Homemade Savoury Buns

Have not been making bread for a long, long time. I saw an open packet of yeast in the freezer and told myself to use it before I have to throw it away. Bread making is  therapeutic and satisifying for me. You get to use your hands to knead and shape the dough and see it rise. It is challenging and you have to be patient. Unlike baking a cake, you can see and eat the end product pretty soon. For bread, you have to wait a couple of hours before you can sample it. But you will be rewarded. Who can resist freshly baked bread out of the oven?

I decided to make the sausage bun. My son loves sausage bun and I have not baked a bread that needs to be shaped like the one I posted here. Those that I have baked were mostly round in shape or a loaf. Not much skills needed. Making this sausage bun was a challenge. I found it difficult to twist and turn the sausage wrapped in the dough. Luckily, it did not turn out too bad. I can still see the patterns although the sausage was not of uniform size. Not bad .....

Another bun I attempted was the corn and egg salad bun. The bun is easy to make. I used corn kernels in a can. You can use frozen corn kernels or fresh corn kernels if you have. I did not follow the recipe in the book totally. I used only corn kernels, hard boiled eggs and mayonnaise. For this bun, you can put any fillings that you fancy after the bun is baked, just like a hotdog bun.

I used the recipe from Yvonne C's 65°C Tangzhong Bread.

Ingredients:
(A)
195g bread flour
90g cake or plain flour
12g milk powder
30g sugar
6g salt
6g instant yeast

(B)
60g eggs
65g water
75g tangzhong

(C)
45g unsalted butter

(Fillings for corn salad bun)
3 hard boiled eggs, diced
20g corn kernels
20g cucumber, diced
30g mustard sauce
80g salad cream

Mix the above thoroughly.

Some breadcrumbs for coating the bun

(Fillings for sausage bun)
9 sausages
Sesame seeds

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 180°C.
2. Add ingredients in (A) into a mixing bowl and whisk gently to distribute the ingredients evenly.
3. Add ingredients (B) to above. Start on low speed to mix the dry and wet ingredients. Change to medium speed after the dry and wet ingredients are moistened evenly.
4. Change to low speed and add in ingredients (C) after the above comes together into a smooth dough.
5. Once all the butter has been incorporated into the dough, increase to medium speed and knead until the dough leaves the mixing bowl, becomes smooth and shiny. At this point, do a“window pane” test. Take a small portion of the dough and stretch it thin until you can see light shining through it. Once it has reached this stage, you can stop.
6. Remove the dough from the mixing bowl and shape it into a round ball. Place it in a greased bowl big enough to hold it.
7. Cover tightly with plastic wrap over the bowl. Let it proof at room temperature for 40 minutes or until doubled.
8. To test if the dough has risen to the right state, sprinkle some flour onto your finger and dip your finger vertically into the centre of the dough. If the dent you have created stays, it is ready. If the dent bounces back, proofing is not complete yet.
9. Remove the dough from the greased bowl and divide it into 9 equal pieces of 60g each.
10. Shape into round balls and proof them for another 10 minutes at room temperature.

For Corn Salad Bun,

1. Flatten the rounded dough using your palm or a rolling pin. Turn it over and shape it into a rugby ball shape. Make sure joints are tightly sealed.
2. Brush the shaped dough with some water before rolling the dough in bread crumbs.
3. Proof for 40 minutes at 38°C environment.
4. Bake at about 180°C top heat and 150°C bottom heat for about 15 minutes.
5. After baking, cut a slit in the centre of the bun and spoon the fillings in it.

For Sausage Bun,

1. Flatten the rounded dough using a rolling pin. Roll it into a rectangle shape. Turn it over.
2. Place the sausage on top of the longer edge of the rectangle and roll it up.
3. Use a dough knife to cut into 5 equal sections.
4. Twist the opposite ends of the sausage dough.
5. Turn the other remaining 3 sections with the sausage facing up.
6. Proof for 40 minutes at 38°C environment.
7. Brush the dough with the eggwash and sprinkle the sesame seeds on top.
8. Bake at about 180°C top heat and 150°C bottom heat for about 15 minutes.