Japanese milk bread rolls/ Bunny bread rolls

Recipe source - Kingarthur 

 Ingredients 

For Tangzhong 

2 tablespoons of flour 

Milk – 40 ml 

Water – 40 ml 

Method

Whisk flour with water and milk without any lumps and heat it in a pan on a low heat stirring continuously for 3- 5 minutes until it thickens. When it’s ready, you should be able to draw a line on the pan. 

Let it cool down for 2 hours. 

For Bread ( Makes 4 bunnies)

Bread flour – 300 gm/2 ½ cup 

Egg – 1 large 

Instant yeast – 1 tbsp / 8gm 

Salt – 1 tsp 

Granulated sugar – 50 gm/ ¼ cup 

Melted butter –57 gm/ 4 tablespoons 

Milk powder – 2 tablespoons 

Milk (lukewarm)– 113 ml / ½ cup 

Tangzhong 

1 Egg + 1 tsp milk ( for egg wash)

Fondant/ Buttercream icing / Royal icing for decoration

 

Method 

In a cup add 1 tablespoon of yeast and 1 tsp of sugar and let it froth for 10 minutes. 

In another bowl add the ingredients for the dough and tangzhong which u made earlier. 

Add the yeast mixture and mix well and make it into a rough sticky dough in the bowl 

Transfer the dough into a floured surface and knead (do not add any flour for the first 5 minutes) 

Keep kneading for another 15-20 minutes until the dough is smooth and elastic and passes the window pane test (when stretched should give a thin membrane without tearing). Softness of the rolls depends on how well you knead. 

Let the dough proof in an oiled bowl covered with a damp cloth for 1 – 1 ½ hours until doubled in size. 

Punch the air out of the dough and divide the dough into 4 ( for 4 bunnies) 

Shape each ball into a bunny by making one ball for head, a slightly bigger one for body, smaller ones for arms, legs and two long ones for  bunny ears and then attaching it together.

Once u shape them into bunny, let it rest for another 1 hour. 

Give it an egg wash and bake it a preheated oven at 170 degree C for 15 – 18 minutes until golden brown and when tapped sound hollow. 

Let the roll cool down and then finish it off by making mouth, nose, whiskers and eyes with fondant. Alternatively you can also draw with buttercream/ royal icing. 

  

Irish soda bread

 

I work in a catholic school where lots of staffs and children come from Ireland. Just like Christmas, 40 days of lent leading up to Easter is very special in our school community and there is always food to celebrate. Even on a normal day there is always coffee /tea, cakes and biscuits.  On march 17 th it’s St Patricks day, a special day for Ireland.  On St Patrick's day there is always Irish soda bread, jam and butter in our staffroom. That’s how I got introduced to this wonderful bread. Though it’s called a bread, I would say it’s more like a scone and the best bit is, it is a no knead bread and you can make this in less than 1 hour if u have all the ingredients handy. 

My other connection to Ireland is my sister lives there and I have been lucky to explore the scenic country quite a few times. I love Ireland for its scenery, lovely people and of course for this soda bread and Irish stew 😊 

Recipe for this Irish bread was adapted from Sally’s baking addiction.

 

Ingredients 

Plain flour – 500 gm/ 4 cups 

Unsalted Butter – 70 gm 

Sugar – 40 gm 

Egg – 1 large 

Buttermilk – 375 ml  

Baking soda – 1 tsp 

Raisins – 150 gm 

Salt – ¾ tsp 

 

Method 

In a bowl take flour, salt, baking soda and sugar. Whisk to mix. 

Add cold butter to the flour and mix it until it resembles bread crumbs.  

Add raisins and mix. 

In another bowl take buttermilk, add in one egg and whisk to mix. 

Pour the buttermilk to the flour and fold in and make a rough sticky dough. 

Transfer the dough to a floured surface and gently try to form a ball with dough with your floured hands. Do not overwork the dough. No need to knead. Add more flour if the dough is too sticky. 

Transfer the dough to a greased 9 inch cake tin and score an X on top. 

Bake the bread in a preheated oven 200 degree C for about 45 minutes or until it appears to be cooked through. 

I covered the bread with a foil in the last 10 mins to avoid excessive browning. 

Wait for the bread to cool down for 15-20 mins before you cut.