Teddy Buns
The smell of freshly baked breads, cakes and pastries at home is just wonderful. Homemade breads are not just fresh, they are free from preservatives. If done well, they taste even better than those sold out there. Once you get a hang of this basic recipe, you can go on to make different variations based on your preference.
There are a few things to look out for in order to achieve a nicely baked bread:
Yeast gets killed at a temperature of 45degrees c and above. In order for yeast to activate, avoid using hot water. Slightly warm or cold water will do.
Whether you are using the hand kneading technique or a mixer, it is important to check for elasticity by just simply taking a section of the dough and pulling it apart to see if the elasticity is there. If not, continue kneading to activate the gluten strands.
Do not overproof dough. It is always ready when it doubles in size (usually takes about 45min to an hour at room temperature (25-30 degrees). Overproofing can cause bread structure to be weak and collapse.
When proofing or leaving dough to rest, cover with a cling wrap/wet towel to prevent the surface of the dough from drying out.
Teddy Buns Ingredient List:
60g water
6g dry yeast
100g milk
60g sugar
6g salt
1 egg
330g bread flour
50g softened unsalted butter
Egg wash
Melted butter to finish
Step by Step Instructions:
1. Add dry yeast to water. Mix well.
2. Add in milk, sugar, salt, egg and bread flour and incorporate well with a spatula lightly. Cling wrap and leave dough to rest for 15min.
3. Knead dough by stretching outwards. When it turns a little smoother, fold in softened butter cubes and continue kneading in till well incorporated. You will notice that the dough becomes lighter to the touch, smoother and less sticky.
4. Continue by using the ‘slap & fold’ method to smoothen dough. Do this for 5-7min.
5. Shape dough into a ball and leave to proof in bowl with cling wrap at room temperature till it doubles in size. This should take around 45min to an hour.
6. After proofing, remove dough from bowl, divide it into 8 equal balls + some extra for teddy’s ears. If you like smaller buns, you can divide them into 10-12 balls.
7. Leave the shaped balls to rest for 15min.
8. Re-shape balls again by folding inwards to achieve a smooth top (see video). Dab some water to add the ears. Dough will expand outwards during the final proofing, so be sure to make sure that the ears are attached more to the centre of the head.
9. I like my buns slightly joined to one other. If you want individual buns, give more space in between them taking into consideration they will double in size again for the final proofing.
10. Leave to proof for another 45min till dough again doubles in size.
11. Egg wash the surface gently. Add into preheated oven and bake at 170 degrees celsius for 12-15min until buns are lightly brown on top.
12. Remove buns from oven and apply melted butter on top. Leave to cool.
13. I use tempered dark chocolate couverture to add eyes and mouth to the buns. Alternatively, you can use edible food markers too.
Enjoy folks!