Today’s post is done with a heavy heart. Recently, on September 14, 2012, the food blogging world, and especially The Secret Recipe Club unexpectedly lost one of our bloggers. Daniel from The Haggis and the Herring passed away suddenly. He left behind a wonderful wife who is pregnant with their third child and two young boys. His wife, Meredith, wrote a heartfelt eulogy about him which you can read at the above link to his blog.
I didn’t really know Daniel very well, but through a couple of food blog forums and The Secret Recipe Club, I was certainly acquainted with his blog and his expertise in many things concerning computers, blogs, html, etc. He even emailed me about a week before he passed with a simple question about the German Chocolate Chip Cookies I posted. While I keep thinking about him and the loss his passing must be to his family, I believe he left quite a legacy, especially concerning food. His blog will always be a way for his family (and everyone else, like a simple virtual acquaintance like me) to connect with him and his love of food. Thank you for sharing so much, Daniel, and as well, his wife Meredith, as I know they cooked, baked and blogged together. She mentioned that Daniel’s last act was making dinner for his family before he passed. My deepest sympathies go out to all his family and friends. He will truly be missed at The Secret Recipe Club!
A big group of Secret Recipe bloggers decided to make a recipe from his blog as a special tribute to him and all post together. I spent quite a long time looking through his blog for just the right recipe to make. When I ran across Daniel’s post for his Mama's Bollos con Chocolate (Orange Rolls with Chocolate, I decided they were what I had to make when he said his grandmother made them and they were always his favorite dessert. He wrote in his post, which was almost a year ago, how he struggled to get the recipe from different family members, and then his aunt discovered it written down by his grandmother in Spanish. After having it translated, he and his wife made the rolls and he was happy with them being just like he remembered his grandmother used to make.
The recipe Daniel shares is huge—with eight eggs, lots of milk, orange juice, sugar and 11 cups of flour—oh, and at least a pound of chocolate! While that would be fun to make sometime for a big crowd, I knew we didn’t need that many here. I ended up quartering the recipe. I loved these rolls. They didn’t “need” the chocolate hiding in the center, but it was certainly good! I actually think the dough is great for “plain” orange rolls or I’m also thinking about a rolled roll like cinnamon rolls. The dough was sticky yet simple to work with.
Please get the recipe for these rolls from the link above. The halving and quartering of the recipe were quite simple. If you do decide to make a smaller batch and have any questions, feel free to ask me. I did end up using about a half of cup extra flour in the quartered recipe, but that is the only difference to Daniel’s posted recipe. I used Lindt 70% Excellence chocolate in the center of the rolls.
Brushed with an egg wash, they were ready for the oven after letting them rise for about 30 minutes.
Once the rolls were baked and cooled, they were sprinkled with some powdered sugar. I ate a few more of the rolls than I had planned (no, not all in one sitting). ;) Thank you so much, Daniel! You will truly be missed!
Thanks to Tandy from Lavender and Lime for Daniel’s Tribute Day logo.
20 comments:
You chose a wonderful recipe to remember him, I enjoyed reading your write-up.
Katrina, these look amazing! I'll be making these for sure.
Your post was just wonderful!
Love this Dan recipe I would like try these bollos con chocolate look delicious.
I will miss Daniel too!
A great recipe and great way to remember Daniel. I was so sad to hear of his passing.
What a great choice. They look wonderful. NIce to be in SRC with you.
I love that you chose this recipe (a classic Sephardic Jewish dessert) and that it was so meaningful to Daniel. You're right, he left quite a legacy. He will be sorely missed.
You wrote a beautiful tribute post to Daniel and his memory! These rolls look decadent and delicious.
This recipe reminds me of those chocolate orange balls. I gotta make this for Hanukkah! :)
Thank you, SallyBR. Your post is wonderful, too. The chicken looks great!
Family recipes are so wonderful. How nice that Dan finally got it translated an now its preserved on his blog for his family. They look fabulous. Nice tribute to Dan.
What wonderful, heartfelt words. And I LOVE the recipe you chose. I can almost smell them baking now. Great recipe pick!
Beautiful tribute, and delicious selection. The buns sound delicious.
How sad. His poor family.
He will be missed and you picked a perfect recipe to honor his memory.
1Daniel will definitely be missed. These rolls look delicious and I'm glad you put the chocolate in them!!
These look beautiful and your tribute is lovely. Nice pick.
that is so sad, but so sweet of you all to remember him this way
He will be missed. A sweet tribute!!!
these look like something I need to try! Thank you for using the banner, and the link ♥ :)
I love that we made the same recipe for Daniel, and for the same reason--because it was so special to him. I think he would be honored, esp since you followed the recipe and didn't jack with it like I did! :) Yours are the right size and look great. I wish I'd quartered the recipe too. I halved it and even then, we had way too many rolls. You can tell by the original that his grandma made them for the whole family. Loved reading this Katrina, you did a wonderful write-up.
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