Best Ever Sticky Buns

lovely ain't it? we all went primal the second I serve this buns on the table

all sticky and lovely

sticky buns not yet sticky

Today, i have the baking urge although i am still tired from my fully loaded week from last week. It all started last night when i saw food network when they had this commercial about 'the best ..... I've ever ate' and last night particularly it was about sticky buns. sure enough the featured buns looks so tempting and so VERY sinful looking....

they drench the buns in their specially made 'goo' OVER NIGHT! how crazy is that??? then bake them to perfection (at least that is how it looks like) it really looks tempting but looking at all those 'goo' drenched in the buns i'm thinking 'that buns is going to be SUPER DUPER SWEET and we are not a big fan of Super sweet let alone the super duper sweet. So i though why not just drizzle the 'goo' instead of drenching it? then let it sit for a while then reheat it for a bit and wallah!

And so I did!

And it is Awesome! So here is my version of sticky Bun

7.5g instant yeast
212.5ml luke warm milk
397g flour
1tsp salt
3tbsp sugar
3tbsp EVOO (extra virgin olive oil)
eggwash

1/2c brown sugar + 1tsp cinnamon powder + a handful of chocolate chip= mixwell set aside

mix instant yeast into the milk and let it rest for 5 minutes. set a side.

then mix all other ingredients in your mixing bowl (kitchen aid or kenwood mixer with hook paddle) mix it up as you pour in the milk mixture then the oil.

Mix will until smooth and elastic. then knead it with your hand for 2 minutes then shape it into a ball and let it rest in a greased bowl then cover it with cling wrap/film.

Let it rise in a room temperature for 2 hours. then roll out the dough into a 1/4" thick sheet and lightly brush the dough with water then generously sprinkle brown sugar mixture.

Then roll it tightly to form a roll, with the seam down cut about 1" with a sharp knife. Place the individual rolls into the baking tin. Make sure to leave some space between rolls as it will spread and rise!

cover the baking tin with cling film/wrap to avoid dry skin. Let it rise again for an hour.

just before baking, brush the buns with egg wash. bake at a preheated oven at 180c for 15-20 minutes.

___________________

For the Lovely Goo

5tbsp of brown sugar
3tbsp of sugar
a pinch of salt
2tbsp of butter
1/4c roasted walnuts - roughly crushed
1/4c light golden syrup
1tbsp water

on a medium heat, heat brown sugar, sugar and a table spoon of water until slightly caramelized. then add in butter, let it melt thoroughly then add in the golden syrup, walnuts and a pinch of salt. cook for a while until it slightly thickens.

once the buns has been baked, drizzle on it and let it sit for a bit. reheat the buns in the oven at low temperature before serving.

Vanilla Sugar Sweet Bun

ahhh~ its been a while since i last blog in here...in case you're wondering i'm still around (online) its just that lately i haven't actually cook anything and even when i did i somehow didn't manage to take any picture..its always either i'm busy or my phone battery is out or i'm just plain lazy...*yeah i'm only human..its just one of those days..* i'm lazy mostly because i still haven't replace my old handphone cable so right now i have to transfer my pictures from my phone to my hubby's notebook via bluetooth *haha don't mock me...coz i'm still using an ancient desk top, this baby was bought with my 1st ever pay cheque so its sentimental* then transfer into my pendrive then into my desktop..thats a lot of work you know....*longggg sighhh~*

anyway my body is still aching from last week outing...yeahhh i had a how do i put it...adventurous and exiting weekend *giggles* my brother organized a paint ball game through facebook and its was great at first coz alot has sign up but then only 7people turned up as most of them had something to do last minute. nontheless it was great..i had alot of fun! it was my first time playing paintball...the adrenaline rush, scared to be hit, i feel like i was really in a war zone...its just FUN...i haven't had this much fun in the longest time...at the end of the day we all had multiple bruises on our body. we looked like we've been abused or something its wicked!

anyhow... back to my baking activity...today i wanted to make sweet buns, i have my own recipe but mine is actually for commercial so the recipe is in super large quantity and i was too darn lazy to divide bla bla so i googled sweet buns and i found this wonderful recipe which i really wanted to share as it was fantastic. its a bit tidious to do but its all worth it, its called Vanilla sugar sweet bun there's a step by step instruction for you to follow. pretty cool site... the reason that i wanted to make sweet buns out of the blue is that i was given this okra powder. its for me to test and try in a bakery product. this Okra powder is used to reduce the glycemic index in breads or cakes or any food for that matter. Highly recommended for those who is suffering from diabetic or for those whos counting calories *wink*

so today i made the sweetbuns with some altercation in the recipe. waht i did was:-

1. add Okra powder 2tbsp
2. I don't have vanilla pods (its freakishly expensive here) so i use vanilla essence to infuse into the sugar. you take the amount required in the recipe then add in few drops of vanila essence then stir to evenly coat the sugar. let it sun dry for at least 1-2 hours. then ready to use. this is the same technic to use if you wanna make your own colored sugar. you can actually substitute vanilla flavoring with pandanus (screwpine) flavor or rose or butter milk.
3. i use high protein flour instead of all purpose flour.
   

and everything else is the same.

the verdic? it turned out great! Its actually similar to cinnamon bun only that i personally like this one better coz i'm not a big fan of cinnamon. Although i think the bread will look alot better if i were to put it individually, like in a paper cup or something...*putting this in my mental note*
My family loves this buns, its super soft, the Okra powder did not effect the taste of the buns just a slight coloration, it made the bun looks wholemeal...thats all...

so here's the recipe but the detailed instruction you can just go to the website and see.

Ingredients

Dough:

• 1 cup milk
• 1 vanilla bean or 2 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 cup )melted) butter
• 1/3 cup vanilla sugar
• 2 eggs (beaten)
• 2 teaspoon instant yeast
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3 1/2 - 4 cups all purpose flour

Steamed Buns for Breakfast anyone?

The buns before steamed

Today i'm in the mood for Steamed buns...so i woke up very early in the morning to make some (coz yo know making steam buns is easy but like any bread it takes some time making it..) I've made steamed buns with curried chicken fillings and plain old steamed buns called Shanghai Buns eaten with blackpepper chicken dip...yummm~just talking about this makes my tummy rumbles coz i love steamed buns any way there's the recipe if you wanna try making it... by the way i owe this recipe to Lina my trusted cooking teacther *wink*

Steamed Buns:

Dough

(A) - Sift all ingredient A
350g Hong Kong flour / Pau flour
1tsp double action baking powder

(B)
1tsp instant dry yeast
1tbs shortening

(C) - Combine and set a side
200ml lukewarm water
40g castor sugar
1/4tsp vinegar

This is how you do it:

1. Before you start cut 10 pieces of parchment paper about 5cm x 5cm, set a side
   
2. Put (A) in the mixer then add (B). mix usung dough blade
3. Gradually add (C) until you'll get a soft dough.
4. Remove dought put in basin, cover & let it rise for 15 minutes.
5. Once it rised punch the dough down and knead on a table surface to form a long roll
6. Cut into 10 even pieces.
7. Roll the individual piece making it a flat disc, add in the fillings then close/wrap it as you would when making a pau, when done place it on a cutted parchment paper.
8. For Shanghai buns, from 1 pc of dough; divide into equal 3 pcs.
9. Roll all 3 making it like a string about 10cm or so (if you can make it longer without breaking it the better), then spin it together so it'll have a swirl like design (this is hard to explain, should've take some pictures making it) -or better yet, you could just roll and make it it like a cinnamon roll bun... maybe when you look at the picture you'll have the idea...
10. Let all the prepared buns rest and rise of another 12-15minutes.
    
11. Ready to steam

Curried Chicken filling:
What you need:-
300g chicken meat -diced
200g diced potatoes - boiled until tender then set a side
100g blended onions
1tsp grated ginger
1clove garlic - to be blended together with the onions.
2tbs of curry powder
1tbs of chilli powder / chilli boh- optional (i didn't add this)
Salt and sugar to taste.
oil for frying

How you do it:

1. Heat oil at medium heat, then fry the onion mixture, ginger and curry & chilli powder until fragrant about 3-5minutes.
2. then add in the chicken meat, cook until the chicken meat is almost done then add in the boiled potatoes.
3. Stir and add the seasonings (salt and sugar) to taste. Keep on stiring until all the ingredients are well cooked.
4. Spread it in a tray to cool it off before you add in the buns.

Blackpepper Chicken:
You'll need:
300g Chicken meat - diced and season slightly with salt
mix vege about a handfull
1 clove of garlic - chopped
11/2tsp of cornflour mix with 4tbs of water

Seasonings:
1tsp Dark soy sauce
1tsp of Oyster sauce
a dash of sesame oil
a generous amount of blackpepper
salt and sugar to taste
oil to fry

How you do it is..:

1. heat oil, and fry the garlic until slightly brown
2. add in the chicken meat, fry until half cooked
3. add in the mix vege, stir.
4. Add in all the seasonings, stir and let it simmer for a while.
5. then add in the cornflour mixture. cook until the sauce is thicken.
6. ready to serve.
   

Shanghai bun with black pepper chicken