Garlic Bun

On and off, I have started baking for the past few months. This is one of my many hobbies that I have fallen in love with almost instantly. Though I am not a crazy fan of breads, cakes and pastries; the joy and satisfaction from the process, the outcome (if successful), the smile and comments from my friends and family (aka free human testers) are almost priceless.

By blogging all my baking and cooking experiments, I am hoping to constantly improve my cookery skills while having fun doing it.

From the past months, I have been following very closely with one blogger's recipes (Happy Home Baking) as it yielded me a number of successful and satisfying bakes and cooks. Today, I am choosing garlic bun from the same site again and I managed to achieve satisfying results.

As there are only 2 persons living in the house, I have changed the volume of ingredients to yield a smaller quantity of the garlic buns.

Ingredients

(yields 3 buns)

75g milk (I used freshmilk)

75g bread flour

25g cake flour

7.5g or 2 tsp caster sugar

1/8 tsp salt

7.5g or 1.5 tsp unsalted butter

1/4 tsp instant yeast

Filling:

15g butter

1 clove of garlic chopped (I used a larger clove)

1/2 tsp dried parsley

Method:

1. Place all the ingredients according to the sequence stated above or according to the instruction manual of your breadmaker. Select "Dough Function" and press "Start" button. I just let my breadmaker do all the kneading and rising work. This process takes about 1 hour and 45 minutes (Rest:20 min -> Kneading: 19 min -> First rising: 46 min -> Stir down -> 2nd rising: 20-25 min)

2. After the above process, take out the dough from the baking pan and give a light kneading on a lightly floured surface. This process is to deflate the dough to bring the gas out from the rising process.

3. Divide the dough equally into 3 dough balls. Cover it cling wrap and let rest for about 15 minutes. I simply put those 3 doughs back into the baking pan and close the bread maker's lid.

4. Place each dough on the lightly floured surface. Press each dough with your palm and flatten it into around 1 cm thick round disc. Roll the dough tightly in "Swiss Roll" style and pinch the seams and shape each dough into oval shape.

5. Place the doughs onto a lightly buttered baking tray (I had it lined with aluminium foil) with each dough separating at least 1 inch from each other. Cover it loosely with a wet cloth or cling wrap to avoid more moisture escape from the doughs. Let them rest for 30 minutes.

6. While waiting for the doughs to proof, prepare the filling by mixing the butter, garlic and parsley. Prepare ahead by bringing the butter down to room temperature for easier mixing.

7. Preheat the oven to 180 degree Celsius.

8. Remove cloth or cling wrap and brush the doughs with egg wash. Slit each dough lengthwise and scoop in the fillings in between the slits. Make the slit deeper but not cutting it through as I find my slit not deep enough causing the fillings to pour out during baking.

9. Bake it for 15 to 20 minutes. Depending on what type of oven you are using, I baked them by placing the baking tray in the middle rack for the first 15 min and then moved it to the upper rack for 7-10 min to bring out the bread colour to my preference.

10. Remove from oven and cool the buns on a wire rack.

Recipe referencing to Happy Home Baking blog

Outcome:

The smell is really strong (thanks to the garlic) and tempting. I had to refrain myself from biting into it after freshly removed from the oven. The taste is very buttery and the bread texture is very soft and airy. Due to the overflown of butter to the base of the bread during baking, it is a bit oily. I have to use kitchen paper to absorb some of the oil away. Nevertheless, it is still very tasty. I do not think it will last until tomorrow morning for my breakfast as I have planned earlier. Sigh...:)