Lourensford Harvest Market

This past weekend I opted for something a little different for Easter weekend. Instead of the usual feast at home and a full on food coma afterwards, I decided to load my family up and take a drive to the much talked about Lourensford Harvest Market.

The market is on every Sunday and this time round was an Easter theme.  They even had an Easter egg hunt for the little ones. With over 70 stalls filled with food, clothing and arts, there is something on the go for everyone! Of course my main focus was food and tasting as many morsels as possible. I always feel at markets committing to one single big meal isn’t the way to go. Either that or my food FOMO really shines! Get there early as the food starts to sell out later on and you will want to get the cream of the crop and of course grab a bottle of wine!

The atmosphere is relaxing and with cold beers and live music I found myself sitting at the table in a mellow mood that I would recommend to anyone.  Puppies are welcome and of course there are enough children to keep them busy!

Lourensford is one of the biggest producing estates in South Africa and has so much to offer! They have coffee roasting, galleries, the market and Mill House restaurant. A must try if you are in the area, bookings essential.  The food is outstanding and I have been lucky enough to eat there on a previous occasion.

So if you are wondering what to do and want to venture out of the noisy city, I recommend taking a drive to this beautiful estate and exploring it with camera or loved one in hand!

-Melissa

easter ring

There is something special about growing up in a family that honours tradition. I can say that because I am lucky enough to have a mother, that no matter what takes time out of her busy life for the little moments that I will cherish forever. Be it baking on Easter or decorating our Christmas tree. 

I grew up at her knee learning how to bake and be the woman that I am today. She is my best friend and my rock. I am sure that there will be many posts up on my blog where I speak of her. She is a taste connoisseur in my eyes and a master of flavours. She is possibly the birthplace of The Truffle Journal and all things food in my life, unless I go further back to my grandmother.

But back to tradition. Its something I value and something I hope to share. That magical moment in the kitchen baking Easter rings or setting up osterzweig (a German tradition) is something that will stay with me forever. I hope that by trying this Easter ring and sharing it around a table with loved ones will inspire you to do it every year and to bake it with your children, nieces or grandchildren. It has all the essentials to qualify as a glorified hot cross bun meets cinnamon bun, that is a game changer for Easter!

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Serves: 8

Ingredients

Dough:

•   500g flour, sifted

•   5ml salt

•   55g sugar

•   10ml ground mixed spice

•   10ml ground nutmeg

•   5ml ground cinnamon

•   10g instant dry yeast

•   60g butter

•   150ml milk

•   1 egg, beaten

•   125ml lukewarm water

•   150g cake fruit mix

Filling:

•   80g butter

•   60g castor sugar

•   30ml cinnamon

•   180g cake fruit mix

•   1 egg

•   12.5ml milk

Icing:

•   85g icing sugar, sifted
•   15ml water or brandy depending on what you like
•   5ml vanilla essence

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Instructions:

Dough:

In a mixing bowl combine the first six ingredients. Once combined sprinkle dry yeast over.

In a small saucepan, melt the butter in the milk. Once melted set aside to cool.

Add the dry ingredients together including the fruit with the egg, milk and butter mixture and enough lukewarm water until it forms a soft pliable dough. You can do this part in a mixer if you wish using a dough hook. Knead for 10 minutes until dough is smooth and elastic. It shouldn't be too sticky. If it is, add a little flour until the dough is balanced. 

Lightly flour your counter and place the dough on the surface, covering it with a greased glass mixing bowl.

Allow to rest in a warm environment for 20 minutes. (I leave my oven on to warm my kitchen or put the dough in the sun.)

Once dough has rested you will roll out into a roughly 35cm by 25cm rectangle. Don’t forget to flour your surface when rolling so that it doesn't stick to the counter.

Filling:

In a bowl, cream butter and sugar together. Once this has creamed spread it all over the rectangle like you are buttering toast!

Sprinkle the cinnamon over the butter and then top the rectangle with the fruit mix.

Next you're going to roll up your rectangle like a Swiss roll. Starting at the long side tightly roll up the whole rectangle.

Place it on a lightly greased baking tray, shaping it into a ring. Score the ring into 5cm slices. Keeping slices joined near the inner circle. 

Cover with greased cling wrap and leave in a warm place for a further 10 minutes or until your ring has doubled in size.

In a small jug mix your egg and milk. Brush over the ring after it has risen.

Bake at 200°c, 20-25 minutes. Your ring should be golden brown. If you tap on it and its sounds hollow, it's ready!

Allow to cool

Icing sugar:

Mix your icing sugar with the water and vanilla, make sure you do not have any lumps.

Drizzle it over your ring-when it comes to this part I always say, don't be shy!

You can decorate your ring with cherries if you wish!

-Melissa