Anaïs van Manen is a chef renowned for creating playful, honest dishes that reference her Vietnamese background while encompassing different cultures, techniques and experiences. Her latest recipe for British kitchenware brand Crane Cookware is sweet potato and spring onion bread – a simple yet delicious flatbread that can be made using a mug in place of measurement cups or scales – which she makes using Crane's C3 Cast Iron Frying Pan. The ideal recipe to perfect and make your own over time.
Dough
- 2.5 mugs of bread flour
- 1 medium-size sweet potato, steam and mashed (it should be just under one full mug and still lightly warm)
- 3 full tbsp of yogurt
- 1/2 mug of lukewarm water
- 2 tbsp of Extra Virgin Olive
- 1 tsp of Maldon salt
- 1 tsp of sugar
- 1 tsp of turmeric powder
- 4 spring onions finely chop
- 1 pack of active yeast
Yogurt Egg wash
- 1 large egg yolk
- 1 tbsp of yogurt
- 1 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil
To sprinkle
- Sesame seeds
- White pepper
- Maldon salt
- Finely chopped spring onion
Mix your flour, salt, sugar, turmeric powder, and spring onion in a bowl. In a jug, stir together your yeast, lukewarm water, yogurt and olive oil.
Add your mashed sweet potato to your flour mix, and gradually add your liquid to the mix. Knead the dough until well combined for about 3 minutes. Cover and let it rest for 15minutes.
Sprinkle your work surface with flour, knead your rested dough for 10 minutes, put the dough in a clean oiled bowl, cover with a kitchen towel, and let it proof until it doubles in size.
As the dough is quite soft to handle, we want to have parchment paper under the bread to slide it into your hot pan. Cut 2 pieces of round parchment paper that will fit in your pan.
Divide your dough into two balls and place each ball on top of your parchment paper. You then want to press slowly from the edge of the bowl until it reaches the edge of your parchment paper. Let each bread rest for an extra 45 minutes. Pre-heat your oven to 240C, with your cast iron pan inside. Mix your yogurt egg wash in a bowl until smooth.
When ready to bake, make little dimples onto bread and brush your egg wash abundantly on top. Slide your bread onto the hot pan. Sprinkle your sesame seeds, Maldon salt, white pepper and spring onion over the bread.
Turn down your oven to 200C and Bake it for 18minutes until golden brown, then flip it and bake for an extra 5 minutes for a crispy bottom. If your oven gets too hot, you can reduce your heat to 180C. Take your bread out of the oven and transfer your bread to a grill/rack to let it cool.
Now that you've mastered sweet potato and spring onion bread, why not try Anaïs' recipe for braised oxtail?
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