BAKING PROJECT

I think I’m getting fatter day by day..  there goes all the kilos lost during the fasting month.  Blame it on the rain.. yeah yeah !!  I guess I only have me to blame.  Yesterday we  lost all control and ate these yummy dewey buns hot from the fryer.   These are more delicious than donuts, so much softer.   The recipe is quite identical to that of a donut, I guess you could make a hole in the middle and call it donut.   Got this recipe from my favourite book, “The breakfast book” by Marion Cunningham.   Here’s my version :

Ingredients for Dewey buns

Heat the milk so it is slightly warm, then add the sugar, salt and butter.  Stir to blend everything.  Next, add the flour and yeast and put in the mixer bowl.  Pour the liquid in and mix for about 3 minutes.  Add the egg and continue mixing/ kneading for another 5 minutes or so.   The batter is wet and eventually you will get a dough which looks like this.

Because there is sugar in the dough, the yeast will be active quite fast and soon the dough will start growing.    To slow down the process, keep the dough in the fridge, covered (bottom, not freezer) for 4 hours or overnight.  I kept mine for about 4 hours.

The dough is quite sticky and soft, so we need a lot of flour to dust the surface.   Roll into a rectangle shape with a thickness of 1/4 inch.  Cut into squares about the size of 2.5 inch x 3 inch.  Well, as you can see I didn’t follow the measurements exactly.  I rolled some into balls which is much easier to do.

Then heat some oil, just like frying donuts, and fry these buns turning frequently and on slow fire so the inside is cooked and the outside doesn’t turn too brown.

For the filling,  the Dewey Cream recipe given is actually vanilla buttercream.  Some use custard, mine was eaten with whip cream.  I guess you could eat it with any filling you want, sweet or savoury.   This recipe is easy to make and the taste is great, I’ll definitely make these again.   Hope you’ll try it too.

I promised to post the recipe for the Japanese buns that I made when attending bread class in Pastrypro recently.   Apparently there are a few variety of Japanese buns.   The famous one is using the water-roux technique which will give a very soft texture.  The one that I learnt at Pastrypro, to me tasted more like the Chinese style sweet bun.  The ingredients are also similar.  The Chef who taught us said that the Japanese prefer some bite or chewiness in their bread.   Since I am not in Japan,  I’m not sure which is true.  Chewy or supersoft ?  The recipe below doesn’t taste at all chewy, its nice and also soft and definitely a keeper.

Ingredient

Add all ingredients except the margerine.  Mix on slow speed for 3 minutes.  Then on medium speed for about 8 minutes.  Add the margerine halfway thru the process.  After the dough is smooth and doesnt stick to the side of the bowl, stop kneading.  Scale into 60 gm each.  Smooth into a tight ball and leave to rest for 15 minutes.  Add any fillings you want and leave again for another 1 hour.  Preheat oven at 190C, drop to 180C when baking.  Baking time is about 25 to 30 minutes.

See more pictures in http://www.facebook.com/bakingproject photo albums.   Cheers