Gubana - Italian Easter Treat

Gubana

Okay, weird name, I know.  The whole time I was adapting this recipe I kept singing "At the Gopa, Gopa Gubana" and cracking myself up.  I'm easily amused, what can I say.

I wanted to try this out because (a) it had chocolate chips in it and (b) if I made another batch of hot cross buns I was going to go slightly loopy.

This is sensational when it's still warm (I must say though - it's better fully cooked...  I pulled it out too early and had to put it back in to cook through properly).  After it was properly cooked, it was delicious - though be warned, a little bit goes a long way.  I'm planning on serving slices of it tonight with some brandy cream sauce on the side, which should go down a treat.

I've got plans to try this again tomorrow but I think I'll make smaller ones and set them into a baking tray together, rather than do another big one.  The big one really is quite large, so if you don't have a crowd around to help devour it I think small ones would be a better option - some for now, some to freeze for later.

Try it out, you won't be sorry!

Gubana

(Sweet Italian Easter Bread - Adapted from Annabel Langbein)

Ingredients:-

Fruit Mince:-

*  1 lemon - rind and juice

*  3 whole cloves

*  1 granny smith apple - quartered

*  100g currants

*  100g sultanas

*  120g rapadura sugar

*  3 tbsp Grand Marnier

*  100g hazelnuts

*  1 tsp ground cinnamon

*  1 tsp ground nutmeg

*  150g chocolate chips

Dough:-

*  65g butter

*  250g full cream milk

*  1 & 1/2 tsp yeast

*  85g caster sugar

*  420g bakers flour

*  1/2 tsp salt
*  1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

Method:-

Fruit Mince:-

1.  Place lemon rind and whole cloves into TMX bowl and grate for 20 seconds on speed 8.

2.  Add apple and nuts.  Lock the lid and turbo the mixture 2-3 times.

3.  Add all other fruit mince ingredients.  Mix together for 3 seconds, on reverse, on speed 3.  Scrape down the sides of the bowl.

4.  Cook the mixture for 10 minutes, at 100°, on reverse, on speed 1.

Set aside in a bowl, cover and leave out overnight.

Dough:-

1.  Place butter in TM bowl and melt  for 2 minutes, at 50°, on speed 1.

2.  Add milk and warm for 1 minute, at 90°, on speed 1.

3.  Add remaining dough ingredients and mix for 5 seconds on speed 7.  Lock the lid and knead for 3 minutes.

Turn the dough out into a silicon mat and leave to rise somewhere warm for 40-60 minutes (or until doubled in size). 

Assembly & Cooking:-

1.  Line or grease a 28cm round cake pan.  Preheat the oven to 170 (fan forced).

2.  When dough has doubled, roll it out into a 60 x 30cm rectangle.

3.  Spread the fruit mince over the rectangle, leaving a 2cm border the whole way around.  Sprinkle the choc chips over the dough.

4.  Roll the dough up along the longest edge to create a long sausage shape.  Form into a scroll and place into tin.  (At this point, I found it easier to place the sausage onto a piece of baking and form the scroll on there, as it was easier then to just lift it into the tin.)

5.  Cover the tin with a clean, damp teatowel and leave to rise in a warm place for a further 40 minutes (until almost doubled in size).

Bake for 45 minutes.  Dust with icing sugar and serve.

Tips:-

 I really love the stickiness of hot cross buns, so I brushed the gubana with a sugar syrup when it was hot out of the oven before dusting it was icing sugar.  Simply place 2 tbsp of water with 2 tbsp sugar in the Thermomix, cook for 2 minutes at 100° on speed 4 (as per hot cross buns).  Brush the buns with the syrup, while both are still hot.