Upside Down Cauliflower and Raisin bread

You will be glad to know that I’ve got my bread making Mojo back! Phew! I’m sure you were getting as worried as I was the last few weeks about my lack of bread making and my dearth of desire to make bread. Don’t fret though I have still been making challah and doing my normal cooking, but found that due to a heavy work load and constant exhaustion I just couldn’t get my act together to stand in the kitchen and make a new type of bread.

I was even having moments of dread about having to write this blog and stressing that I didn’t have the physical time or energy to create something new and then write about it. It was as though I had totally forgotten about the joy I got from making bread.

Then the other evening I came home from work unusually early, and even though I had plenty of work still to do I thought I need to take some time out to relax and make bread! And boy was I happy I did. It was just an amazing feeling to get my hands dirty and stuck into making a beautiful dough, which I could use as a punch bag to destress and that would create wonderful aromas which would excite my taste buds.

I had seen this recipe a few months ago and kept meaning to try it, and I am so glad I did. I am not sure of the origin of this bread, but the recipe was called roasted cauliflower and raisin bread. I have re named it to ‘upside down cauliflower and raisin bread’. The dough itself was a normal white bread dough, using olive oil for the fat. I have often incorporated other ingredients inside my breads, but never placed them at the bottom of the baking pan, with the dough on top. So this sounded interesting and exciting.

The results was rather pleasant. I found that the dough came out really easily from the tin and that the cauliflower and raisins didn’t become a mushy concoction but yet didn’t crumble away from the bread. The main flavour on the cauliflower was cumin, which left a lovely aromatic smell, but I actually found the cauliflower to be a bit bland. The sweetness of the raisins was really surprising and added a lovely balance to the slightly blander flavour of the cauliflower.

If I was to make it again, I will try to incorporate some of the raisins into the top of the bread to give a sweet surprise when taking your first bite. I would also add a little more salt to the bread mixture and to the cauliflower to give a slight kick.

It is definitely worth giving this a go, and makes for a different midweek dinner. You can serve it with any form of protein such as chicken, eggs or fish as the combination would really lend itself nicely.

It’s nice having my mojo back, let’s hope it’s here to stay!

Ingredients:

500g strong bread flour

14g fresh yeast

1 tbsp sea salt

2.5 tbsp olive oil

350 ml luke warm water

1 large cauliflower washed and cut into florets

1.5 tbsp ground cumin or cumin seeds

100g raisins

Oil spray

Method:

Mix flour, yeast and salt in a large bowl. Mix and add in olive oil and combine using your hands. Make a well in the centre and slowly add in water, working from the middle to form a dough. Don’t worry if you don’t use up all the water, but the dough should be sticky.

Lightly dust the work surface with extra flour and knead the dough for an extra 3-5 minutes until it is smooth and silky. Oil the bowl with a bit of olive oil and place the dough back into it. Cover with a tea towel or plastic wrap pricked with a few small holes. Leave in a warm place for 1-2 hours until it has doubled in size.

Meanwhile, in a preheated oven of 180, roast the cauliflower with seasoning of cumin, salt and pepper for 30-40 minutes.

Put the raisins in 100ml of water in a small saucepan over a medium heat. Simmer until the water has been absorbed and then set aside.

Spray a baking tin with cooking oil and line the base with baking paper.

Add the raisins to the cauliflower once they are roasted and scatter them over the base of the baking tin. Roll out the dough into a thick sausage the size of your baking tin and place it on top of the raisin and cauliflower mixture. Gently tuck the dough around the sides of the tin. Allow to rest uncovered for 20-25 minutes in a warm environment until the dough has doubled in size again.

Bake in the oven on 180/190 for 40 minutes or until nicely coloured. Cool in the tin for 5 minutes and then turn out onto a cooling tray or serving board and ENJOY!