Pumpkin Chelsea Buns

The title might differ but this recipe is inspired by the blog, Ganache-ganache, of a young lady who makes amazing cakes and pastry and best of all, takes order for them.

This is her pumpkin buns recipe which I adapted and had a blast with.

I like the look of this recipe because it seems easy. Another reason is also I love playing with yeast dough. I know I can save time and energy using the dough mixer but most times I still prefer using my hands (easier to gauge the moisture of the dough too). It is like playing with my daughter's Play-Doh but better as it comes alive and double in size. And that yeasty scent when the dough comes alive can be very intoxicating not to mention the heavenly aroma when the goodies are in the oven baking...

As usual I tend to improvise whenever I am lacking in some ingredients and always tweak the recipe to accommodate some fussy palates but basically it follows pretty closely to the original recipe except for the sugar part. 

Her is sugar free but mine here is definitely not. 

I didn't have any honey so I used sugar and I like the idea of filling and a glaze. I was actually toying with the idea of a pumpkin cum gaya jam for a filling but the chelsea buns won . So I went crazy with butter, sugar, raisins and nuts for the filling, didn't I tell you I had fun? Definitely not for people on diet... 

My sister, Mui gave me this big pumpkin which had been sitting in the kitchen for weeks. Not wanting to cut it open as I know I had to have enough ways to cook it up fast. 

I still have half left even after using some to cook in Terri's style (see how red the pumpkin flesh is) and my usual balsamic glazed.

Following ganache's advice I peeled, steamed and freeze the remainder for future use. 

Click here for Ganache-ganache's original sugar-free pumpkin buns.

I halved the recipe as half the household is not in town.

Pumpkin Chelsea Buns

Dough:

300g bread flour

150g pumpkin puree (peeled, steamed, mashed or blended)

40g castor sugar

75 - 80 ml milk (depends on the moisture content of the pumpkin puree)

1 t salt

1 t instant yeast

40g butter, softened

Mix the flour and salt in a large bowl, rub in the butter and stir in the sugar and yeast.

Add in the milk and mix well into a firm dough.

Turn the dough out on a flour surface and knead (my favorite part) for 10 minutes or so until smooth and elastic. 

 

When that is achieved, return it to a floured bowl, cover with a tea towel and leave it in a warm corner for 30 minutes or until the dough doubled in size.

Like this... when the yeasty fragrance is most pronounced and it looks like it is alive.

At this stage, turn out the dough on to a floured surface and knock or punch it down.

Roll out the dough into a square of about 30 cm.

Filling:

1T melted butter

1T brown sugar mix with 1t ground cinnamon

40g raisins (or chocolate chips as Bryan requested)

40g walnuts (coarsely chopped)

Brush with the melted butter.

Sprinkle with the brown sugar and as can be seen from the picture above, half of the dough was sprinkle with raisin while the other half, chocolate chips as requested by Bryan. 

After the nuts are sprinkled on, roll the dough up, Swiss roll style.

 

Cut the roll into 12 slices.

And place them in an oiled 23cm cookie pan. Cover and leave for another 30 minutes until they double in size again.

Meanwhile, preheat oven to 200c.

Bake the buns for 15 minutes or until they are golden.

Leave to cool on a rack.

Glaze:

2T sugar

1 T water 

Gently heat the sugar and water until sugar dissolve.

Brush the glaze over the warm buns. 

The pumpkin in the buns turned a beautiful golden yellow when baked. 

Best serve warm with black coffee without sugar (kopi 'o' kosong). 

Rosemary and Rock Salt Focaccia

Mui Fong bought a cookbook from Doulos the last time it docked here in KK. After she unwrapped and flipped through, she passed it to me and said ' Here, cook something from here and call me for dinner'. That's what sisters are for.

It is a book on whole foods for health and healing. I was not too keen on recipes from these because healthy usually means bland in my book. Anyway, it IS a cook book so I browsed through it and found this focaccia bread recipe which sound so very promising. I was absolutely amazed how well it turn out. That certainly taught me not to judge a book by it's cover.

Rosemary and Rock Salt Focaccia
300g bread flour (I used 1/3 wholemeal + 2/3 bread flour - makes it healthier still)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon dried yeast
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 sprigs rosemary, leaves only, chopped
10 black olives, pitted and roughly chopped - optional
1 tablespoon olive oil
~180ml water

I did 2x the recipe because I know the amount given is probably only enough for three in my family. Put all the above ingredients into a mixer with a dough attachment and mix for about 7-10 minutes (use those bread makers if you have one but just for the kneading and take the dough out to proof and shape). I then hand-kneaded the dough for another 5 minutes (an excuse to play with the dough) until it is smooth and shiny with a springy touch. That is one reason why I never get a bread maker, just can't resist the kneading - I actually find it therapeutic and a great way to give my biceps a work out!
Put the dough in a lightly oiled bowl and cover with a clean dish cloth. Leave to rise for 30-45 minutes, until the dough has doubled in size.

Turn out dough and knead lightly again for 1-2 minutes. Roll out to an oval (or rectangular) shape about 1 1/2 cm thick. Place onto a greased baking tray, cover loosely and leave it for 25-30 minutes to rise again.
Preheat the oven to 200C/400F.

For the topping
4 tablespoons olive oil
2 teaspoons rock salt
1 sprig rosemary

Make indentations with fingers all over the top of dough. Drizzle 2 tablespoons of olive oil all over the top, then sprinkle with the rock salt and rosemary.

Bake for 25 minutes until golden. Transfer to a wire rack to cool and spoon the rest of the remaining olive oil over the bread.
Loved the scent of rosemary and garlic mingling with the aroma of freshly baked bread that permeated through the whole house.

Eat it on its own or do like Leanne, dipped into olive oil+balsamic vinegar. It just occurred to me that this bread would be so good with the roast lamb plus the drippings and also the moussaka!! Must bookmark it with these recipes...

Jo