On the left is a plain green tea bun.
The opened bun has Japanese red bean filling in it (bought from Daiso). I've only added a small amount of the paste into each because it was too sweet for my liking on its own.
I suppose there will be more matcha creation coming up because I have just bought 1 kg of Japanese green tea powder and I have used only 8 gram for this recipe :P. I've used the recipe from The World of Bread by Alex Goh.
2nd week of May is always very special for me. Not only it is Mother's Day, my birthday also falls within this period of time. Since it's my week, I actually want to take a break from baking. I want to enjoy myself. Since it's for 2 occasions, I have chosen 2 kinds of cake (Tiramisu as well as Dark Chocolate) from The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf to celebrate with my family. Prior to The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf, we also had our Mother's Day celebrations in Sakae Sushi with my mum and mother-in-law.
I still have balance of 1 and a half packs of wholemeal flour. I decided to use the previous wholemeal bread bun recipe again, except this time I add some chopped walnuts. As I am too lazy to shape the dough into individual buns, I have used a pullman tin to shape the bread as well as bake it this time. The bread crust turns out better than my previous wholemeal buns, as it's not so thick. But because the dough is concealed in the tin, during the baking process, the aroma is not as strong. The baking time is 15 mins longer and the temperature has to be 20 degrees higher. I have always enjoyed the thick bread slices sold in Toast Box. So I deliberately cut my bread slices that way.
Yes, this bread was made without a bread machine but with my Kenwood Chef mixer and baked with a conventional oven (though I also own a Breville bread machine).Yields about 16 small buns.
Topping
Ingredients
150g butter
3 eggs
150g sugar
120g plain flour
15g almond powder, toasted
4g Nescafe (Gold Blend)
10g hot water
2 Tbs good coffee powder*
2 Tbs warm water
2 tsp Cafe Crema or a good coffee paste
1 tsp vanilla essence
(*Try the Sumatran coffee bean from Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf)
Method
1. Dissolve Nescafe in hot water. Also dissolve coffee powder in warm water.
2. Cream butter and sugar for about 1 minute to mix well.
3. Combine eggs and the rest of the ingredients using a mixer at low speed until mixture is even. Do not overbeat.
4. Put mixture in a refrigerator for a few hours or preferably overnight till it thickens. It is easier to handle.
5. Put mixture into piping bag and pipe to cover three-quarters of the top of each bun.
Filling
Ingredients
150g butter
15g icing sugar
Method
1. Mix well and divide into individual portions.
2. Put in freezer for about an hour for it to harden.
Dough
Ingredients
6g yeast
140g water
1 egg yolk
40g sugar
260g bread flour
8g milk powder
1/4 tsp salt
45g butter
Method
1. Mix yeast with water. Then add the rest of the ingredients above. Knead and set aside for 30 minutes.
2. Divide dough into small round portions and wrap in the filling (see above).
3. When dough is well proofed, pipe topping (see above) on top.
4. Bake at 200 deg C for about 10 to 12 minutes. The buns are best eaten hot.
(Makes 10)
This recipe looks tedious. I'm not sure if the result is worth the effort.
Filling
Ingredients:
200 g salted butter, softened
1/2teaspoon vanilla flavouring
70 g brown sugar
Instructions
Beat butter in electric mixer on medium speed with the paddle attachment for three minutes. Blend in vanilla essence and brown sugar.
Spoon mixture into bowl and refrigerated until firm.
Divide mixture into 20 g portion into ball. Keep refrigerated until ready to use.
Topping
Ingredients:
200 g butter, softened
160 g icing sugar, sifted
3 Grade A eggs, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon coffee flavouring(available from bakery supplies shop)
(You can use 2 tablespoons instant coffee powder dissolved in 1 tablespoon water instead of the coffee flavouring.)
A pinch of ground cinnamon can be added to the coffee flavouring for extra flavour.
200 g low protein (high ratio) flour, sifted
Instructions:
Beat butter and icing sugar in electric mixer with the paddle attachment on medium speed for five min. until mixture is light and fluffy. Gradually beat in eggs. Mix in coffee flavouring. Sift flour onto mixture and mix on low speed until combined. Refrigerate until ready to use.
Sweet dough
Ingredients:
500g high protein flour, sifted
5g bread improver, sifted + 5 g bread softener
20 g milk powder, sifted
75 g castor sugar
6 g salt
8g day instant yeast
1 egg lightly beaten
270g water or milk(do not use milk powder if using milk)
60 g butter softened
Instructions
Mix sifted flour, castor sugar and salt in electric mixer with dough hook on low speed for one min. Mix in yeast. Add egg and water or milk.Mix on low speed for another minute. Mix on medium speed for eight minutes. Mix in butter. Mix five minutes more on medium speed until soft, smooth and elastic(but not sticky) dough forms.Remove dough from mixture and shape into a ball.
Divide the dough into 55 g portions(should get 17 portions). Roll each portion into a ball. Cover the balls of dough and leave to rest for 10 min.
To shape the buns:
Flatten a ball of dough with the palm of your hand. Place a ball of filling in the centre of the dough. Gather the edge and pinch to seal. (Be sure to seal well or the filling will leak out during baking.) Pat into shape and place on a greased baking tray. Repeat with remaining portions of dough . Place each bun about 7.5 cm apart on the baking trays.
Prove for 45 min in a warm place.
Pipe the topping on the buns in a spiral, starting from the centre.
Bake in preheated oven at 200 deg C for 12 to 15 min or until buns are lightly brown.