Boiling the bagels makes for an authentic chewy exterior; the longer they’re boiled, the chewier they’ll be. Serve the bagels fresh from the oven, or make them a day ahead and serve them toasted. This recipe’s also great with sliced banana.
Ingredients
Caramel sauce
Method
Main
1.Process flour, sugar, yeast and 1 tsp sea salt in a food processor to combine. Add 375ml lukewarm water, process until smooth and combined (1-2 minutes), transfer to a lightly buttered bowl, cover with plastic wrap and stand until doubled in size (1 hour).
2.Knock down dough, divide into 10 even pieces and roll into balls on a lightly floured surface. Working with one ball at a time, push your finger through the centre, then spin the dough around to form a 1.5cm-diameter hole. Place on an oven tray lined with baking paper, cover with a tea towel and stand until slightly risen (10 minutes).
3.Preheat oven to 200C. Bring honey and 3.5 litres water to the boil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat and add bagels in batches. When bagels rise to the surface, simmer, turning once, until slightly puffed (30 seconds each side). Remove with a slotted spoon, pat dry with absorbent paper, place on oven trays lined with baking paper and brush with eggwash.
4.Combine pearl sugar and 1 tsp sea salt flakes in a small bowl, scatter over bagels, pressing lightly, then bake, swapping trays halfway though cooking, until golden (15-20 minutes). Turn bagels, bake to dry bases (5 minutes), set aside and keep warm.
5.Meanwhile, for caramel sauce, stir honey and sugar in a saucepan over medium-high heat until sugar dissolves, bring to the boil and cook until dark caramel (6-7 minutes). Remove from heat, add butter, cream and 2 tsp sea salt (be careful, hot caramel will spit), stir to combine, transfer to an electric mixer, whisk until thick and cooled to room temperature (10-12 minutes) and set aside.
6.Halve bagels, spread with ricotta and caramel sauce and serve.
Pearl sugar is available from The Essential Ingredient; if it’s unavailable, substitute crushed sugar cubes.
This recipe is from the September 2012 issue of
.
Notes
