Its a wrap!

A couple of days back, I asked Mr DC what he would like me to make. He requested for the sausage buns, something which I made before. He told me that he loved the sweet bun dough and the fat sausages I used I think that buns with fillings are more of an asian style bread. In Singapore, they are hugely popular and can have all sorts of fillings, from savoury to sweet. I guess this is our answer to a sandwich. The dough we use have a slightly sweet aftertaste, with a very soft texture. Sausage (or hotdog) buns are probably the all time classic. The good thing about making them at home is that you can use better quality sausages so you can get a much more statisfying mix of meat and bread. Yum.

The last time I made them, I did not really know how to wrap the dough around the sausages and ended up with fat buns that had far more dough than sausage. Not satisfied with how they turned out, I went out to different bakeries and spied on chefs while they were making buns. There are quite a few bakeries with just a pane of clear glass separating the front shop and the kitchen. I stood at the window and studied how they wrap their buns. Then, I decided to try out this new sweet bun dough recipe I found. I also carefully weighed out each serving of dough so as to get a good mix of bun and meat in every bite. I am pleased to say that the end result was exactly what I wanted it to be! I got 17 60g buns out of this recipe, so I filled the rest of my buns with chocolate, almonds and apricots. Fill these buns with tuna, luncheon meat, egg salad, or even mashed sweet potato and yam. The possibilities are endless.

BASIC SWEET BUN DOUGH (Adapted from Alex Goh’s World of Bread)
(A)
480 g bread flour, sifted
120 g plain flour, sifted
110 g sugar
10 g salt
20 g milk powder, sifted
4 tsp instant yeast

(B)
1 medium egg
300 ml cold water

(C)
60 g butter, melted

Fillings :

10 chicken sausages

Topping n Egg wash :

sesame seeds, lightly toast

1 yolk mix with 2 tbsp water

1. Combine (A)  till well blended. With a mixer fixed with dough hook, add (B)  and knead till dough is formed.

2. Add (C) and continue to knead for about 7 to 10 minutes. Your dough should be sticky and elastic.

3. Transfer dough to a lightly oiled bowl and coat to prevent from sticking. Cover the bowl with cling wrap and let it proof for about an hour, or until it doubles in size.

4. Press the dough lightly. It should has a slight indentation but the dough should not sink completely.

5. Divide the dough into 10 pieces of 60g each. Set them aside to relax for 10 minutes.

6. Roll the dough into a long strip and wrap it round the sausage. Place it on a greased tray. Repeat with the remaining dough. Place the buns about 2 inches apart.

7. Cover and let them proof for 40 minutes to 1 hour, or until double its size.

8. Glaze the buns with egg wash and sprinkle on the poppy seeds. Baked in a preheated oven for 15 – 20 minutes, till the buns are lightly browned.

Buns with fillings

Singapore is a tiny island, but man do we love our bread. Not really the hard crusted type. More of buns with fillings. We can fill it with almost anything imaginable, from egg to curry chicken, from red bean paste to apple cubes. I love bread. Although I am a firm believer of the Atkins’ Diet, I can’t stay away totally from carbohydrates. I love the smell of bread fresh from the oven. So much so that I wish there is a perfume that smells of fresh bread. So far, I have only made bread loaves. Thus, when I saw the recipe for sweet bread dough in Fresh from the Oven I was estatic. I definitely got to try it.

Last week, I tried to make Mandy’s Caterpillar Bread and shaped it the way she did. It looked really easy from her photos. However, when I did it, it turned out like this. Argh. Not so easy after all. This week, I tried making tuna filled buns as well as chocolate pillows (with the extra chocolate and cherries left over from my cookies). They were much better. Also, I read up King Arthur Flour Whole Grain Baking on the chapter about bread baking. Apparently, adding milk powder and potato flour will help to improve the bread by enhancing its structure and retaining moisture. As I could not manage to find any potato flour, I used cornflour instead. According to Mom, both type of flour has the same uses. I also let the flour and yeast mixture sit for 30 minutes for the flour to absorb the liquid. Lastly, I used my mixer attached with dough hook to knead instead of using my hands. I think the the dough turned out more manageable and moist. I stuffed tuna flakes into my dough and it turned out wonderful. Now I can have my favourite tuna buns… freshly baked. My dark chocolate and cherry filled buns were really good too. The dark chocolate was gooey and the tart cherries made the bun absolutely irresistable. Mr DoubleChin loved it. So did I.

Basic sweet bun dough (Adapted from Fresh from the Oven)

4 1/2 cups bread flour
2 cups all purpose flour
3 tsp active dry yeast (or instant yeast)
6 tablespoons granulated sugar
4 1/2 tablespoons dry milk powder
2 tablespoons corn flour (or potato flour)
400ml warm water (about 45 degC) [if using instant yeast, just water at room temp will do]
1 egg
1 heaped tablespoon salt
2/3 cup of unsalted softened butter

Tuna filling
420g of any canned tuna of your choice

Chocolate & cherries filling
250g of roughly chopped dark chocolate (I use Cadbury Old Gold, 70% cacao)
1 cup of dried cherries (soaked in hot water for 5 min to plump them up)

1. Add yeast and 1 tbsp of sugar to warm water in a medium bowl, and set aside for 10 minutes.

2. Next, add the bread flour, all purpose flour, the rest of the sugar, cornflour and dry milk powder into a large mixing bowl. Slowly mix in the water + yeast mixture with the help of a scraper. Set aside for 30 minutes.

3. Add in egg and softened butter. With a mixer attached to a dough hook, start at low speed and gradually increase to medium speed. Knead until the dough starts to pull away from the sides of the bowl. If the mixture seems too watery, add flour gradually, 1 tbsp at a time. The dough should be smooth and elastic.

4. Leave dough to prove for about an hour, or until it doubles in size.

5. For the tuna or chocolate filling, divide the dough into small balls of about 1/3 cup size. With a rolling pin, roll the dough flat, about 1/2 inch thick. Add tuna flakes in the middle, leaving a 1-inch edge all round. Gently roll up the dough, folding in the tuna fillings. Tuck the sides in and give the bun a firm pat to fasten.

6. Leave the dough to prove for another 45 minutes.

7. Brush the top of the dough with egg wash before baking it in a preheated oven at 190 degrees C for 17 – 22 minutes (depending on size of buns). The buns will be lightly browned and sounds hollow when gently knocked against.