Brielle's Avalon

I saw this being made on a PBS cooking show and had to look it up. The dough is amazing to work with, forgiving and versatile. I found a recipe for Chinese Pork Sung Buns and used half the recipe to make those since their bread base sounded very similar and the Japanese Milk bread recipe I was following made half the recipe into unfilled buns anyway, so why not experiment? And while I was at it (and ran out of savory filling anyway) I experimented with a brown sugar cinnamon raisin dessert/breakfast version that I can’t wait to try. Dinner will be yummy tonight since while I was waiting for the first rise I put on a pot of cawl. I had to harvest some potatoes that got nipped in a cold snap so up came some carrots and turnips as well.

Now that I’ve made this bread I’m in love with it!

1/3 c sugar

2/3 c heavy whipping cream

1 c Milk

1 large egg

1 Tbsp active dry yeast

Mix together cream, milk, egg, sugar and yeast. A whisk is fine, but you’ll want to switch to a spoon after the first cup of flour is mixed in. If you start with the sugar you can use the same 1/3c measure for the sugar, cream and milk.

Mix in 4 c flour, 1 cup at a time. Add 1 tsp salt (preferably not iodized)

Knead for 20 minutes

Put it back in the bowl

and cover with a damp towel

Let it rise for 1 hour or until it doubles in size.

While it’s rising make a pot of soup or just cut up the filling for the buns.

I used a couple of pieces of cooked bacon, some onion greens and a few leftover mushrooms.

You can also mix up some egg wash: 1 egg mixed with a spoonful of water.

You can also mix up a simple syrup with 2 tsp sugar and 2 tsp tap water, heat til dissolved. Today I needed some simple syrup to make lemonade so I used 1/2c water and 1/2 cup sugar.

Turn it out onto a surface and knead about 5 minutes to even out all the structure then cut in half.

The first half will be the loaf, so cut it into 3 equal parts,

form them into nice oblong shapes and put them into a greased loafpan

the other half is for buns so cut it into 8 pieces, roll or squash them into thin rectangles and spread with mayonnaise before spreading on the savory filling.

Then roll

and cut mostly in half, leaving a bit at the top to hold it all together before twisting the cut bits filling-side up about 3 times over, pinching the ends together

If you want to make sweet rolls you can substitute sour cream for the mayonnaise, sprinkle with brown sugar and raisins before rolling and twisting

Put your twisted buns on a greased sheet and let them rise for about an hour next to the loaf.

Brush with simple syrup (yes, even on the savoury buns) and egg wash, and sprinkle with sesame seeds if you have them then bake at 350 degrees f for 25 minutes or so on the middle rack of the oven or until they are golden brown. The buns will cook faster than the loaf.

Serve the buns with a nice soup or as an appetizer or (if you make the sweet ones) as dessert or breakfast. The loaf is lovely with soups also, plain or buttered or sliced and used as sandwiches with the chicken salad you made yesterday of as tea sandwiches with simple butter and thinly sliced cucumbers, cut into triangles, of course.

This is sturdy and tender and a delight not only to work with as you make it but a wonderful bread to enjoy with any meal. It’s lovely even simply with butter and jam.

Or you can just make a simple loaf like we did today. Let it rise, brush with butter, slit and bake.

1/9/24 I made this again today but got distracted while mixing the liquids and forgot to add the yeast! I realized my mistake about the time I finished mixing in the flour so WHOOPS! Since it needs quite a bit of kneading I pressed it out into a flat square, added 1/2 the yeast, rolled it up, smashed it into another square, added the rest of the yeast and proceeded to knead for a good 20 to 25 minutes. The initial rise took close to 2 hours but it worked! I held out enough dough for 4 buns, rolled them each out, spread them with brown sugar and raisins, folded and pinched them closed with the filling inside, rolled them into closed crescents and baked after the rise. They were good for dessert and I’m looking forward to another one for breakfast. Whipped cream guilded the lily and I’m sure a little icing wouldn’t go amiss but they were yummy plain, too.