Light brioche burger buns

Makes 6 medium size burger buns or about 5 large buns (Recipe adapted from here)

Bread flour- 1 1/4 cups + 3 1/2 tbsp
Salt- 1/4 tsp
Oil- 1 1/2 tbsp

Warm water- 1/2 cup

Whole milk- 1 1/2 tbsp
Active dry yeast- 1 tsp
Sugar- 1 1/4 tbsp
Egg- 1 large
Bread flour- 1 1/4 cups + 3 1/2 tbsp
Oil- 1 1/2 tbsp
Egg white- of one small egg for egg wash, lightly beated
Sesame seeds- around 1 tsp or so

Into the bowl of a free standing mixer add the flour and salt and rub in the oil with your finger tips so the flour resembles coarse bread crumbs. 

In a separate bowl whisk together the warm water, milk, yeast and sugar.
Beat at egg into it and pour this mix into the flour mix.
Using the dough hook of the mixer, start kneading the dough on medium speed for about 5 to 6 minutes, or till the dough comes together. If you are kneading by hand, lightly flour a work surface and knead for about 10 minutes till the dough is no longer sticky.

The dough should not be really sticky, but pliable without the use of more flour.

Oil the same mixing bowl and place the dough into it, spreading some oil on it to prevent drying.

Cover with a kitchen cloth and leave to rise for a minimum of 1.30hrs or till doubled in size.

I preheated my oven to about 40C, turned it off but with the light on and left the dough in there to proof. If proofing in the oven make sure its not more than 50C as forcing the rising will result in a dense, dry bread.

After the dough has risen to double its size, punch it down and scoop out of the bowl (on to a lightly floured surface if needed. I didnt need to use any) on to your kitchen counter.

Divide the dough into 6 equal portions. (I am a bit mental when it comes to sizes in baking so i actually measured out the portions each weighting approx 78 to 80gms)

Roughly roll each portion, flatten to a thick pancake size and bring the sides together to join in the middle and make a parcel of sorts. Then turn it over and using your palm, cup the ball and roll lightly to form a perfectly round bun.
Place all the buns on a tray lined with baking paper and keep aside to proof for another hour or till the buns have risen.
I placed them back into a warm oven with just the light on.

When ready to bake, preheat oven to 200C
Brush the tops of the buns with egg white and sprinkle the sesame seeds.
Pour boiling water into a baking dish or any oven proof dish and place on the oven floor. The steam created will ensure soft buns.
Place the tray with the buns on the middle shelf and bake for about 13 to 15 minutes (if they are medium size and for about 20 minutes if large).
Remove from oven once they are done, and transfer on to cooling racks.
Store in a bread bin or wrap in cling film and use as required.

Notes: The recipe can easily be doubled.
The same recipe makes about 8 mini brioche buns
I overdid the egg white a bit too much and i suspect that why the tops browned waay too much. Use sparingly. Even milk would do instead of egg white

Baker Days (review)

Recently an aunt of Ro's based in India, asked if we could get a birthday cake delivered to a cousin here and we went on a frantic search online for bakeries that did home delivery. Either they wouldn't deliver outside London or the rates for delivery was almost as that of the cake which made us wonder if it was ever possible to deliver a cake to someone special if required.

While highly leaning towards the 'not possible' mark, I received a mail asking if I could do a review for Baker Days, who sends personalised cakes for any occasion, anywhere in UK. I decided to give it a go and so went about checking out their website. With waaaay too many options to choose from., I was quite confused- Birthdays, Engagements, New Baby, Bon Voyage, and heck there is one for even passing your driving test. If that's not good enough then you can design your own cake by uploading a picture you like and getting than imprinted on the cake. 

 

So without wasting much time I went about ordering my cake. The website is pretty easy to navigate around and its as straight forward as it can get. You can select either the Letterbox size which would easily serve 2 to 3 people or the Medium party cake which should get you around 8 to 16 portions. Since it was just Ro and me, I opted for the Letterbox version, and also because I sooo badly wanted to see what they meant by this. You then go about selecting the flavour- plain, carrot, lemon or fruit and if you are gluten intolerant, there is an option for that as well. 

The husband being a chocolate addict, I had to order the double chocolate chip cake and since I didn't have a personalised message to put in, I left that, but it was really sweet of them to include those wordings on the cake :)

You then check out, pay for it and wait till it arrives. And when it did arrive, it was perhaps the cutest lil cake I'd ever seen. It comes neatly wrapped and snugly fit in a tin, so no cracks and such possible. Along with it in the box were balloons, candles, a party horn and a card. I thought that was indeed a great addition and quite considerate.

 

Taste wise, the cake was excellent, I mean super duper moist and chocolatey with those nuts in between, and both of us managed to finish the cake in no time. I seriously wonder how they manage to make them so moist in spite of it being packaged and sent. If there was one fault, well not fault really, but something my taste buds didn't quite enjoy was the icing which came across as a tad too sweet. But on my really good days, I'm sure even that sugar high wouldn't bug me. Also a couple more flavours like red velvet and caramel and fudge would have been a great addition.

Cake cost starts at GBP 14.99 and depending on the flavour and preference, rates increase marginally, but not exorbitantly high. There is also no delivery charge, unless of course you need speedy delivery or something to that extent.

I was thoroughly impressed with Baker Days and am pretty sure I'd be a regular. So next time you want to order a cake online and get it delivered to anyone, anywhere in UK, you know where to go right? Well, all my UK friends watch out, you may be the lucky one to taste one of these awesome cakes :)

With thanks to Baker Days for sending me a cake to review