This new pet will make you love Mondays
Since we committed to appreciate Monday Blues, let’s set it as background while we bake something. Feel free to rotate this activity with something else —I do every 2/3 weeks — but I recommend to start from it :)
YEAST is your new pet
Watching this little cubed or crumbled beast in action is extremely rewarding. Like a faithful pet, in exchange of little sugar it happily foams in a glass of water or milk (it’s aliiiive!) and smells definitely better than a dog.
One dough to rule ’em all
My illustration above (inspiring pattern tutorial here) displays four ideas using one basic yeast dough:
Once you learn each shape, you’ll just need my cheat sheets and rarely use detailed recipes again :)
Can I have a bite?
I’m a fan of recipes that are worth the time and effort. Something involving chemical reactions and ingredient transformation. Take a rich rice salad vs simple savoury muffins, for instance. Comparable execution time (chopping veggies, boiling and cooling rice…) and number of elements, but muffins will make you open the lunchbox at work with a grin! Colleagues asking for a bite in 3,2,1…
Now I understand why my parents rolled their eyes every time, as a kid, I wanted to make chocolate bonbons with a sort of mini chocolate factory (aaah, toys from the 90s). “You’re just melting a chocolate bar into some small individual shapes. In the end you’ll get the same chocolate again!”. *Sigh*
I mean, on special occasions it’s good to fix a symmetrical breakfast for your darling, or invest hours in awesome terrarium cakes. But Sweekly comes from a real person who, as her amazing readers, has limited time and patience to cook, but still cares about nutrition and taste in everyday cuisine.
FILLING & SHAPES (go wild on variations!)
Spread dough in a flat rectangle and pick a number. That’s it! The dough will come out puffy and gooey from the moisture of the filling.
- Cinnamon rolls: no explanations needed (if you’re from another planet: melted butter, brown sugar, cinnamon. Roll up, cut buns, arrange in baking dish, bake. Sooo good.) Recommended variations: pumpkin spice or cream cheese+ berries filling.
- Pull apart bread (savoury): top with Gorgonzola, garlic powder, Parmesan & herbs. Drizzle olive oil and cut vertically in stripes. Layer stripes on top of each other. Cut stack horizontally in blocks and put them side-up in baking tin. You’ll see layers of dough with stuffing in between. Like yummy piano keys!
- Babka: braided sweet loaf, from Eastern European and Jewish tradition. It literally means “grandma”, that suits a soothing chocolate filling! My healthy one is mashed banana+cacao+ cream cheese (guilty optional: scatter chocolate chips & nuts). Roll, cut in half leaving 4 cm on one side. You’ll get a chubby V-shape. Twist in a braid. My fav part: discover cultures behind traditional recipes!
- Estonian Kringle: basically Babka with cinnamon roll filling. Curl the braid in a ring before baking. Now, that’s one gorgeous lovechild! Don’t forget to try the four shapes with your custom filling, even savoury.
Hope I convinced you
…to enjoy a few minutes of free time every Monday, not just eagerly wait for the weekend to relax and be yourself.
Say it in French (cuz it sounds sweeter. I mean, they make Macarons, right?) Bonjour mon jour, good morning my day. Happy Mondays, y’all!
UP NEXT
How to beat depression & shepherd pie from a country you’ll never guess. Pack your stuff, we’re going on an adventure!
