Sarah over at Maison Cupcake has started a blogging challenge, "Forever Nigella". Each month there will be a new theme and anyone participating chooses a Nigella recipe from any of her books or her website. The first challenge is "Seasonal Sensations". Recipes that would suit either Christmas or New Year.
I didn't own a single Nigella book. I'm more of a Martha Stewart girl. I think Nigella is the Martha for British people? I did see she had one recipe in the December Food Network magazine. Luckily Sarah recommended which book I should go for.
I bought Sarah's recommendation How to be a Domestic Goddess. I figured I would use it again anyway in other upcoming challenges. Ten quid on amazon isn't bad at all and there are lots of recipes in there. I would say that getting the book is probably worth it. The recipes on the website weren't very inspiring in my opinion.
I'm a terrible photographer so I don't think these pictures capture how delicious these bagels are. The bagels in the UK are not really bagels. Bagels are supposed to be slightly chewy and the bread should be "tight" not crumbly. Every time we go to the US my husband makes us go to Panera everyday for breakfast so by the time we get back I don't want another bagel for a whole year.
I thought jazzing up Nigella's plain bagel recipe would be great for a Christmas idea. I added a few things to the recipe to make it cranberry orange. I won't post the whole recipe here as per the rules but list where I have made changes. I've added a few things but otherwise the method has remain unchanged.
I Added
1. 150g dried cranberries to the flour mixture (more is better as some of these will fall out during the kneading process)
2. 1/2 cup of brown sugar to the flour mixture
3. Zest of 1 large orange to the flour mixture
4. Juice of zested orange to the warm water mixture
Tips
1. Check the pack of the yeast your using. Quick action yeast can be added to the flour. Other yeast will need to go in the water mixture and activate for a few minutes before use.
2. When poaching the bagels they will at first sink to the bottom. They're ready to be taken out when it rises to the top. I didn't bother flipping mine either.
3. Use a spatula to take the bagel in and out of the boiling water. I used tongs at first but this caused the joint that made the ring to break.
4. Only a machine will make perfectly formed bagels.
I chose to make bagels because baking with yeast is way outside of my comfort zone. I almost threw this batch in the bin too! I thought they had ended up all doughy in the middle but after they cooled I cut one in half and they looked like a bagel in the middle! I was pretty impressed with myself. The only other yeasted thing I have made successfully before are donuts.
These bagels are divine. The slight tartness of the cranberries and the sweetness of the orange zest taste amazing with the slight saltiness of the butter on top. They taste better toasted and the butter gets all nice and melted. These scream Christmas and should absolutely be used to make a turkey sandwich!
