Norwegian School Bread

I made them again.  So delicious.  These I liked a lot more.  Tender and delicious and the cream filling... amazing.  If you don't like the idea of the cream, skip it and just make the buns, so worth it!

I always think of the Norwegian Pavilion at Epcot in Disney when I eat these. 

Norwegian School Bread
Makes 15 buns.

dough:
1 2/3 cups milk
1/2 cup unsalted butter
2 1/4 teaspoons dry instant yeast
1/2 cup sugar
4 cups plain flour
1 1/4 tsp ground cardamom

wash:
1 egg, lightly beaten

coconut coating:
1/3 cup (50g) pure icing sugar, mixed with 2 tsp water
Desiccated coconut, to coat

creme patissiere:
1 1/4 cups (310ml) milk
3 egg yolks
1/3 cup (75g) caster sugar
2 tbs cornflour
1 tsp vanilla extract

dough: In a saucepan,  heat milk and butter over medium heat, stirring until butter melts. Remove from heat, set aside.

In the bowl of a mixer or in a regular bowl combine all the dry ingredients: flour, yeast, sugar, cardamom. 

Add the cooled milk and butter (should be about 110°F or you are able to hold your finger in it for 10 seconds comfortably). Use your hands to form a soft dough (or the mixer). Knead for 5 minutes or until smooth. Cover with a clean tea towel and set aside in a warm place for 1 hour or until doubled in size.

Take dough out of bowl. Transfer to a lightly floured surface, fold over itself and deflate. Divide dough into 3 and roll each piece into a log. Divide each log into 5 even pieces and shape into rounds.

Place on lined baking sheets or one big one if you have it.  Cover with clean tea towels. Set aside for 30 minutes or until doubled in size. Preheat oven to 395°F.

creme patissiere: Heat milk in a pan over medium-high heat. Whisk remaining ingredients together until smooth. As soon as milk bubbles, pour into yolk mixture, whisking constantly. Transfer mixture back to the pan and place over medium heat. Stir with a wooden spoon for 1-2 minutes until thickened. Transfer to a bowl. Cover surface with plastic wrap and cool completely.


preparing to bake: Press deep indentations in each bun. Using a piping bag fill each bun with creme patissiere. Brush dough on sides and tops of buns with beaten egg. Bake, rotating trays halfway, for 20 minutes or until golden and risen. Cool slightly on wire racks.

coconut coating: Brush buns with icing glaze, then roll in coconut to serve.

Naples Grape Festival

 
This past weekend we took the kids to the Naples Grape Festival. If you don't know about the Naples Grape Festival, I will tell you.  Naples Grape Fest claim to fame is that they have the Worlds Best Grape Pie Contest. "Grape Pies were created in the 1950's and credited to longtime Naples resident Irene Bouchard."(Naples Grape Fest ). 

The official grounds for the festival are at the high school.  Lots of people selling antiques and garage sale stuff line Main Street. Everything you can imagine jewelry, painted glass, sewing crafts, oils and incense, wood works. Lots of places to park, all at about 5 dollars per car.

Everything Grape is at this festival.  Grape taffy, grape frozen custard, grape suckers, grapes and wine (of course).  If we didn't have the kids, I am sure we would have done some wine tasting.  A couple huge tents in which to taste.  One at the Festival grounds and another put up by a winery.  As you can imagine there are lots of wineries in the hills of Naples.  It is prime, Finger lake Region, grape country.

Grape Taffy

Amazing grape frozen custard.

Deep Fried Pickles

There were also some local food trucks there that the kids have enjoyed previously.  They decided to share an order or Mac and Cheese.  It went pretty well.  It was kind of like feeding fish.  Threw in the food and a frenzy and flourish of energy ensues. Here is the before and after.

 

Our kids don't really get the opportunity to go to festivals.  It's not generally our thing.  So this time we decided to treat them to some "festival food". A bloomin' onion, a corn dog...

There was a couple Henna tattoo artists at the festival.

 

If you want to bring your dog...  I did see a few dogs there. A few tiny dog varieties.  3 Great Danes.  And one of those great danes I saw sitting on a womans lap.  I was not quick enough with my camera. An Italian mastiff. A few pit mixes.   Its very crowded there though.  The choice is up to you.  My dog would have been overwhelmed.