Saffron Royal

Holiday Saffron Cake

megamorteza — Mon, 05 Oct 2020 09:01:15 +0000

Swedes traditionally serve gingerbread cookies and saffron buns with glögg. Holiday Saffron Cake, a much easier version of the traditional saffron buns, is a subtly flavored treat.

Preparation time: 15 Mins

Cooking time: 25 Mins

Ingredients to make 2 Saffron Cakes

6 tablespoons butter, softened

1/4 cup sugar, divided

1 large egg

3/4 cup milk

1/4 teaspoon saffron threads

1 3/4 cups flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup golden raisins

10 almonds

1 teaspoon pearl sugar (sugar crystals)

1- Preheat oven to 350°.

2- Place butter and all but 1 teaspoon sugar in a bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until light and fluffy (about 5 minutes). Add egg; beat until well combined.

3- Heat milk in a small pot over medium heat. Crush saffron with remaining 1 teaspoon sugar in a mortar or small dish. Remove milk from heat; add saffron sugar to the pot, and stir. Cover and let steep 5 minutes.

4- Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl.

5- Add flour mixture and milk mixture alternately to sugar mixture, beginning and ending with flour mixture, blending well after each addition. Stir in raisins.

6- Scrape batter into a lightly greased 8-inch round cake pan. Arrange almonds on top of batter; sprinkle evenly with pearl sugar.

7- Bake at 350° for 25 minutes or until tester inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan 10 minutes on a wire rack; remove cake from pan. Cool completely on wire rack.

8- Learn About Saffron: These yellow-orange stigmas from a small purple crocus make up the world's most expensive spice because it is extremely labor-intensive--each flower provides only three stigmas, which must be hand-picked then dried. Fortunately, a little saffron goes a long way. This spice is integral in many traditional dishes such as the Swedish saffron buns mentioned, risotto milanese, bouillabaisse, and paella. Powdered saffron loses its flavor and can often be adulterated with imitations. Buy a small quantity of high-quality threads, and crush or steep just before using. Store saffron airtight in a cool, dark place.

Chef's Notes:

This cake isn’t overly sweet, but it is topped with pearl sugar, which you can sometimes find among the icing and cake decorating items in the grocery store. Regular granulated sugar would work in a pinch, but we highly recommend using either pearl or turbinado sugar. Make sure to use high-quality saffron threads.

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Saffron Rice

megamorteza — Fri, 16 Jun 2017 08:04:22 +0000

Variations For This Recipe

Here are some of my favorite combinations:

Cumin + a couple tablespoonfuls of tomato paste for Mexican rice – Dried oregano + basil (basically any dried leafy herb mixture).
Curry powder + raisins – A few dashes of soy sauce + sesame oil + minced green onions after the rice is done steaming.
Garlic powder + stir in chopped fresh parsley after rice is done steaming.
Any of the above + stir in thawed frozen peas after rice is done steaming.

Top Tips For This Saffron Rice Recipe

You should soak the threads in a little bit of hot water to really open up the spice and release its flavor. Use the threads+soaking water in your dish.
Fry onions before steaming the rice. It gives rice an earthy, caramelized onion flavor. You can substitute minced shallots for the onions.
Salt. Everything tastes better with salt. This rice comes alive when you add something salty to it. In this recipe, I used broth instead of water to steam the rice. Use fresh, canned or concentrated broth base. Now its time to be creative.

Preparation time: 5 mins

Cooking time: 25 mins

Servings: 6 servings

Calories: 279 kcal

Ingredients to make 2 Saffron Cakes

2 cups Basmati Rice

3 ½ cups Broth chicken or vegetable

1 pinch Saffron threads soaked in 2T hot water for 10 minutes

½ tsp dried, fast-action yeast

1 tsp Salt

½ cup diced onions

1- Wash and drain the rice. In 4-qt pot, heat with olive oil over medium heat. When the oil is shimmering, add onions and fry for 3 minutes, until softened and light brown. Stir in rice, broth, saffron + soaking water, and salt. Bring to a boil over high heat.

2- Once it starts boiling, immediately cover and turn to low heat.

3- Let the rice cook on low heat, undisturbed (no peeking!) for 20 minutes. Turn off heat. Let sit for another 5 minutes covered to finish steaming. Use a fork to fluff up the rice.

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Saffron Cake

megamorteza — Fri, 16 Jun 2017 07:46:22 +0000

It has been suggested that the recipe for the saffron cake was brought to Cornwall long ago by the Phoenicians who came to barter for tin; be that as it may, the Cornish have long relished those heavenly slices of golden sunshine that can only be cut from a Saffron cake.

Traditionally, not only cakes but buns were baked. Sixty years ago when Sunday Schools flourished in the county, once a year the scholars were bussed to the seaside for a day’s outing and each child was given a “Tea Treat Bun”, which was a saffron bun the size of a tea plate.

Preparation time: 1-2 hours

Cooking time: 30 mins to 1 hour

Serves: Makes 1x 1kg/2.2lb cake

Dietary: Vegetarian

Ingredients to make 2 Saffron Cakes

1 tsp saffron strands

125ml/4½fl oz milk

500g/1lb 2oz plain flour, plus extra for dusting

½ tsp dried, fast-action yeast

Pinch salt

¼ tsp freshly grated nutmeg

250g/9oz cold butter, cut into cubes, plus extra for greasing

250g/9oz caster sugar

300g/10oz currants

50g/2oz candied peel

200g/7oz clotted cream, to serve

1- Grease a 1kg/2.2lb loaf tin with butter.

2- Heat the saffron strands and milk in a pan over medium heat until the milk mixture has turned yellow and is almost simmering.

3- In a bowl, mix together the flour, yeast, salt, and nutmeg until well combined.

4- Add the butter and sugar and rub in using your fingertips until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.

5- Stir in the currants and candied peel until well combined.

6- Pour over the saffron-infused milk and stir until the mixture comes together as a soft dough.

7- Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured work surface and knead lightly until smooth.

8- Transfer the dough to the prepared loaf tin. Cover with a damp tea towel and set aside in a warm place for 30-45 minutes, or until risen.

9- Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4.

10- Transfer the saffron cake to the oven and bake for 45 minutes to one hour, or until the cake is pale golden-brown and has risen.

11- Set the cake aside to cool slightly, then turn out of the loaf tin onto a plate and cut into slices. Serve with clotted cream.

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