These awesome burger buns were the winners of bake off 2020, week 3, bread week. Although they take a little time, they are worth it! Here’s what the chefs in question had to say…
‘I organized myself in order to have freshly baked buns for lunch. I started at 2.30 pm the day before in order to use less yeast and make these buns easier to digest. You can double the amount of yeast and start early in the morning. It is up to you. It all depends on whether or not you have access to a fridge for an overnight rest’.
Van Bake off Burger buns
Ingredients
- 520 g Manitoba Flour
- 3 g Active dry yeast
- 30 g Caster sugar
- 8 g Salt
- 60 g Butter
- 260 ml Full cream milk
- 2 Large eggs
- 16 g Extra virgin olive oil
- Extra egg & sesame seeds for finishing touches
Instructions
- Slowly pour the wet ingredients into the bowl, stirring energetically with your hands to avoid lumps. Start with the milk, then the oil, the whisked eggs, and the soft butter for last. The mixture will be wet, but don’t worry! On the contrary… the hydration of the dough will give the bun its softness. If you have trouble handling it, wet your hands with a little bit of oil and keep working.
- Transfer the dough to your work surface, knead for a couple of minutes and let it rest for 5 in order to reach a less tenacious and more elastic dough. You will find it easier to handle. Make the reinforcement folds and let it rest again, this time for 30 minutes, covered with plastic wrap to prevent the surface from drying out and creating an annoying crust. Make another round of folds (the last one, I promise) and place in the refrigerator in a lightly oiled container, with an airtight lid, to rest overnight (16 hours in total). I use Sistema, but the only important thing is that the dough will rise even at 4C therefore the container must be large enough to allow the increase in volume
- At 7.30 am (the next morning), make your 9 | 10 balls and let them rise at room temperature on top of your baking tray lined with baking paper. The buns will keep rising, even during cooking, and for such reason, you should leave enough space between them so they don’t join together. I organised 2 trays, one with 4 buns and the other with 5.
- After 3 hours (should be around 11 am), whisk another egg, gently brush your buns and sprinkle with sesame seeds. Bake in a static oven at 200 degrees C for 14/16 minutes (depending on the size of the bun you have chosen). I have the compact Breville Smart Oven Pro and I usually start cooking in the middle rack and then move the tray to the lowest level for the last 3/4 minutes. Leave the bread rolls to rest on a wire rack and enjoy.