Spelt and Tomato Whorl Breadcakes

From The Lazy Baker

These are pretty looking breadcakes perfect for Summer BBQ burgers or big sarnies for packed lunch. I love them split and toasted on the BBQ, then smothered in hummus, chilli jam and ketchup with a burger. 

What you need:

For 4 burger-sized buns
500g Wholemeal Spelt Flour (or 50:50 white/wholemeal mix for a fluffier texture)
250-300ml Lukewarm water
100g Tomato puree
1 tsp Dried active yeast
about 10ml Olive oil

How to:

Mix the flour and yeast together. Add tomato puree, and mix together with your fingers. Keep mixing by squeezing the mixture through your fingers and add water a splash at a time until you have a dough that holds together but doesn't stick to your fingers. Pour the oil over your hands and onto the dough, and give a good 2 minute knead to incorporate the oil and get a smooth dough. 


Spelt has less gluten (the component that makes dough elastic) than wheat so behaves a bit differently in a dough. It's a good idea to knead for short one minute spells and let the spelt dough rest for 20 minutes or so between kneadings to allow the gluten to develop. So don't worry if your dough feels different from your normal wheat dough. 


Cover your dough to keep in moisture and leave to rise for around an hour in a warm place. (If you're in a rush you can skip this step and go straight to forming the buns.)


Then divide up your dough and form the buns. To make the swirl shape start with a thick sausage shaped piece of dough, twist it and join up the ends of the sausage into a circle, overlapping by a few centimentres and without a hole in the middle (Maybe I'll post a bagel recipe next).


Cover these buns and leave to rise for 30 minutes before baking at 180 - 200*C.


Variations:


Add in leftover pesto, tapenade or even pasta sauce instead of tomato puree.


Experiment with shapes and sizes of buns.


After rising but before baking, brush tops of buns with milk and sprinkle on sesame or poppy seeds.

Do comment to share your variations on this recipe. These recipes are just my ideas and I'd love to know your ideas too! Happy experimenting.