Sunday 18 May 2014

Sunday Morning Cinnamon Buns *No eggs required*

What do you feel is the best time to bake? Well honestly all times are the best time to bake , but morning baking is my FAV
You know the whole staying up late night , searching the multitudes of recipes on the internet to decide what tasty treat should you whip up , drooling, finding something you Absolutely Have To make and then falling into deep slumber. Well, I waste no time mulling over such things.
Wake  up, find recipe, cuppa tea in one hand and a whisk in another. Chop chop chop. 

So yesterday I found this amazing blog called Averie Cooks . Since yeast is my current obsession I head straight to her yeasted breads section and guess what I found ! Cinnamon buns * well that wasn't a tough guess considering that's exactly what the title says. Maybe I should work on building up the mystery . But chopchopchop*
Anywhoo she had an overnight cinnamon bun recipe and an instant 1 hour one. Guess which one impatient Soph picked *Yay . I kinda got the mystery part right*


Why This Recipe Stole My Heart ( just by reading , I hadn't baked it yet)
  • 1 hour stuff. No long waiting
  • Yeast. 
  • No eggs. Although I don't have issues with eggs, I know a bunch of people who do . So it's always nicer to include them in food tasting
  • Cinnamon ! I <3 cinnamon. I can sprinkle that goodness on all foods ever 
  • CinnamonBun!  from Adventure Time -My favourtie cartoon.Yes I'm an Adult . Yes I watch Adventure time , and Futurama. But you must understand how deep these cartoons are. its about life and so many things that come with it . All the hardships, the lessons, the love. Something a person any age can relate to.



That being said I faced certain difficulties regarding the dough . It was quiet sticky and just couldn't hold it together. I was afraid that adding too much flour would make it very chewy , so just worked my way around the dough .With a few changes and faith in the God of Baked Goods, everything worked out great!Oh itssooooooyummy , you're gonna want seconds and thirds and fourths.
My search for cinnalove does not end here, but it's a great place to start , and satiate instant cravings.
Dough Ingredients 

Spread the dough, spread some butter

Srpinkle some sugars

Rolled and cut

Lovely and baked

I did a Google search on cinnamon buns and found some fun paraphernalia( I don't know why I'm doing this , but it's interesting!)
Cinnamon Bun Latte (yummy yummy)
Cinnamon Roll cake flavour (I own it. It smells like heaven dipped in maple syrup)

Here's the Original Recipe. I omitted the cream cheese Icing cuz well, don't wanna OD on sugar just yet. But you totally can!

Kay now Bakey time

Cinnamon Buns *egg free*

Ingredients

Dough:

3 cup flour
1 cup buttermilk(I didnt have buttermilk so I took 1/2 cup yogurt, 1/3rd cup milk and remaining water)
1 tsp dry active yeast
2 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp oil
1 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla essence(this is optional but  always a great choice)

Filling:

50 gm softened Butter
1/3 cup Brown Sugar
1/4 cup White sugar
1 stick cinnamon ( variable.depends on how much cinna does your palette craves)

Method

  • Mix yeast & 1 tbsp sugar in 2 tbsp warm( 30-40  C) water . Let it stand for 15 minutes.
  • Take all the dough ingredients along with yeast and mix. Now knead a lil ,cover and let it rise for 1 hour.(till doubles in size)
  • Sprinkle a cling wrap sheet with powdered sugar. 
  • Spread the dough on the sheet to make a rectangle of around 1 cm thickness.
  • Spread the butter on the dough. leave a 1/4 inch margin on the sides
  • Blitz together the sugars and cinnamon. Sprinkle evenly on top of the butter. Reserve 2 tbsp.
  • Roll the dough . Cut in 1 inch thick slices .Place in a cake-pan.
  • Sprinkle the top with remaining sugar cinnamon mix 
  • Cover and let it rise for 20 minutes.
  • Meanwhile preheat oven to 180C
  • Bake for 30 -35 minutes , untill a fork inserted comes out clean
Let it stand for 10 minutes after. There are buttery juices at the bottom that your buns need to soak up.
Now cut and devour.







Friday 16 May 2014

Japanese Hokkaido Milk Bread

Have you ever baked a loaf of bread?
A perfect warm fluffy thing that brings joy in the darkest corners of your heart?

There was a time I used to be afraid of baking breads. I dunno why but I wouldn't touch yeasted recipes with a 10 foot pole. And then came a day when I baked my first loaf of fresh white bread. IT WAS THE MOST BEAUTIFUL THING EVER.
I'd read in books how satisfying and rewarding a loaf of bread fresh from the oven is . In this Sophie Kinsella book actually. It was perfectly true. And although I still don't always have successful breads, this recipe is always there to counter the fails.

My grandparents live in Hyderabad. Every-time I visit them , there is always a tin of condensed milk and a loaf of milk bread from the local bakery waiting for me. And that loaf of milk bread is is practically cake with an identity crisis because its so ,just so delicious. In a nostalgic attempt to recreate the sweet cloud of love I found this Japanese method of bread making . They use a milk water flour roux in the bread to give it a softer texture called Tanzhong. You can read more about it here, although that's not the recipe I used. 
I used this recipe from Christine's Kitchen. She has a massive Tanzhong bread collection , some of which I mean to try very soon. 

tanzhong
This is a rich recipe with butter, eggs and milk.Almost brioche like.It even calls for milk powder , but sadly I didn't have any lying around. I guess next time , it can only improve on its wonderful taste. I went ahead and added some raisins to it. Like all bread recipes it can be used plain or filled with savoury or sweet things. Juts adjust the sugar and salt accordingly









Hokkaido Milk Bread


Tanzhong

  1. 1/3 cup flour
  2. 1/2 cup milk
  3. 1/2cup water
Method :
Mix all ingredients. Put on flame and keep stirring till mixture thickens and reaches 65 C or pulls away clean from the pan. 
Cool to achieve room temperature

USE 1/2 OF THIS FOR THE FOLLOWING RECIPE

Bread

Ingredients

  • 2 1/2 cup flour
  • 3 tbsp sugar
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 egg
  • 1 tbsp milk powder( I didn't have any , so I skipped it)
  • 1/2 cup milk
  • 2 tsp instant yeast
  • 3 tbsp butter
  • 1/2 volume of tanzhong

Method

  • Mix 1 tbsp sugar in 3 tbsp of water and stir in yeast . Leave it undisturbed for about 10-15 minutes
  • Pour all your ingredients in a bowl
  • Using hands or dough maker, make a dough! I
Note: Its will be a very sticky dough , but that's what makes it awesome . So if you're tempted to add more flour , DONT
  • Now knead and knead and knead till it reaches a smooth-er feel . It'll take about 10 minutes by hand
  • Place in a greased bowl , cover with cling-wrap or wet towel. 
  • Ferment for about 40 minutes or till it doubles in size. I like to keep my dough out on the window sill in sunshine to get the right temperature.
  • Divide dough in 3 parts
  • Flatten out each part and roll each one up
  • Place all three in a bread tin. Ferment for another 30 minutes.
  • Brush with an egg wash 
  • Bake in preheated oven at 190 C for about 40-45 minutes
  • Once removed from the oven WAIT for it to reach room temperature before slicing. I know it's tempting but it will fall apart otherwise. 
Go take a power nap . Wake up , slice bread.
Slather with love, joy, butter or nutella and gobble gobble gobble :D