Misery feeds/ -/ Marzipan cinnamon sugar swirls

As much as I owe social media for its networking possibilities I KNOW some people are using it for the wrong reasons.

Maybe not wrong reasons, however I do not think the creators of Facebook or twitter meant for it to be a new place to whine about how terrible your life is. It has also become the newest place to show how stupid you are (#bladforbieber) however that will be in another post. 


 
Before whining about your life only occurred in your real life social circle; now we have taken to technology to make our problems seem more legitimate. 

Hell even I have done it in the past and even this post is bit hypocritical. I was one of those people who wallowed in my own pool of self-pity and “hard ship”; I probably had the philosophy of 
“Nobody loves me. Everyone hates me. I guess I will go eat worms”. I am not sure where it is from but my sister used to say it to me. 



I used to think my life was so hard and everything was piled against me like most of the Gen whY’hiners.
 
“Oh getting a job is so hard”,
“Getting my own place is so hard”,
“Earning promotion is so hard”,
“I am always so busy” (when they leave it to the last minute) and my favourite “I am so fat”



However a few years ago my sister said something to me that really helped get out of this rut. Simply you cannot keep wallowing in your own pity; one day everyone will get tired of supporting you and leave for real. Something clicked that day; I developed no sense of identity besides my problems. '

 My problems WERE my identity. My whining was used confirm my identity. As sad as it sounds, I thought I was nothing without problems; if I could not find something to complain about it there was something seriously wrong.

My life was not that bad. My family still gave me everything even when I was a whiney brat. I had a roof over my head and pretty much everything I wanted; So what kind of right did I have to complain on social media about my life? I was a perfectly healthy person with a majority problem free life. Boy did I beat myself up that day for being a brat for a majority of my life.

I cannot speak for your social circle but it makes me mad that my new year’s feeds are updated with constant tales of misery and woe. Come on guys! At least try to be content with your life for the start of New year; it hasn’t even got that bad yet.

Eh… If you want to identify yourself with your problem be my guest, however heed my warning; Your family and friends have limit to how much they can take. Most importantly nobody wants to “friend” the whiner on any kind of social network.

Just saying…


 
Now to finish this rant of a post a recipe. Depending on your New year’s resolution you will hate me or love me. If you want to learn how to bake bread, you have come to the right place!

Yeast is not as scary as you think, it just takes a bit of time and patience. Also the kneading process is very therapeutic. Anyway this is basic challah dough which is not shaped in the traditional braid, but twisted and turned into these marzipan cinnamon sugar swirls. They are reminiscent of a doughnut but without the frying (always good for lazy and hazard prone people like me) but retain that nostalgic sticky graininess of a cinnamon glazed doughnut. 

 


The dough itself is not very sweet or flavourful for that matter but is a great base, as the egg rich dough works with the cinnamon to re-create the doughnut flavour. The glaze, flaked almond and cinnamon Demerara Cinnamon sugar coat is optional but I will not lie to you; it really makes this bread special.

The shape of the bread is relatively simple . You roll up your bread like a normal cinnamon roll ( big rectangle then the sugar paste and roll up jelly roll style) but you cut the buns a little longer than you would for a cinnamon roll (I did mine 5-7 cm long). After you make two deep cuts in to the dough and flare out the sections in to a round ish shape. 



Marzipan cinnamon sugar swirls
Makes about 9 depending on how long you cut them

Adapted from the The kitchn Challah

Bread shape from Have a Yummy day

Inspired by these buns by Love and olive oil
Bread
375ml warm water
8g dried yeast
20g caster sugar
600g plain flour
1/2 tsp salt
3 egg yolks, and one whole egg lightly whisked
80g rice bran oil

Filling
250g marzipan, soft and rollable
2 tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp gound nut meg
70g brown sugar
2tsp water Topping
60g flaked almonds
1tsp cinnamon mixed with 50g Demerara sugar
One recipe of this doughnut glaze from Brave tart http://bravetart.com/recipes/DoughnutGlaze
Egg wash

In a medium bowl combine your sugar, water and yeast. Mix well and allow to stand for 20 minutes or until foamy.
 
After add your flour, oil, salt, egg yolks and oil. Knead with your hands or stand mixer until it becomes a smooth ball. If you are using a stand mixer 6 minutes on 1 and then 2 minutes on 3 should be fine. If using your hands; knead for 10 minutes on a floured surface, rest for 5 minutes, then return to kneading the dough for a further 15 minutes.
 
Once smooth cover the dough in a well oil bowl rise for 1 and half hours, or until doubled. Once doubled punch down and rest for 10 minutes. During this time prepare your fillings.
 
Roll your dough out into a 30cm, by 40 cm rectangle on a floured surface. On another icing sugar dusted surface roll your marzipan to a 25 by 30 cm rectangle. Place your rolled marzipan on top of your dough. 

After brush with a bit of water and sprinkle the cinnamon, nut meg and brown sugar on top. With the long side towards you roll up the rectangle into a tight log.
 
Cut the log into length of about 5 cm. After cut a deep cut into each log about 3cm. using your hands flare out the sections. Place on a prepared baking tray lined with baking paper. Cover with cling film and proof for 45 minutes. Turn on your oven to 180C.
 
Prepare your glaze.
 
Once proofed, brush with egg wash and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar. Bake for 25 minutes or until deep golden brown. Remove from trays to cooling rack right away. Cool to room temp.
 
Brush or drip on your glaze then top with more sugar and almonds. Allow to set for 20 minutes.