Recently lockdown rules have changed in the UK, allowing people to meet up with a single friend or family member from another household as long as they stay outdoors and 2m apart. Of course many people were doing this anyway (and indeed I have seen some friends when dropping things off etc) but this has been limited a bit further by restrictions on travel. Now though you are also allowed to travel to take outdoor exercise meaning you can see people who live a bit further away.
One of the things that I think I have found most frustrating about lockdown is the fact that the majority of my family lives far away. It isn't actually unusual for me to not see them for a couple of months but somehow because so much else is restricted and because the option has been taken away from me it has hit me hard.
I am not sure when I will be allowed to travel to Hampshire to see my mum, or my brother and 2 year old niece again - particularly because I rely a lot on public transport to get there, but one silver lining of the ease in restrictions is that I can now go for a socially distanced walk with my dad, who moved to Yorkshire a couple of years ago. So this weekend that is what we did.
We met up in Harrogate at the car park for Harlow Carr gardens - the gardens themselves are not open but the plant centre and car park are. From here we took what I think it was safe to say was a slightly more all-terrain walk along Oak Beck into Harrogate than we were expecting - I know certainly at times I cursed not putting my walking boots on. The walk was beautiful, with wild garlic still growing in abundance along the banks of the beck, wending it's way down past golf courses and on to the edge of Harrogate town centre. Whilst the weather was a bit variable most of it was under tree cover so felt quite sheltered and it was lovely to catch up with dad and talk about the relative differences of lockdown in a city centre (me) and at the top of a hill in the middle of no where (him).
We had choosen to take a small picnic with us which we sat down to eat in the gardens in the centre of town - he brought sandwiches and carrot cake, I bought home made yum yums and we each had a flask of hot chocolate. We watched the world go past - still quite a lot of people out on their daily stroll, quite a lot of crows and one particularly amorous looking pigeon and chatted about how different some locked down towns seem to others (Harrogate feeling much less bleak than dad's trip through Bradford recently), how fortunate that he and I were to still have work, and lots of things of little consequence.
If it seems like we talked a lot about lockdown - of course we did, there is very little else to talk about when you've not been anywhere for two months. No holidays or days out to catch up on, no trips to see relatives or amusing work anecdotes, these things are thinner on the ground than usual!
After our picnic we strolled back through Valley Gardens to the plant centre where I picked up a new sage plant and a plant stand for my big calathea. It was the first time in a long time either of us had been in a shop that wasn't solely for 'essential goods' and although we couldn't pick up and browse my god it was nice going through the bookshop section.
Back to the yum yums though. Yum yums are one of my husband's favourites, if they have them in a shop you can almost guarantee that he will buy them and practically inhale them. If you are not familiar with a yum yum they are a bit like Britain's answer to the Cronut. They are made by laminating an enriched bread dough with butter, shaping them into a craggy twisty shape, frying and drenching in glaze. The result is an airy flaky stick of deliciousness.
When I found a recipe for them in James Morton's Brilliant Bread (him off the Bake Off with the sweater vests) I knew eventually I would have to make them. But the idea of deep frying always scared me a little - I am a pretty accident prone cook and it seemed like a recipe for disaster. But then recently I tried making chicken katsu, and the house didn't burn down, so I thought if I can fry that, why not yum yums?
I investigated the recipe again and lo and behold I had the ingredients, including the precious precious bread flour which is so hard to get at the moment. The only thing was it used a whopping 14g of instant yeast - almost as rare as bread flour at the moment. Whilst I have some it seemed like an indulgent use when I had a perfectly good sourdough starter that I had been nurturing for weeks. I decided to split the difference, 7g yeast and 100g sourdough starter, reasoning that as long as I gave it a longer rise and balanced the water it would probably be fine. I also tweaked the glaze a bit - a standard sugar and water icing which by itself is just tooth achingly sweet. I added vanilla and sea salt to round out the flavour and temper the sweetness slightly.
The recipe makes 20 medium sized yum yums. This should have been two many for two people - and indeed I did give a few away (though this proved harder than I expected) but they really should be eaten on the same day we battled on. It was a terrible hardship for both of us, I am sure you can imagine.
Semi-Sourdough Yum Yums with Salted Vanilla Glaze (adapted from Brilliant Bread by James Morton)
Makes 20 - Time taken 1-2 hours of actual work, plus proofing time overnight
For the dough:
500g strong white bread flour7g instant yeast
100g recently fed sourdough starter (100% hydration)
8g salt
30g sugar
1 large egg
80g cold unsalted butter, cubed
200g tepid water
Oil for frying
For the glaze:
230g icing sugar1tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp sea salt (e.g Maldon)
6-8 tbsp water
Method:
Sift flour into large bowl and add the yeast on one side, salt and sugar on the other. Rub these into the flour. Add the cubes of butter and toss in the flour - you are not rubbing this in, it should remain in lumps.
Beat together sourdough starter and egg and add to the flour with most of the water, mixing with your hands to form a dough. You may need all of the water or slightly more or less depending on your flour and other liquids so add it gradually - the dough should be soft but not soggy. Keep mixing until all the flour has been picked up from the sides but do not continue to knead as you will lose the lumps of butter which are needed to make the dough flaky.
Rest the dough in the bowl, covered in clingfilm, for 30 minutes.
To laminate the dough, turn it out onto a floured surface and shape into a rough rectangle. Roll this out until it is about 1 inch thick with the long edge facing towards you. Fold each short edge of the rectangle into the centre and then fold the dough in half again - this is a book fold. Wrap the dough in cling film and place in the fridge for 15 minutes - this gives the a chance for the dough to relax and the butter to firm up again. Repeat this process 4 or 5 times with a resting period between each fold and then cover in clingfilm and rest in the fridge for around an hour.
Lightly oil a baking sheet (or two!). Turn the dough back out onto a floured surface and roll out again into a long rectangle. Cut the dough into 20 even strips - I had to cut into 10 and then each of these in half as my rectangle was more fat than long due to work surface space.
To shape each strip, cut a slit in the middle leaving approximately 2.5cm closed at each end. Twist the dough each side of the slit over each other, pressing down to secure - it is important to do this as it stops them from unraveling when you fry. Don't worry too much about neatness, the idea is to make a craggy surface for the glaze to run into. Place each twist onto the baking tray leaving enough space between for them to expand. Cover the tray loosely with clingfilm and proof in the fridge overnight.
The following morning make the glaze by sifting the icing sugar into a bowl with the salt and mixing with the water and vanilla extract. You want it to be a sort of double cream consistently - too thin and it will run straight off, too thick and you will struggle to brush it evenly onto the pastries.
In a large heavy based pan (or deep fryer if you have such a thing!) heat several inches of oil to 170C/340F. A digital thermometer or at a push a candy thermometer is invaluable for this - in theory you can mess about with small pieces of dough or breadcrumbs to get the temperature but I wouldn't advise it. Once the oil has reached temperature reduce the heat a bit and slip 2 or 3 yum yums into the oil gently with a slotted spoon/spatula - how many you can do at once will depend on your pan but they do expand quite a lot.
Fry the yum yums until golden brown on the underside then flip them over and fry on the other side. I found each batch took about 5 minutes. Once they are ready remove from the oil with a slotted spoon or tongs and place on a cooling rack with something under it to catch the drips (I used a silpat sheet which was perfect). Brush each yum yum liberally with the glaze whilst it is still hot and allow to cool.
Best enjoyed as soon as possible - excellent with coffee, tea or hot chocolate in the rain in the park.
Beat together sourdough starter and egg and add to the flour with most of the water, mixing with your hands to form a dough. You may need all of the water or slightly more or less depending on your flour and other liquids so add it gradually - the dough should be soft but not soggy. Keep mixing until all the flour has been picked up from the sides but do not continue to knead as you will lose the lumps of butter which are needed to make the dough flaky.
Rest the dough in the bowl, covered in clingfilm, for 30 minutes.
To laminate the dough, turn it out onto a floured surface and shape into a rough rectangle. Roll this out until it is about 1 inch thick with the long edge facing towards you. Fold each short edge of the rectangle into the centre and then fold the dough in half again - this is a book fold. Wrap the dough in cling film and place in the fridge for 15 minutes - this gives the a chance for the dough to relax and the butter to firm up again. Repeat this process 4 or 5 times with a resting period between each fold and then cover in clingfilm and rest in the fridge for around an hour.
Lightly oil a baking sheet (or two!). Turn the dough back out onto a floured surface and roll out again into a long rectangle. Cut the dough into 20 even strips - I had to cut into 10 and then each of these in half as my rectangle was more fat than long due to work surface space.
To shape each strip, cut a slit in the middle leaving approximately 2.5cm closed at each end. Twist the dough each side of the slit over each other, pressing down to secure - it is important to do this as it stops them from unraveling when you fry. Don't worry too much about neatness, the idea is to make a craggy surface for the glaze to run into. Place each twist onto the baking tray leaving enough space between for them to expand. Cover the tray loosely with clingfilm and proof in the fridge overnight.
The following morning make the glaze by sifting the icing sugar into a bowl with the salt and mixing with the water and vanilla extract. You want it to be a sort of double cream consistently - too thin and it will run straight off, too thick and you will struggle to brush it evenly onto the pastries.
In a large heavy based pan (or deep fryer if you have such a thing!) heat several inches of oil to 170C/340F. A digital thermometer or at a push a candy thermometer is invaluable for this - in theory you can mess about with small pieces of dough or breadcrumbs to get the temperature but I wouldn't advise it. Once the oil has reached temperature reduce the heat a bit and slip 2 or 3 yum yums into the oil gently with a slotted spoon/spatula - how many you can do at once will depend on your pan but they do expand quite a lot.
Fry the yum yums until golden brown on the underside then flip them over and fry on the other side. I found each batch took about 5 minutes. Once they are ready remove from the oil with a slotted spoon or tongs and place on a cooling rack with something under it to catch the drips (I used a silpat sheet which was perfect). Brush each yum yum liberally with the glaze whilst it is still hot and allow to cool.
Best enjoyed as soon as possible - excellent with coffee, tea or hot chocolate in the rain in the park.
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