides as that can make the bread stick to the tin. If you don't want a sweet glaze then you can brush it with milk instead.

Place the loaf in the preheated oven and bake for 30-35 minutes. You may need to cover the top loosely with aluminium foil part way through baking if it starts to colour too much.

If you want the loaf to have a shinier crust, brush it with some more of the maple syrup water halfway through baking.

Once the bread is baked, remove it from the oven and brush with some more of the glaze. let it cool in the tin for 10 minutes then lift it out into a wire rack to cool completely before slicing. Store in an airtight container.