I have been googling for some time - as I said in my previous post - for a recipe of "absolutely soft buns" but was a little let down since most recipes contained eggs. My last resort as usual was
'Classic Essential Bread & Buns - Confident Cooking'. I liked the 'rosettas' recipe though I did wonder whether it was a hard bread. The only thing the book lacks is that it does not describe the end product - the type of bread, and the kind of texture or taste that one should expect - which makes it a little difficult for me to choose the bread to try out! I am a little wary of ending up with hard breads, the kind we are not used to here in India - because then my family who happen to my guinea pigs for my experiments may not enjoy the fare!
This bread put an end to my quest which ended at 11p.m. after browsing here and there. I started assembling the ingredients, baking and finished off with photographs between 12 and 4 a.m.!! I think I know why moms are supermoms and below is a naughty pic I found on the net which my daughter and I love ;)
Prep. time: Almost 3 hrs.
Baking takes about 1/2hr.
Ingredients:
11/2 tsp. - dried yeast
2tbsp. - warm water for dissolving the yeast
11/4 cups - warm water extra for the dough
21/2 tbsp. - butter softened
1/4 cup - olive oil
1/4 cup - powdered sugar
41/4 cups - maida or all purpose flour, sifted
1 tsp. - salt
Sugar glaze: (The recipe calls for a milk glaze but I like this one better esp. for sweet breads)
1/4 cup - sugar
2tbsp. - water
- Dissolve 1/4 cup sugar in 2tbsp. water over low heat. Boil till the mixture is syrupy and brush on hot bread.
Method:
1. Mix yeast in water, cover and set aside until frothy.
2. Place yeast mixture, butter, oil, sugar and extra water in a bowl and mix.
3. Add the flour and salt. Stir with a wooden spoon to combine till the dough comes together into a sticky ball. Knead well it is smooth and elastic using very little extra flour if required.
4. Cover and set aside for proofing in a large lightly oiled bowl in a warm spot till well risen (I waited for 1hr.15mts.)
5. Punch and knead for a minute. Divide into 12 even smooth balls. Place the balls about 5cms apart in a prepared tray. (I baked in two batches of six each). While one batch was baking the other was rising.
6. To shape into rosettes: I used an icing nozzle's wide end to make 1 cm deep round incision on the top of each ball. Using a sharp knife I made five cm deep incisions from the rim of the circle to the bottom of the ball as shown below (Do not cut through the bread). Cover the trays and leave for 1hr or till well risen.
7. Preheat oven to 180 deg.Centigrade. Brush rolls with milk and sift a little flour on the top of each roll.
8. Bake for 25minutes or till evenly browned and cooked. Remove and brush with the sugar glaze. Cool and devour!!
9. I ate one from the first batch of rosettas within 10 minutes of cooling and here it is. Smelt nice and buttery, had a flaky soft texture like wisps of bread cloud with a crisp crust, and was just rightly sweet. Thumbs up for this one again!!
Verdict:
This book is a must for all bread lovers.
The rolls are actually the soft buns I was looking for and it was all the time right under my nose!
To serve:
Warm the rolls, and serve with butter or the side or smear a little butter after slicing the roll through. My children took it for 'short break' to school with butter and jam. My husband and I had it just like that - Tastes good anyways!!
