Rosemary and Lemon Buns

I made a lemon tart with a rosemary filling last week and absolutely loved, loved, loved the pairing of the two in the creamy tart. Rosemary and Lemon, what a pair. Definitely a coupling I intend on exploiting further. 

I forged straight ahead and combined the two in a soft bread. 

I reverted to the tangzhong bread method which I knew would yield a really light, soft, pillowy bread. I wanted a sweetish bread - one that I could eat on its own with no need for a filling or a spread. Just bread with the additional flavours all mixed in already. 

Speaking of additional flavours, I had some leftover saffron-infused double cream which I'd used in my version Yotam Ottolengi's Broad Bean Kuku (frittata) and so I decided to use cream as the liquid for my buns instead of a water/milk combination I usually go for. 

Can you just imagine it? Cream, cheese, saffron, rosemary and lemon. My oh! my.

Rosemary and Lemon Buns

For the roux
2 tbsp flour
2 tbsp custard powder
60ml milk
60ml water

For the loaf
350g bread flour
2 tbsp milk powder
4 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp instant yeast
1 egg
80ml saffron-infused cream (heat milk+1 tsp saffron threads till boiling and let sit to infuse for 30 mins)/milk (set about 3 tbsp aside to brush on your bread)
40ml water
roux
30g butter, softened
2 sprigs rosemary, chopped fine
zest of 1 lemon

Mix the ingredients for the roux together till smooth. Put the mixture in a saucepan on the stove until it thickens to the consistency of mayonnaise, more or less. Leave to cool.

Mix the flour, sugar, milk powder, salt together. Add the yeast and whisk it in too. Add the egg and the cooled roux and mix it into the flour mixture with your hands. Add the cream/water gradually and bring everything together to form a rough dough (it won't be smooth - as long as it comes together, it's fine).

Cover and leave to proof for 10 mins.

After 10 mins, uncover and add the softened butter and gently knead it into the dough until it's well incorporated. Knead the dough a couple of times by gently stretching the dough with the heel of your hand and folding it over. Turn it 90 degrees and repeat. Cover and allow it to rest for another 10 mins.

Once it's rested for 10 mins, knead the dough a few times (maybe for about 3-5 mins) and then cover. Repeat this another three times. The sough should expand a little each time.

Once the final knead has been done, cover and let proof for about 45 mins to an hour or until doubled.

Gently punch the dough down with your fist (be gentle) and shape as you desire: a loaf or buns as I did.

Place the buns/loaf in the baking pan and let it sit for about 20-25 mins for it to rise one final time. Brush the cream you kept aside on the bread.

Bake in a 180C pre-heated oven for about 20-25 min (a little longer if its a loaf) or until golden and cooked through (check the underside of the loaf if you are unsure).

Rolling with Leeks

I'm smitten. Last week, I made some Green Tea Cheese Buns using the tangzhong method of bread making popularised by baker Yvonne Chen (check out the story here). The buns were delicious. Soft and tender and very, very tasty: buttery (there's quite a bit of butter that goes into the bread) and just slightly sweet.  Really yummy milk buns. And the best part? The roux (which is the "secret" component to the buns) keeps the bread fluffy and nice for a week or so. I

Ever since, I've been obsessed with making more bread using the tangzhong method. Crusty, artisanal bread is fantastic but every now and again, I like soft, pillowy bread. Kinda like how I like watching fluffy TV shows that don't require much thought but are entirely entertaining. Speaking of which, did you see the latest installment of Revenge? I swear that show is getting more soapy by the moment.

Back to bread. The milk buns are tasty enough on their own and don't need to be filled or eaten with anything, except perhaps more butter. But I decided to add a dimension to them by adding leeks and chillies into the dough, fully infusing the bread with the subtle oniony flavour of the leek. 

I cooked the leeks in butter first, just until they softened and released some of their flavour. I then mixed it into the dough right at the start, before the first knead. 

By the end, the leeks (sliced thin and soft) were barely visible in the dough which was coloured and enhanced with the addition of custard powder (my friend and fellow blogger Jane of the waywardoven.blogspot.com introduced me to both the tangzhong process as well as the possibility of using custard powder).

The buns did not disappoint. The taste of the leeks were distinct yet subtle (I used about 2 cups of sliced leek but may increase it by half the next time I make these, which I will!) and the chilli flakes added an unexpected kick every so often. Nice. 

Leek and Chilli Milk Buns

For the roux

2 tbsp bread flour
2 tbsp custard powder
60ml water
60ml milk

For the buns

350g bread flour (scant 3 cups)
2 tbsp milk powder
4 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 egg
1 tsp instant yeast
60ml warm water + 60ml warm milk (I increased the ratio of milk this time)
Tangzhong roux

30g butter, softened
2 cups sliced leeks, cooked in butter until soft and translucent
2 tbsp chilli flakes (more/less dpeending on the heat of the flakes or your tolerance for heat)

Whisk the flour, sugar, salt, milk powder and yeast together. Add the roux (reserve about 2 tbsp to glaze the buns before baking) and egg and mix together by hand until the dough starts to come together. Add the warm water/milk and mix until you get a rough dough. 

Cover with a tea towel/dish cloth and leave for 10 mins.

Gently knead in the softened butter, leeks and chilli flakes to the rested dough, making sure that the butter is well incorporated into the dough, about 3 mins. 

Cover and leave for another 10 mins. The dough should rise just a little in the time. The dough rise will increase after each subsequent knead.

After 10 mins, uncover the dough and gently knead it by gently stretching the ball of dough with the heel of your hand and then folding it back. Repeat this a few times (another 3 mins) and then let it rest for another 10 mins. Repeat this three more times.

The dough will be a little sticky; grease your hands with butter (or oil ) to avoid the dough sticking to your hands.

After the final knead, cover and let the dough rest till it doubles in size, about 60 mins.

Preheat the oven to 180C.

Divide the dough into equal portions. This time, for the first time actually, I weighed each portion to make my buns identical in size. Each portion weighed 105gms. Roll each 105gm portion into a ball on a greased surface and place on a baking tray.  

Brush the tops with the reserved roux (if it has thickened some more, add a tbsp or two of water and dilute it over a very low heat for a minute). Top (if you like) with poppy/sesame seeds (or any seed/spice you wish) and bake for about 20 mins. 

Cream Cheese-Filled Buns

About six months into sixth form (this was some 20 plus years ago), I realised I'd made a huge mistake signing up for the Accounting paper. It was hard and I wasn't very good at it.  Furthermore, it wasn't a subject that was taught in school and so we (me and some of my fellow classmates) had to go for private tuition after school — two hours, once a week. Despite the tuition, I still sucked at the subject. Mistake. Big mistake as my results later confirmed. 

What's the point of this story?

Well, one of the highlights of the weekly tuition classes was the visit to the small bakery that was located almost directly beneath the tuition centre. Well, it was about four doors down. Every week, before, after or sometimes during class, we'd run down to the bakery to buy ourselves some treats. My favourite? A cream cheese bun that was soft, sweet and deliciously nourishing. I'd buy two. On the days the bakery ran out of the buns (they were hot items apparently), I'd be miserable all throughout class. More miserable than usual, that is.

For some reason, I thought of those buns today.

I am not sure if that tiny bakery is still in business or not but even if it was, I was certain it would be shut today, it being the first day of the lunar New Year and all. Damn the timing of these cravings!

Well, I decided to try and recreate the buns at home since I had plenty of flour and some cream cheese. I couldn't find a recipe online that fit the buns that I remembered and so I made do. I used a recipe for sweet buns and made my own cream cheese filling to stuff the buns with, crossing my fingers all the while (not while I kneaded but otherwise). 

The buns turned out great. In fact, they tasted quite close to the buns I'd had all those years ago. The only fault was in my execution of re-sealing the buns once I filled them with the cheese. I was remiss in making sure the buns were 100% sealed and as a result, some of the filling oozed out while the buns were baking.

Eeeks. No matter. A slight oversight. We live and learn, right? The buns came out of the oven an hour ago and so far, I've gobbled down two already. That's it. I have to do about 1,000 jumping jacks once I'm done with this post. Onto the recipe now...

Cream Cheese-filled Buns

For the buns

1/4 cup tepid water

21/4 tsp instant yeast

2 tbsp + 1 tsp sugar

4 cups all purpose flour

11/4 tsp salt

30g butter, softened

11/4 cups milk + 2 tbsp

1 egg

For the Cream Cheese Filling

100g cream cheese, softened

50g icing sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

Dissolve the yeast and 1 tsp sugar in the 1/4 cup tepid water. Set aside till mixture becomes frothy.

Using your mixer (or by hand) beat the butter, salt and 2 tbsp sugar till light and fluffy. Add the 11/4 cups milk, egg and the yeast mixture and mix to incorporate. Add the flour (switch mixer to low speed if using) and mix to form a dough. 

Transfer to a lightly floured work surface and knead for about five minutes or till the dough is smooth and elastic (you can do the window pane test by pinching a small amount of dough and stretching it to form a pane. If it stretches easily without breaking, you're done).

Transfer dough into an oiled bowl. Cover with a clean dish cloth and let it rise for about an hour.

Make the filling. Beat the cream cheese, sugar and vanilla till light and fluffy. Chill for at least 30 mins. 

Preheat the oven to 200C.

When the dough has risen, lightly punch it down with your fingers to release the gas. Weigh (or estimate) about 40g dough and form small balls of dough, slightly bigger than a golf ball. 

Once the balls have been formed (you should get about 14-16), flatten each one gently with your fingers and fill them with a heaped tsp of the chilled cheese filling. Seal the buns by pulling together the sides and pressing them shut and re-roll them into balls. 

Place them about 2 cm apart on a baking tray (with an edge) and leave them to rise for about 20 mins. Cover with the dish cloth again. 

Brush the tops with the 2 tbsp milk. 

Bake for 20-25 mins. 

No ordinary potato bun, Rosemary.

In my bread baking adventure, I am beginning to realise that practice really does make perfect. You can read heaps about making the perfect loaf and avoiding  common mishaps (bread that doesnt rise, yeast that doesnt froth, crust that's too hard, rock hard buns, etc) but you aint gonna get it right unless you try and try again and improve your technique.

Making bread is really not difficult technically, but it does require a lot of patience, especially if you're a novice and not a natural baker (I do believe some people have a natural ability to craft the perfect loaf with minimal effort).

So, though I had success with my first loaf -- Delia Smith's Quick and Easy Wholemeal Loaf -- I wasn't too successful with  my next recipe, Potato and Resemary buns ... well, at least at first.

Unlike the Wholemeal Loaf, this recipe required some kneading and some knocking back. Also, the yeast has to be 'activated' by dissolving it in tepid water before it could be added into the flour mix.

I decided to try and try and until I succeeded. The obssessive compulsive in me needs to succeed. It took me three tries berfore I got it right. My first two attempts (pic below), the dough didn't quite rise as it should have and they sorta were a cross between a biscuit and a bun .. a buncuit.



The recipe calls for instant yeast which you can combine with the other dry ingredients before adding the required liquid. I substituted it with active dry yeast and followed the same instructions.

The problem? Active dry yeast needs to be "activated" first -- by dissolving it in tepid water which will cause the yeast to froth and hence get activated. My mistake?  The second time, my water wasn't quite tepid -- it was a little colder and so the yeast didn't activate. (Tepid water, by the way, is very warm water but at a temperature that's allows you to  dip you fingers in and keep them there for a good 10 seconds without getting scalded).

The third time, I got it right. The yeast frothed up nicely and the dough did rise.

Also important is to get the texture of the dough correct. After mixing the dry ingredients with the water and kneading, your bread dough should be sticky but  should be able to come off your mixing bowl in one lump. You should not have to scrape little chuncks from the base and sides.

And, with bread it's better to have a little too much water than too little.

These potato rolls taste way different from the ones you get in kedai runcit or even those from bakeries. For one thing, while those are sweet buns, this one is savoury  and a little hot hot or spicy, courtesy of the ingredients: ground black pepper, salt, dried rosemary and sage. You first have to  boil and mash one potato (better with the skin on, scrubbed of course) and the mix together with the high protein bread flour, salt, butter, herbs and yeast. Mix and knead for about 5 to 10 mins, adding 1 cup tepid water. Knead till you get the right texture. Cover with a damp cloth for 60 to 90 mins. By this time it should have doubled in size (if it hasn't you're in trouble -- as I was my first two times).

Next, de-gas the dough by  gently "punching" it and the shape them into balls (bigger than a golf ball, smaller than a tennis ball) and place them on a greased and lined  baking sheet. Cover the dough balls with a garbage bag for another hour.

15 mins before the hour, preheat your oven to 180C.

Bake for 10 mins, rotate the tray and bake for another 10 to 15 mins. The bottoms should be slightly crisp.

The rolls taste great eaten alone or with a little butter. They semll wonderful while baking and you can most definitely get a herb high ;)

For the full recipe (and to get hooked onto a great link) go to www.thefreshloaf.com/recipes/potatorosemaryrolls