Monday, July 6, 2009

You say buns, I say yum!

I was perusing the blogs and I saw Smitten Kitchen found a recipe for some fabulous buns. She prompted me (and all of you), to make these amazing buns. I so happily agreed. Matter of fact, I jumped out of bed, ok, I rolled out of bed because of all that weeding yesterday and made these buns. Can you smell them? Oh, I wish you could. You see, I too, have been looking for an amazing bun recipe. Either the crust has been too hard or the bun too dense. I wanted light. I wanted melt in your mouth. I wanted people to say oh, it is oh so worth it to make these at home. I wanted the Grand Dame of Buns. I got it. Yes, these buns are yum!
Light Brioche Buns
New York Times recipe from Hidefumi Kubota, Comme Ça, Los Angeles

3 tablespoons warm milk
2 teaspoons active dry yeast
2 1/2 tablespoons sugar
2 large eggs
3 cups bread flour
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
2 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

1. In a glass measuring cup, combine 1 cup warm water, the milk, yeast and sugar. Let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes. Meanwhile, beat 1 egg.

2. In a large bowl, whisk flours with salt. Add butter and rub into flour between your fingers, making crumbs. Using a dough scraper, stir in yeast mixture and beaten egg until a dough forms. Scrape dough onto clean, unfloured counter and knead, scooping dough up, slapping it on counter and turning it, until smooth and elastic, 8 to 10 minutes.

3. Shape dough into a ball and return it to bowl. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk, 1 to 2 hours.

4. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Using dough scraper, divide dough into 8 equal parts. Gently roll each into a ball and arrange 2 to 3 inches apart on baking sheet. Cover loosely with a clean kitchen towel and let buns rise in a warm place for 1 to 2 hours.

5. Set a large shallow pan of water on oven floor. Preheat oven to 400 degrees with rack in center. Beat remaining egg with 1 tablespoon water and brush some on top of buns. Bake, turning sheet halfway through baking, until tops are golden brown, about 15 minutes. Transfer to a rack to cool completely. Yield: 8 buns.

13 comments:

The Blonde Duck said...

I am drooling in agreement...

chow and chatter said...

i agree yum

Ravenous Couple said...

well done! these look great!

Anna said...

I saw these on SK and was sorely tempted - you might just have prompted me into action now! These look gorgeous!

kat said...

Oh those look like they would make a fabulous hamburger bun

Mary Bergfeld said...

These really do look incredible. I'm really, really tempted.

Ingrid_3Bs said...

I agree with Duckie...I'm drooling and starving!
~ingrid

Murasaki Shikibu said...

You have me sold on these buns...but may I ask a noobish question? :P

What's bread flour and how is it different from AP flour and where do I buy it? (The last part might be the problem for me...:()

grace said...

fantastic! i love the perfectly domed, shiny tops. great little buns--i say yum, too!

Madam Chow said...

OK, you convinced me to try these!

Lori said...

Murasaki- Bread flour is flour with a higher protein content. You can add vital wheat gluten (usually carried by Health Food Stores)to all purpose flour to make it more like bread flour. I usually add a tablespoon per cup. I don't know if that is exactly the ratio to use but it works. ALso you can just make these with all purpose flour instead. It will work just fine.

Unknown said...

yeah, those look awesome. I love making homemade rolls, it always makes for a better sandwich.

sara/imafoodblog.com

Lynn said...

Oh my gosh, I am printing this out immediately. I love to bake, and these look like they're incredible. Thanks so much for sharing :)