Cranberry Butter Sugar Bun

A relatively simple bun to bake, yet with great buttery flavour 😋

Yield: 8 buns
Baking temperature: 200℃ for 5 minutes, 180℃ for 12 to 15 minutes.

Ingredients

200g bread flour
10g superfine wholegrain flour/top flour
1/2 tsp pumpkin powder, optional
7g milk powder
2g instant dry yeast
35g raw cane sugar
2g low-sodium fine salt

20g water roux details in Step 1
20g beaten egg
90g cold water
20g rice bran oil/mild flavour vegetable oil

5~10g water, to be added during kneading depending on dough condition

20g dried cranberries, cut into small bits
30g unsalted butter, cold
1~2 tsp icing sugar

Directions

1. Mix 3g bread flour with 2g glutinous rice flour in a heat resistant cup. 

Pour 25g warm water into the flour mixture, and blend well. 

Stir the content over low heat till the content reaches about 65℃, or till thickens into a glossy translucent water roux.

Cover with cling wrap, and cool down before use. Set aside.

The water roux gave the bread the moist and springy texture

2. Add dry ingredients followed by the wet ingredients (except the 5~10g of water) into the mixing bowl of a stand mixer.

Knead at Speed 1 to mix all the ingredients together. Increase the Speed to 5 and knead for about 3 minutes. Cover and let the dough rest for about 30 minutes.
Knead at Speed 5 for about 12 to 15 minutes, or till reaching window pane stage.
Slap the dough about 20~30 times into a smooth dough.

3. Transfer the dough to a big mixing bowl greased with a little oil. Cover with a lid and let it proof for about 80 minutes or till dough in size.

End of first proofing.

4. Invert out the dough onto a well floured work top. Deflate the dough and divide it into 8 portions.

Shape the individual dough into balls, cover with a lid, and let them rest for about 15 minutes.

5. Take a dough and roll out into a flat dough of about 0.5cm thick.

Add some cranberry bits to both ends of the dough.

Roll both the shorter ends toward to center.

Pinch to seal.

Shape into a short roll dough.

Arrange the shaped dough on a non-stick baking tray dusted with a little bread flour. Give the shaped dough a few pumps of fine water mist.

Keep the shaped dough in a cold oven to undergo second proofing for about 85 minutes, or till the dough double in size.

End of second proofing.

While waiting for the dough to proof, cut the cold butter into strips, and store in the fridge till needed.

6. Transfer the shaped dough out of oven, and start to preheat the oven to 200℃ for about 10 minutes.

Dust some bread flour over the top of the shaped dough.

Use a razor blade to cut a series of shallow slits along the longer edge of the dough.

Cut a deeper slit along the centre line of the shaped dough.

Place the cut cold butter along the deeper slit, and dust a thick layer of icing sugar over.

7. Bake at 200℃ for 5 minutes, reduce the temperature to 180℃ and bake for about 12 minutes, or till the buns turn golden.

The sizzling butter while baking 😍

8. Transfer the buns to cool down over a wire rack.

9. Enjoy it warm 😋

Butter Coconut Milk Mochi Waffle

My first attempt was a total failure - although the waffle was crispy, it tasted dry like biscuits 😔 In my second attempt, I combined part of the glutinous rice flour with milk and coconut milk into a coconut milk roux or mochi. The roux was then added to the waffle batter, and the result was surprisingly good - crispy crust and chewy crumb.  As glutinous rice flour is not easy to be digested, so I only added a small portion of it. 😊

Although the crispiness of the waffle was not permanent, the softened version of the waffle was equally delicious 😋

Slightly chewy waffle

Moist and slightly chewy mochi waffle

Serving: about 6 small waffles
Equipment: waffle iron/maker

Ingredients

Coconut Milk Roux
20g glutinous rice flour
50g milk
50g coconut milk


Waffle Batter
1 egg

30g caster sugar
pinch of salt
5g golden syrup/honey

60g coconut milk

60g top flour
15g glutinuous rice flour
5g tapioca starch
1/2 tsp baking powder

30g unsalted butter, melted

Directions

1. Mix all 3 ingredients under the Coconut Milk Roux section, namely the glutinous rice flour, milk and coconut milk, in a heat resistant cup.

Heat over medium-low temperature, and stir regularly. When the mixture starts to thicken, lower the temperature and stir more regularly to prevent the base from browning. The coconut milk roux should be ready when the temperature reaches about 65~70℃, or thick like a paste.
You can also cook the coconut roux over a water-bath.

Remove coconut milk roux from the heat source.

Cool down and cover with a cling wrap. Set aside.

2. In a separate mixing bowl, mix egg, sugar, salt and golden syrup together till most of the sugar has dissolved.

3. Blend in the coconut milk,

followed by the sifted flour mixture of top flour, glutinous rice flour, tapioca starch and baking powder.

Next, blend in the coconut milk roux from Step 1.

Finally, mix in the melted butter,

into a smooth and glossy batter.

Cover with a lid, and let the batter rest for about 30 minutes.

4. Heat a waffle iron/maker, and brush some oil over the surface of the waffle mould.

Wait for the indicator light to turn to green.

Pour the waffle batter onto the hot waffle iron/maker, and close the waffle maker.

Wait for the indicator light to turn green again. The waffle is ready when the crust becomes golden or brown.

5. Let the waffles cool down a while before enjoying 😋