Sticky Fruit Buns ~ Hot Cross Buns

The simplicity of the ingredients was what drew me to these Hot Cross buns. I made these for Easter and appropriately made the symbol of a cross. These buns are lovely and soft and they contain no eggs.

There is no reason to make these only once a year as it is so easy. Nowadays I always have some in the freezer. For everyday eating, ice it with a squiggle of icing or is just as delicious with a glaze of sugar syrup or honey.

Makes 15 buns

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Hamburger Buns

In the midst of an extremely hot dry summer, the last thing I want to do is cook up a storm in the kitchen. Summer is a time for light meals that doe not involve too much slaving over the stove. With the tomatoes ripening fast on the vine, what better then than to eat them with buns.

This massive burger which was our dinner had slices of sweet juicy tomatoes from the garden, shredded lettuce, pickled zucchini, thin slices of steak, bacon, fried egg and a squeeze of tomato sauce. Mr Redneck had his with a slice of smoked cheese as well.

The buns were soft and did not break up or disintegrate halfway through eating unlike those supermarket buns. Wholesome gourmet burger at a fraction of the cost !

Makes 6 buns (4" diameter)

Ingredients
245 ml warm water
360 gm high grade bread flour
35 gm (¼ cup) wholemeal flour
1½ tsp salt
1 Tbsp melted butter
1 tsp sugar
1½ tsp surebake yeast

½ tsp garlic flakes (optional)

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Soft Wholemeal Bread

After my Breville died from overwork, I decided to buy a more heavy duty bread machine. We no longer buy bread in any shape or form so the breadmaker has to withstand the heavy usage. The one I am now using is a Sunbeam Quantum Smartbake with a big pan which can make a 1.5kg loaf and best of all it is programmable.

I have different programs for the 4 seasons. In the heat of summer, bread usually take a shorter time to rise but in winter, the house being so cold it does affect the rising time even though the breadmaker has its own heating element.

We love this bread. Even though it is wholemeal, it is not dense. In fact it is soft, light, fluffy and very pliable.

This is our daily loaf. Toast in the morning and sandwiches for lunch. Mr Redneck likes his thinly sliced wherelse I like mine like doorstops.


If you try this recipe and it turns out dense, then it has not risen enough. Since I like my bread light and fluffy, I make sure it is given enough time to rise even if it takes 4 hours for me to make a loaf. When buying a breadmaker make sure you have a separate bake function to enable you to have some control and not allow the breadmaker to dictate the timing.

Makes 1.5 kg loaf size

Ingredients
410 ml warm water (400ml if using fresh yeast)

350gm wholemeal flour
275gm high grade (bread) flour
4½ tsp gluten flour
1 Tbsp ground linseed

1 Tbsp oats
1½ Tbsp lecithin granules
2½ Tbsp milk powder
2 tsp salt
2 Tbsp sugar

2½ tsp surebake yeast or 16gm fresh yeast

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Rosemary Focassia

Rosemary focaccia is our favourite flat savoury bread. We always have a supply of it in our freezer for lunches. Slice it into thinner strips and it is great in the winter months for dipping into soups as well. It is a breeze to make and a hit for any gathering.

I have already posted the recipe earlier this year but have recently spliced together a short 1:45 minute video on the making of this Italian flat bread. Crank up the volume to enjoy the music of Duel by Bond.

There are numerous focaccia recipes but I find this recipe works well and require the least amount of skill in the shaping. Just let your fingers do the 'walking'.

Chelsea Buns

I have tried several recipes for chelsea buns and find that this 'sponge and dough' method is the best by far. It produces nice and fluffy buns every time and the dough is a breeze to handle.


I prefer the buns without icing but it seems to be a Kiwi thing to have white or pink icing. Make sure the buns double in size before baking or else it will be dense. I usually leave the dough in the fridge overnight so that the next morning I can proceed to the next step and have fresh sweet sticky buns in time for morning tea.

Makes 18 buns

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Char Siew Pau ~ Steamed Barbecue Pork Bun

I have been searching for the illusive char siu pau recipe which is soft and fluffy without having to use expensive specialised pau or bleached flour or long preparation time of a few days. I am pleased to say I have found it.


A combination of plain and high grade flour is used for this recipe which does not require a long or complicated proving time after the pau is pleated.

I am not very good at the pleating which could explain why my buns 'loose' the pleat pattern after steaming. The buns turned out with only a slight tinge of yellow. They were delicious. I am all right with it not being pure white , the texture was what I was after.

For testing purposes I ate a cold char siu pau a few hours after it was steamed. It was still soft though normally I prefer my pau hot or at least warm and would zap them in the microwave to reheat.

You can rest assured you will not end up with rock hard buns with this recipe. The dough is very forgiving.

Makes 12 buns

Ingredients
150 gm plain flour
250 gm high grade/bread flour
50 gm sugar
30 gm milk powder
1 Tbsp shortening
2 tsp Surebake yeast
250 ml warm water (50C)
1 tsp Edmonds baking powder

char siu filling recipe

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Kaiser Buns

The kaiser roll or bun has a very nice soft crumb with a crisp, crusty and slightly chewy exterior. The secret to making a good kaiser according to Bernard Clayton is an egg, egg white plus a steamy moist oven. It is delicious as a filled roll or just eaten by itself.

The difficult part of making this bread is shaping it to resemble a five petal flower blossom . There is a kaiser roll stamp to get a flower-like imprint but judging from the supermarket rolls it is not very effective or visible. There are two ways of shaping the rolls, the spoke-wheel or the rope-knot method.

Ingredients
330 ml water
1 egg white (40gm)
1 egg (55 gm)
600 gm high grade/bread flour
1 Tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt
2½ tsp surebake yeast
1 Tbsp butter

Method
1. Breadmaker setting : Dough

2. Place all the ingredients into the bread pan in the order according to your breadmaker instructions and press start.

3. Cover the breadpan with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight or leave in a warm place to rise until dough double in bulk. (I prefer to let refrigerate overnight where it still rise slowly).

4. Next morning remove breadpan from fridge and punch down the dough. Cover and leave to double in volume again.

5. The shaping of the kaiser bun is the tricky bit. Use either the spoke-wheel or rope-knot method (see below). I find the rope-knot method retains its petal shape better.

6. Lightly mist the buns with a light spray of water from a height of 12".

7. Preheat oven to 230C. Create steam by placing an old pan with hot water in the oven. Just before putting the buns in, mist the oven walls with a water sprayer (do not spray the light bulb). Lower the oven to 200C. Bake for 12-15 minutes or until golden. Three minutes into the baking spray the oven wall again, avoiding the buns.

Note
1. Total weight of egg white and egg = 95gm (weight without egg shell).
2. The buns freezes well. To defrost we nuke it in the microwave and pop it on top of the toaster to crispen up the exterior.
3. I have a fan oven which seems to bake the buns faster than the recommended time of 20 minutes.

Tip
Leaving the dough to overnight and prove in the fridge is a real time saver and ensures you will have plenty of time to get the bread ready by lunch time. The bread is suppose to taste better with the overnight proving in the fridge.


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Shaping the Kaiser Rolls

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Rosemary Focaccia

This focaccia is a very nice crusty bread with the lovely aroma of rosemary, delicious eaten warm or as a filled pocket for cold meat. In the space of a week, I have churned out three focaccias and have found that it freezes very well too. It is at the moment our favourite bread for lunch.

As with any specialty bread, one has to be very patient and not try to rush the proving process.



Ingredients
355ml water
3 Tbsp olive oil
500 gm Elfin high grade flour (bread flour)
2½ tsp Surebake yeast or 16gm fresh yeast
1 tsp salt
1 Tbsp rosemary, chopped (optional)

Topping
a few sprigs of rosemary
½ tsp course sea or rock salt
2 Tbsp olive oil

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Hot Cross Buns

I look forward to Easter so that I could indulge in my favourite hot cross buns. These are amazingly soft and fragrant with cinnamon and mixed spice and are irresistible especially fresh from the oven.

I added some rum to the fruits for extra kick . Rather than marking the buns with a traditional flour-paste cross , icing was used which tasted much nicer. For those who don't like the overpowering taste of spices and fruits, these buns will be ideal.

Makes 9 or 12 buns

Ingredients for Main Dough
85g starter dough *
210g bread flour
55g plain flour
20g milk powder
40g sugar
½ tsp salt
3¼ tsp Surebake yeast
½ tsp cinnamon
½ tsp mixed spice
30g egg
80g water
20g unsalted butter

40 g raisins
40 g sultanas
35 g mixed peel
1 tsp rum

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Soft Sweet 'Porridge' Buns

These sweet buns are the softest I have made and can be eaten with or without fillings.
I made them for Redneck's extended family on Christmas and received glowing reviews.


Makes 18 buns

Ingredients for Starter Dough
32g bread flour
165g water

Method for Starter dough
1. Heat water to 65C and mix in the breadflour.
2. Stir till the flour dissolves
3. Let it cool completely before using.
4. Can be left in the fridge for 1-2 days.

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Multigrain Wholemeal Loaf

My breadmaker produces 750gm and 1 kg loaf but I only use ingredients for 750g which still produces bread that rises over the pan when baked. All the bread produced from this recipe have been consistently light and fluffy, similar to commercial bread but taste better.

With this multigrain wholemeal bread recipe, you can substitute with your favourite grain. I have used linseed, wholemeal oats and walnuts as they have good nutritional values. This bread is great for toast as well as sandwiches.

Ingredients (for 750 g loaf)
320 ml warm water
1 Tbsp lecithin granules
1½ tsp salt
1½ Tbsp+1 tsp sugar
1 Tbsp+1 tsp milk powder
2¼ tsp surebake yeast

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Soft Plain White Loaf

My breadmaker produces 1 kg loaf but I have found that if I use ingredients for a 1 kg loaf, my bread pushes against the lid of the breadmaker. So I only need to use ingredients for 750g but still produces bread that rises over the pan when baked.

All the bread produced from this recipe have been consistently light and fluffy, similar to commercial bread. This recipe for white bread have never failed me and is good for toast or sandwiches.

Ingredients (for 750 g loaf)
310 ml warm water
1½ tsp salt
1½ Tbsp+1 tsp sugar
1 Tbsp lechithin
1 Tbsp+1 tsp milk powder
2¼ tsp surebake yeast (my surebake yeast have bread improver in it)
450gm bread flour

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Plain Rolls, Char Siew Buns and Apple Butter Buns

These buns and rolls are made from the recipe I shared here . Even though the buns are partly wholemeal, it has a really soft texture.

Plain rolls with no filling

Char Siew (bbq pork) buns

Apple Butter buns

Tomato, Cheese & Onion Bread

My breadmaker produces 750gm and 1 kg loaf but I only use ingredients for 750g which still produces bread that rises over the pan when baked. All the bread produced from this recipe have been consistently light and fluffy, similar to commercial bread.


Ingredients (for 750 g loaf)
320 ml warm water
1 Tbsp lecithin granules
1½ tsp salt
1½ Tbsp+1 tsp sugar
1 Tbsp+1 tsp milk powder
2¼ tsp surebake yeast
150 gm wholemeal flour
2 tsp gluten flour
300gm high grade (bread) flour

Add-Ins : (when breadmaker beeps)
1½ Tbsp garlic flakes (break to small pieces)
2 Tbsp dried tomatoes (break to smaller pieces)
¼ tsp dry mixed herbs

Topping :
grated cheese (enough to cover top of bread)
sprinkling of dry mixed herbs
a few slices onion rings (it acts as a dam to stop the cheese from falling to the side)
a few slices fresh tomatoes

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