One of the contestants in this year’s season of The Great British Baking Show is a left below-knee amputee named Marc Elliott. We’re tracking his progress through the season, while sharing favorite recipes from limb-different bakers in the Amplitude community.
In Episode 3 (Bread), Marc was named Star Baker (an amputee first!). In addition to nailing the rainbow bagels in the Technical Challenge, Marc wowed the judges in the Showstopper with his Dharma Wheel bread sheaf. Asked why he chose that particular symbol for his creation, Marc explained: “After I had the accident where I lost my leg, I wasn’t in a very good place. I was just trying to come to terms with what had happened, and I picked up a wonderful book on the philosophy of Buddhism. It made it a lot clearer what I needed to do to move forward with my life.” Toward the episode’s conclusion, he added: “I take every opportunity I can to take a mindful breath to bring me back to the present moment. When we’re worrying, we’re worrying about things that happened in our past, or we’re worrying about the future. And ultimately we’ve got no control over that, have we?“
This Week’s Recipe: The Best Cinnamon Rolls with Maple Cream Cheese Icing
The spirit of mindfulness surely lives within Tychiko Cox. We first became aware of him when we spotted his incredible drawings on Instagram. Then we found out visual art is merely a hobby for Cox; his true vocation is as a classically trained singer. So imagine our surprise when we recently learned there’s a third dimension to his artistry: The man can bake. Last month Cox (an LBKA) launched Broken Breadhaus, a virtual bakery for his gorgeous breads, rolls, pastries, and other handcrafted creations.
Cox learned to make dough hit the high notes from his grandmother, Edith, who’s now 91 and still making bread back home in the Bahamas. “Bread was always the food that would bring my family together,” he writes. “I want my bread to be the same source of communion for you and your loved ones.”
If you’re in the Phoenix/Tempe area, you can place orders for pickup or delivery at Broken Breadhaus’s website or Facebook page. (Out-of-state orders aren’t available at this time.) Delivery Product offerings rotate pretty regularly; with Thanksgiving already on the horizon, cranberry + rosemary sandwich loaves will be available soon. Cox was generous enough to share the basic recipe for his sumptuous cinnamon rolls. Some of the finer touches remain proprietary, though, so next time you’re in the Valley of the Sun, you should definitely place an order and check out the real thing.
Ingredients
ROLLS:
500g all-purpose flour
12g salt
8g active dry yeast
Cinnamon powder
Dark brown sugar
Milk
15g melted coconut oil
1 egg
1 egg yolk
ICING:
1 block cream cheese
Maple extract
Vanilla extract
Powdered sugar
Instructions
1) Combine dry ingredients and mix until evenly distributed. Then add coconut oil, eggs, and water.
2) Knead dough by hand for 8 minutes. Let kneaded dough rest for 3 minutes, then fold into ball and allow to rise for 1 hour.
3) After dough has risen, fold into ball again and allow to rest for 15 minutes.
4) Lightly flour dough and countertop, then roll out dough to about 1/4 inch thickness.
5) Spread extra coconut into dough, sprinkle with cinnamon and brown sugar, and roll into log.
6) Using dental floss as if tying a shoelace, slice dough into 10 to 12 equal pieces. Space evenly on greased baking sheet and let stand for 35 minutes.
7) Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
8) Brush rolls with melted coconut oil. Bake for 30 minutes, then allow baked rolls to cool.
9) Make icing while rolls are cooling. “My icing isn’t measured,” Tychiko writes. “It’s made to taste.” Steps: combine block of cream cheese with powdered sugar, add pinch of salt to deepen flavor, then blend in 2 to 3 drops of maple extract and vanilla extract.
10) Spread icing over the cooled rolls. You’re done—dig in!
Previous Amputee Bake Off recipes:
Very Carroty Carrot Cake by @cy_eats
Lemon-meringue Pie by Stump Kitchen