Dark Rye and Honey Cake by Regula Ysewijn

Author:Regula Ysewijn
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Allen & Unwin
Published: 2022-10-21T00:00:00+00:00

For the custard

9 egg yolks

75 g (2¾ oz) caster (superfine) sugar

40 g (1½ oz) custard powder or cornflour (cornstarch)

675 ml (23 fl oz) full-fat milk

75 ml (2¾ fl oz) thick (double) cream (36–40% fat)

1 vanilla bean, split, or 1 bay leaf

Use a deep-fryer or a deep heavy-based saucepan.

Combine the flour, sugar and yeast in a large bowl or the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the dough hook. Pour in half of the milk and start kneading. When the milk is completely absorbed, pour in the rest of the milk and knead for 5 minutes. Let the dough rest for 5 minutes.

Add the salt on one side and the soft butter in chunks on the other side and knead for 10 minutes, scraping the dough off the dough hook and side of the bowl if needed, until it has come together in a smooth and elastic dough that is neither too dry nor terribly wet.

Cover the dough and set aside for 1 hour until it has doubled in size.

Briefly knead the dough and divide it into 12 equal pieces. Take 1 piece of dough and lightly flatten it on your work surface, then pull the outer parts in like a purse and gently squeeze together like a dumpling so that the dough can no longer split open while rising. Turn the dough over so the squeezed ends are on the bottom. It should be nice and smooth on top: if not, flatten it out and start again.

Place each ball on a baking tray and cover the tray of balls with a piece of muslin (cheesecloth) and wrap it in a large plastic bag (I keep one especially for this purpose). Rest the balls for 30 minutes.

Towards the end of the resting time, heat the oil in your deep-fryer or a deep, heavy-based saucepan to 170°C (325°F). The oil is the correct temperature when a cube of bread is added and turns golden brown in 70 seconds.

Working in batches, carefully lower the dough balls into the hot oil and fry until golden. They should have a distinctive pale line around the middle. Put the cooked boules on a tray lined with paper towel while you cook the remainder, then set aside to cool completely.

Meanwhile, for the custard, have a large, shallow ovenproof dish ready. Whisk the egg yolks, sugar and custard powder until creamy. In French culinary terms, you’ve now made a ruban (ribbon).

In a large saucepan, warm the milk and cream with the seeds of the vanilla bean. Remove from the heat and strain the milk if you want to get rid of the black vanilla seeds, or leave them in and show the world you used the real stuff. Add a tablespoon of the warm milk to the ruban and whisk well, then add the ruban to the warm milk, whisking constantly. Return the pan to the stove over low heat and whisk until the custard thickens, turning off the heat as soon as the mixture begins to give more resistance to whisking.

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