Fruits & Nuts Cinnamon Rolls

Now that my bun making engine is in the momentum, I decided to try as many bakes as possible before I drop down! There are just too many buns and breads I wanted to make but time is always a factor since it requires a lot of time since there are so many steps involved. The proofing of doughs have been the toughest as I have to manage my time so that my baby is napping when the dough is ready to be shaped.

Anyhow, I decided to bake some cinnamon rolls in between if I can find the time as it is simpler compared to making those assorted buns. However, cinnamon rolls are more sinful since there are more butter and sugar used but I can tell you, the aroma while it is baking in the oven will make it all worth while... not to mention when you bite on it! And they are great when accompany with some nice fruit tea! :)

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I've tried 2 recipes for the cinnamon rolls and found out that the Pai Bao or Hong Kong Sweet Bun recipe is more fragrant compared to the one with less ingredients though still using Tang Zhong. The texture is more or less the same so if you are out of some of the ingredients for Pai Bao, you want actually use this recipe. :)

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I love how soft and fluffy these rolls are!

The weather here is cold so it get harden faster as compared to when you are in the tropics. Therefore, each time I want to eat one of the rolls I will heat up for about 15-20 seconds in the microwave and it comes out light and fluffy again!

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This recipe is adapted from here but instead using a bread maker, I used my mixer for the kneading.

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Ingredients (yields 9 rolls in a 7"x7" baking pan)

• 210 gm Bread flour


• 50 gm Cake flour


• 5 gm Yeast


• 50 gm Sugar


• ½ tsp Salt


• 1 Egg + water = 110 gm


• 75 gm Tang Zhong


• 30 gm Butter (cut into small cubes)

Filling

• 30 gm Butter, cut into small chunks and soften


• 30 gm Brown sugar + 1 tbsp ground cinnamon powder


• 100 gm Mixed dried fruits or raisins + Nuts (I used raisins, dried apricots and walnuts)

Some beaten egg and melted butter for glazing.

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Method:

1. Put all the wet ingredients except butter into the mixer, stir them a bit then add in the flour, sugar and yeast. Then fit the mixer with the hook attachment and put on speed 2 to start kneading. When everything comes together, put in the salt and continue kneading for a minute or two before putting in the butter.


2. Once the kneading is finished, approximately 30 minutes, remove and place dough on a floured surface.


3. Punch down and shape it round. Rest dough for 15 minutes covered with a cling wrap or cloth (I proofed in the oven for 30 mins as it was a cold day here).


4. Roll dough into a flat sheet of 28cm x 40cm with a rolling pin.


5. Spread the cinnamon sugar evenly and top it with butter cubes and the dried fruits and nuts.


6. Roll it up swiss-roll style and cut into 9 pieces of about 3cm thick.


7. Put them in a 7"x7" (20cm x 20cm) baking pan and proof for 45 minutes or till double in size in a warm place, covered with a damp towel.


8. Glaze with egg wash and bake at 180C for 20 minutes.


9. Remove from oven and quickly glaze with melted butter for added fragrance and presentation.

Basic Dough for Assorted 65ºC Buns

I was a huge fan of Bread Talk when they first started selling those soft buns back in 2001 in Singapore. Their meat floss buns were my favorite and now my kids'. However, meat floss is not cheap here so I went with the flow of using other ingredients for my buns instead. Therefore, each time I am up for bread making, I will do assortment so everyone can have their favorite :)

So far, there is only 1 recipe (Pai Bao or Hong Kong Sweet Bun) which can yield great tasting buns with very nice texture using Tang Zhong. This Pai Bao recipe was shared by Christine using a bread maker. However, the dough is pretty sticky as it has quite a high amount of liquid hence I have problem handling it since I do not have a bread maker. I used my Kitchen Aid to help with the kneading. I tried not to use too much additional flour else the texture will be altered.

Therefore, I decided to tweak the recipe and cut away some of the liquid used but managed to maintain the same texture.

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Ingredients
370 gm bread flour
65 gm caster sugar
5 g salt
12 gm full cream milk powder (optional)
6 gm instant dry yeast
1 egg yolk
30 gm whisked egg
100 ml milk (it is about 100 gm)
120-130 gm Tang Zhong
50 gm condensed milk
35 gm unsalted butter, softened

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Methods

1. Add all the wet ingredients (milk, egg, tangzhong, condensed milk), then followed by the dry ingredients (yeast, sugar, milk powder, bread flour) into the mixer bowl. Mix everything with a rubber spatula until well combined then add in the salt.


2. Attached the hook attachment onto your mixer and let it knead on Speed 2 or 3 till everything come together. Add butter and continue kneading until the dough is smooth and elastic. I knead about 30-40 minutes with a few stops in between to scrape the side down. Also, this will allow your mixer's motor to rest else it will get too hot.


3. Take a chunk of the dough and do the 'window pane test'. When you stretch the dough, you should be able to see a thin layer of membrane. You may want to knead with your hand if your mixer is taking too long to reach this stage. (Rub some oil onto your hand before handling the dough else it will stuck on your hands!)


4. Once your dough is ready, shape it into a big ball and let it go for the 1st round of proofing which is about 40-60 minutes. Grease your bowl with some oil for easy release later. The best temperature for proofing is 28C, humidity 75%, until double in size. If you're living in cold climate like I am, you may want to heat up your oven and proof your dough in there covered with a damn cloth.


5. Once the dough has proofed, transfer the dough to a clean floured surface. Deflate using your fist (punch the dough flat) and divide into 4 or 6 equal portions. Cover with cling wrap, let rest for 15 minutes at room temperature.


6. To make kid size buns, you divide the dough to about 40gm to 45gm each  and roll out each portion of the dough with a rolling pin and wrap (eg: red beans paste) or shape your buns as you wished. Proof your shaped buns on baking tray lined with parchment paper, covered with cling wrap or damp cloth for 2nd proofing. The best temperature for 2nd round of proofing is 38C, humidity 85%. You can heat up your oven again for this step.


7. When the dough has doubled, lightly brush the surface with egg wash (whisked egg). Bake in a pre-heated 180C (356F) oven for 20-25 minutes or until surface turns brown. Remove from the oven and transfer onto wire rack. Cool completely before storing.

Tang Zhong (Water Roux) for Bun Making

Looks like the current trend now is to make bread and buns! Well, I don't want to be left out too! :lol: Like many others, I have joined the bread making bandwagon a few weeks back and it has been addictive! Have been trying various recipes and figured that those bread using the Tang Zhong or Water Roux Method has better texture... softer and fluffier!

So, what is Tang Zhong? It is something like a dough starter but this one you don't have to ferment anything for hours or days. Basically you can use it almost instantly. Tang Zhong is also the basic for making the 65°C bread and buns. All you need is some bread flour and water, mix together under small flame.

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Ingredients (to make approx. 130gm of TZ)

• 25g Bread flour


• 125ml Water

Methods

1. Mix bread flour with water in a small sauce pan, stir with a whisk under small flame.


2. The mixture will start to thicken so you'll have to stir consistently else it will burn.


3. Once it reaches 65ºC, you will see the mixture turning creamy looking and when you see lines/streams appearing while you stirred, means you have reached the right consistency (refer to photo above)


4. Remove pan from the heat and pour the Tang Zhong into a clean bowl and cover with a cling wrap touching the surface of the mixture. You can keep it in the fridge up to 3 days. Discard when it turns greyish.


5. You can use it once it has reaches room temperature.