Red River College Baking Competition

Yield: 12 scones

Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C).
In large bowl, combine flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda and sugar. Stir to combine ingredients.

Cut in canola margarine with pastry blender until pea-size particles have formed.

Add buttermilk and stir mixture only long enough to combine the ingredients. Additional buttermilk can be added if necessary.

Stir in cranberries and orange zest.
On lightly floured surface, knead dough 3 or 4 times to form a ball.
Roll out dough to ½ inch (1 cm) thickness. Using a 3 inch (7 cm) round cookie cutter, cut out scones and place on a parchment lined baking sheet.
Whisk together egg and water in small bowl. Brush scones well.
Sprinkle almonds on tops of scones. Then sprinkle on coarse sugar.
Bake scones for 15 – 20 minutes or until golden brown.

Red River College Baking Competition

2nd place winner Red River College

Robbyn Redekopp begins our interview with a confession. “My grandmother makes the most awesome raisin scones in the world,” says Redekopp who recently completed the professional baking program at Red River College.

So young Robbyn has a big apron to fill when it comes to honing her baking skills. She’s doing okay though. Her recipe for cranberry almond orange scones was good enough to grab one of two blue ribbons handed out at the Creative Canola Bake Off sponsored by the Manitoba Canola Growers Association. Most of the students in Red River College’s professional baking program competed.

“I’ve been baking with my grandma since I was a little girl. Some of our favourites include ice cream cookies, jam jams and peppermint cookies,” she said, and added that both grandmothers are avid bakers. “In fact, everyone in my family bakes. The whole point of me taking the professional baking program was to find out about the science behind baking, to understand it just a little bit better.”

For her winning entry, Redekopp gathered some of the pantry’s most complementary flavours to produce a flaky scone topped with course sugar and toasted almonds. The diminutive treats are served with a swirl of whipped orange zest butter.

“I like to add a lot of things to my scones. This recipe happens to be my mom’s favourite,” said Redekopp.

For the competition, Redekopp make a bold decision to use canola oil instead of the very traditional butter when it came to making her scones.

“I was a little nervous, that’s for sure, because we always use butter. But it went really well. There we no issues although mine do have a slightly different texture,” she said.

While scones were a winner for her, Redekopp’s heart is in cakes and cupcakes. “Yes, I love watching Cake Boss on television. I love reality cooking shows. You learn so much.”

Redekopp said her boyfriend can’t get enough cupcakes so she gets lots of practice. “He’s pretty much obsessed with my vanilla cupcakes.”

In addition to working full time at a Winnipeg bakery, Redekopp offers custom creations including breads, cooking, dainties and cakes through her Facebook fan page (search for Half Baked Creations By Robbyn Michal).

By Shel Zolkewich

You can't just have one

Yield: 50 koeksisters

Syrup

Mix all syrup ingredients in a large saucepan. Heat the syrup over high heat, while stirring, to dissolve the sugar.
Stop stirring as soon as the syrup begins to boil. Boil for 10 minutes, constantly cleaning the sides of the pot of sugar crystals with a pastry brush dipped in water.
Remove from heat. Let cool to room temperature. Refrigerate until syrup is very cold.

Dough

For the dough, sift the flour, baking powder, salt, nutmeg, cinnamon, ginger and all spice into a large mixing bowl.
Mix in the canola oil to form a texture that resembles bread crumbs.
Add buttermilk and mix to form a soft dough, adding more buttermilk if needed.
Wrap dough in plastic wrap and let rest 1 hour.
Roll out dough on lightly floured surface, to a thickness of ? inch (4 mm). Cut in 1 ½ inch (4 cm) wide strips. Cut strips in lengths of 2 ¾ inch (7 cm). Cut three legs into each strip – keeping the top ? inch (4 mm) intact. Braid the three legs and secure the ends by pinching ends together.

Place on parchment lined baking sheet and keep covered to keep koeksisters from drying out.
Meanwhile, heat canola oil in deep fryer to 375°F (190°C). Fry koeksisters 5 at a time until golden brown.
Remove from oil with a slotted spoon onto a paper towel lined tray. Immediately submerge in cold syrup.
Let sit in cold syrup 1–2 minutes and then transfer to wire rack to drain excess syrup.

Storage Instructions:

Store uncovered in refrigerator or covered in the freezer. Serve ice cold.

1st place winner Red River College

First Place
Manitoba Canola Growers
Red River College Baking Competition

As soon as the photoshoot is over, a dozen hands dart at the cakestand and snatch one of the glistening braided treats piled high and pretty. It’s surprising, considering these are students in the professional baking program at Red River College and you’d think they get their fill of treats on a daily basis. But, like everyone else, they can’t resist the koeksisters.

Koeksisters, a syrup-drenched, slightly spicy, crunchy fried donut, grabbed one of two blue ribbon handed out at the Creative Canola Bake Off sponsored by the Manitoba Canola Growers Association. Most of the students in Red River College’s professional baking program competed.

Since winning the top prize, baking student Anna Badenhorst has had to explain—more than once—the pronunciation and origins of the South African recipe that helped her win.

“This is something I grew up with,” said Badenhorst. “It’s a very popular thing all over South Africa.”

Here in Manitoba however, koeksisters are a rarity and that’s why Badenhorst will gladly whip up a batch for special orders. If you can restrain yourself from eating the entire batch in one sitting, they keep very well in the freezer.

For the competition, Badenhorst started with her mother’s recipe then experimented with about 30 other recipes to get just the right mix of spices. The final recipe includes nutmeg, cinnamon, ginger and allspice. The dough is cut into seven-inch strips, braided, deep fried, then dunked into an ice-cold syrup flavoured with ginger and cinnamon. The crispy treats are best served cold and with tea or coffee.

In South Africa, koeksisters are fried in sunflower oil but Badenhorst uses canola oil because of its health properties. “It performs exactly the same way,” she said.

Badenhorst, a professor with the human ecology faculty at the University of Manitoba, sells koeksisters at the Selkirk Farmers’ Market throughout the summer. She says once shoppers get a taste of the samples, they can’t leave without making a purchase.

“You would never buy just one. These are always sold by the dozen,” Badenhorst said, hinting at the addictive nature of these South African goodies.

Some day in the near future, Badenhorst would like to open a coffee shop, modeled after the shops in her homeland. “The French and Dutch had a lot of influence in the shops of South Africa,” she said. “I would like to offer light meals with the focus on tea and coffee service with baking.”

12 popovers

Yorkshire pudding made healthy

Yield:

1. Preheat oven to 450°F (220°C).

2. Measure all ingredients into a large mixing bowl. Beat well to combine ingredients. Mixture should be smooth. Set aside.

3. When the oven is ready, heat the muffin pan for 1 to 2 minutes, until it is very hot. Spray evenly with canola oil.

4. Pour batter into muffin pan cups and place in oven. Bake for 10 minutes. Reduce heat to 350°F (180°C) and continue to cook for 10 minutes or until popovers have risen completely and are golden brown in colour.

Yield: 12 popovers

1. Preheat oven to 450°F (220°C)

2. Measure flour, salt, eggs, milk, and canola oil into a large mixing bowl. Beat well to combine ingredients. Mixture should be smooth. Stir in the remaining ingredients. Set aside.

3. When the oven is ready, heat the muffin pan for 1 to 2 minutes, until it is very hot. Spray evenly with canola oil.

4. Pour batter into muffin pan cups and place in oven. Bake for 10 minutes. Reduce heat to 350°F (180°C) and continue to cook for 10 minutes or until popovers have risen completely and are golden brown in colour.

Yield: 12 popovers

a wonderful morning treat

1. Preheat oven to 450°F (220°C).

2. Measure all ingredients into a large mixing bowl. Beat well to combine ingredients. Mixture should be smooth. Set aside.

3. When the oven is ready, heat the muffin pan for 1 to 2 minutes, until it is very hot. Spray evenly with canola oil.

4. Pour batter into muffin pan cups and place in oven. Bake for 10 minutes. Reduce heat to 350°F (180°C) and continue to cook for 10 minutes or until popovers have risen completely and are golden brown in colour.

Serve with favourite syrup, jam or honey.