sister herb
Official TTI Chef
250 ml nonfat milk
25 g fresh yeast
100 ml sugar
¼ tsp salt
1 tsp coarsely crushed cardamom seeds
1 egg
70 - 75 g turnip rape oil, sunflower oil or corn oil
800 - 900 ml flour
1 egg for glazing
chopped or flaked almonds for garnish
sanding sugar for garnish
Dissolve the yeast in the lukewarm milk. Add the sugar, salt, cardamom and the egg and whip until smooth. Add about half of the flour and beat or mix the batter, since incorporating some air in it will help to produce a stronger gluten web in the dough.
Add the oil and start adding the rest of the flour, little at a time, mixing and kneading until the dough is elastic and starts coming away from the side of the mixing bowl. This is most easily done with a heavy-duty tabletop mixer fitted with a dough hook.
Add just enough flour to get a soft, no too sticky dough. Remember that during leavening, the flour will absorb liquid and swell, making the dough somewhat harder. Especially coarse wheat flour will absorb more moisture than fine wheat flour, so adjust the amount of flour according to which type you are using (ie use less coarse flour and more fine flour).
If you are unsure about the correct amount of flour and texture of the dough, it is better to leave the dough slightly too soft and sticky, than too dense and hard. Cover the bowl tightly and let the dough rise in a warm, draft-free place until doubled in size.
Kneaded dough
Sufficiently risen dough
Punch down the dough and knead it for a while. Form the dough into small (à ca 45 g) or large (à ca 110 g) buns and place them on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper. Cover the buns with a damp towel and let rise until they have approximately doubled in size.
Buns before leavening
Leavened, decorated buns
Baked buns
Glaze the buns with lightly beaten egg, sprinkle with chopped or flaked almonds and/or sanding sugar, if you like, and bake at 225 °C for 8 - 15 minutes, or until the buns are golden brown. Place the buns on a wire rack and let them cool slightly, loosely covered with a tea towel. Serve the warm buns with coffee or tea.
Makes about 8 large or 20 small buns.
