Want to know why? Because this is the best and softest non-wheat bread that I have ever baked thus far. Also, approvals from my mom, sister and nephew were enough for me to say that it was a successful bake!
I am a skeptic when it comes to baking off someone else's recipe due to many failed attempts in the past. Until recently, when I had a craving for brioche and stumbled upon a video by Ian Haste published on Oct 12, 2016. He allegedly made brioche burger buns in just 25 minutes! Unfortunately, he did not mention the proofing or resting time before baking.
From what I gathered, you need to rest the dough (preferably overnight) in order to achieve the proper taste and texture of brioche. So, he skipped the long process and still got the same results? Nah, that cannot be possible! I never trusted technology to begin with, especially when videos are concerned, which can always be manipulated by the videographer to cut short the actual process.
That said, I just had to try out and see for myself, i.e. just the basic ingredients and initial steps because I chose the longer process instead.
The original recipe was rather sketchy and called for light spelt flour, butter (salted/unsalted ??), whole eggs (size ??), honey, slightly more instant yeast than mine, milk (??), short proofing time, bigger buns, brushing the buns with egg wash and baking in a steam oven.
Due to the availability of ingredients in my pantry, I had to make some adjustments to the recipe. Since Ian's brioche burger buns would be sweeter than I would normally make mine, I decided not to reduce the sweetness but to add fillings to the buns instead.
Because the kitchen was rather hot and humid, I was working like a madman in a frenzy that I forgot to prepare an egg wash. I only dusted the top with flour because it was much easier to handle the buns since they were sticky. Because mine was a small oven, I did not bake the buns in a steam oven and even forgot to turn down the oven temperature midway through baking that I almost burned my buns!
Thankfully, the quick-witted me found a solution to soften the crust by brushing lightly salted margarine to the almost burned top and bottom of the buns while they were cooling on the wire rack. This also reduced the overall sweetness of the buns.
I never knew that with all the changes I made, they would turn out as they turned out ~ soft buns, although slightly floury on the outside, they were just like the ones I had tasted during my childhood (they were not called brioche, they were called sweet buns with fillings, sold by Bhais or Mamak roti (Mamak is a salutation for an Indian man who is old enough to be our Uncle).
So, I never followed the recipe to the T, yet achieved the same results? The magic or miracle of science (I know, it's oxymoronic because science is factual).
My brioche buns lasted only 5 days because I gave half to my sister and nephew, mostly the cheese and coconut. I stored the leftovers in an airtight container and would usually freeze them right away.
But this time, because the buns were not gluten free, I let them sit at the coolest part of my kitchen. After 2 days, they still maintained their softness and even tasted better than freshly baked bread. I froze the leftovers the same day just to test the buns further.
The following day, I reheated a frozen bun filled with chocolate ganache in the microwave for 40 seconds (20 seconds each side, covered, with a small bowl of water at the side) to revive the buns. It became soft again, although not as fluffy, but tasted just as good as yesterday's.
When it comes to baking bread especially, it may or may not work the same for you due to differences in weather, ingredients, oven conditions, etc. at the time of preparation and baking. Nevertheless, you will not know unless you try...
Anyway, here's how I did mine...
Sweet spelt brioche buns with fillings (makes 16)
What you need to have:
Ingredients
1 cup warm milk
11g instant dry yeast (equals 1 sachet)
3 Tsp honey
1 Tsp raw sugar
4 egg yolks (from medium-sized eggs)
1 egg (medium-sized)
1 Tsp apple cider vinegar (enhances flavour, aids in rising wholegrain flour)
1 tsp salt
227g unsalted butter (1 block of butter, at room temperature)
450g wholegrain spelt flour
measuring cup and spoons
kitchen scale
stand mixer with dough hook
dough scraper
large plastic container with cover for proofing dough
oil for greasing
fridge
2 baking trays lined with baking paper
slightly oiled plastic sheets to cover buns while proofing
convention oven
wire rack
airtight container for storing leftovers in the freezer
What you need to do:
1. In a stand mixer bowl with dough hook attached, combine milk, yeast, honey and sugar. Let stand for 5 mins or until frothy.
2. Add all of the eggs, vinegar and salt. Turn mixer on low speed for 4 mins.
3. Add half of butter and flour and continue mixing at low speed until butter is fully incorporated (scrape the sides and bottom of bowl to even out the dough).
4. Repeat with the remaining half of butter and flour.
5. Once incorporated, turn mixer on medium speed and knead for 12 mins. The dough will be soft and very sticky, just the way it should be.
6. Scrape dough into a well oiled plastic container, cover and leave in the fridge to proof overnight. The longer the dough rests, the better the flavour. You can also turn the dough in the container every now and then, just to even out the flavour (I did it twice, once before I went to bed and another, just before dawn).
7. The next day, dust your work area with flour. Shape the dough into 16 balls, ~75-80g each (since the weather was hot and humid, I worked with 1 ball at a time and kept the rest in the fridge).
8. Flatten each ball and place in the middle with your favourite fillings (I had prepared 4 types of fillings ~ 4 Tsp grated coconut with gula melaka, 4 Tsp red beans paste, 4 Tsp dark chocolate ganache and 4 pcs of sliced cheddar cheese). Seal the edges and shape into a nice and smooth ball.
9. Place on the baking trays lined with baking paper (you can place them closely for tearable buns or 1" apart for individual buns). When all of the buns are ready, dust the top with flour or brush with egg wash.
10. Cover each tray with slightly oiled plastic sheet or wet towel and set aside to rest for 30 mins or until almost doubled in size.
11. Preheat oven at 220°C for 15 minutes. Place tray on the middle rack. Turn down the oven temperature to 200°C and bake for 15-20 mins. If the buns start to brown too fast, tent the top with aluminium foil after 10 mins of baking.
12. Remove from baking tray and leave to cool on wire rack. (brush with butter or margarine to soften the crusts that formed at the top and bottom of buns due to over baking).
13. Let cool completely before storing leftovers in an airtight container. The buns will maintain its softness for a couple of days if left at the coolest part of your kitchen. After which you may want to store leftovers in the freezer compartment of your fridge.
Enjoy!
 |
| my 15.1/2 slightly browned sweet brioche buns with assorted fillings (I could not resist the temptation and had to devour 1/2 of the coconut bun whilst still hot) |
 |
| my sweet brioche buns with assorted fillings: clockwise from top right: homemade dark chocolate ganache, sliced cheddar cheese, homemade grated coconut with gula melaka and homemade red beans paste |
 |
| my 2 days' old sweet brioche bun filled with homemade red beans paste |
 |
| my 3 days' old sweet brioche bun filled with homemade dark chocolate ganache (after being reheated in the microwave) |
