Tangzhong Cinnamon Rolls: Further Experiments

In my further bread experiments, I've discovered that tangzhong dough works very well for making cinnamon rolls!

I wrote up a cinnamon rolls recipe about two years ago using a traditional bread dough method, but I thought it'd be nice to update it with my recent discovery of the Tangzhong method.

In my previous blog on the topic, I said that it was an Asian method (which makes sense, being called tangzhong), however from further research I discovered that its origins are to be found in Eastern Europe, particularly Austria and Russia. In German, it's called kochstück and was originally used to prevent spelt bread from drying out in the oven. So, it's doubly appropriate I should use it on this blog, which has a focus on making things with spelt flour!

 

This made some mega fluffy cinnamon rolls, but I will warn that they dough is so soft and stretchy that it's difficult to get a nice tight roll. But the crumb is so unbelievably fluffy that that won't bother you.To make the dough, I used 1 pound (450 grammes) strong flour, at least 11.5% protein, 6 fluid ounces (170 millilitres) water, the same amount of milk, two ¼ ounce (7 gramme) packs of dried yeast, 2 ounce (55 grammes) salted butter, and 2 tablespoon (30 grammes) sugar.

In the future, I'll be looking into ways to knead this style of dough without a machine, because I rely on my newly acquired stand mixer to knead this very sticky style of bread. There are masters who know the ancient ways of kneading high hydration dough, so I'll turn to them for assistance....

Bread That's Still Fresh Tomorrow: Tangzhong Method

Ah, bread... such a simple, simple pleasure. In some parts of the world, access to bread is a human right, and I can see why!

However, sometimes homemade bread doesn't live up to expectations for a variety of reasons: it's dry, it's dense, it's doughy, or sometimes it simply doesn't last for more than a day before going stale. That's not a problem if you have lots of people in your house to eat the bread, but if not even the biggest bread lover couldn't (or if they could, shouldn't) eat an entire loaf of bread in one day. 

So, I took to the internet to do some research on how to keep my bread fresher for longer and lasts for three days without having to become bird food. And it's all to do with the relationship between the flour and the water.

Now, for some science

In the breadmaking world, people talk about dough hydration percentage. Sounds fancy, but all that really means is if you have a bread dough that has 1000 grammes of flour, and 500 grammes of water, that dough has a 50% hydration, because there is half as much water as flour. The higher the percentage of hydration, the chewier and sturdier the texture of the dough after baking, and the fresher it stays for longer. The lower the percentage, the quicker it goes stale. 

Doughs that have a higher hydration percentage need flour with more gluten, so an 80% hydration dough would need strong bread flour that has a high percentage of protein on the label, more than 11%. Lower hydration dough, however, can be made using regular plain or all purpose flour which makes them much more accessible for beginners or occasional bakers who might only have plain flour at home.

Regular beginner's bread doughs often have roughly 60-65% hydration, or a pound of flour (455 grammes) to about half a pint of water or milk (285 millilitres). That's how my Mum taught me, and it's easy to handle. Often very experienced or artisan breadmakers can use bread doughs that have up to 80% hydration, like sourdough, which has great keeping qualities and a delicious chewy texture. However, this kind of dough needs particular handling techniques that take a long time to master that would absolutely frustrate and discourage a beginner. I've tried, and failed, and cried over way too many wasted loaves of bread.

Is there a compromise?

To have a dough with a nice high percentage hydration but can be easily handled, you need to trap some of the water. Introducing a method that's very popular in East Asian countries: the tangzhong.

This method takes a small amount of the flour used in your recipe to make a paste with some of the water. This paste traps the water in the starch of the flour, which has two advantages: the water isn't all in your dough, making it hard to handle; and the water is trapped which makes it harder to escape, keeping the bread moister for longer!

Now, that's some massive oversimplification: the real technical reason has way more longer words in it like gelatinisation and other words I couldn't spell out loud from memory. But all you need to know is that it works very well.

So, the takeaway is

Higher Hydration: 65%<

Needs strong (bread) flour with more protein

Makes bread that has a chewy texture

Can have big air pockets, depending on how it's proofed

Sticky dough which needs specific handling techniques

Almost has a life of its own

Makes bread that keeps longer

Lower Hydration: >65%

Can be made using plain (all-purpose) flour

Make tender, soft bread

Has a more cake-like texture

Easy to handle dough that's good for beginners

Quite a forgiving dough that doesn't need special treatment

Can stale quickly if not eaten or frozen immediately

Tangzhong Method

Traps some of the water in a cooked flour-water paste

Results in a dough which is a happy middle ground between low and high hydration properties

So, for my delicious loaf of white bread that's in the pictures, I used 1 pound (455 grammes) of strong bread flour, 12 fluid ounces (340 millilitres), one quarter-ounce (7 gramme) sachet of dried yeast, 1 ounce (30 grammes) butter or oil, 1 teaspoon (5 millilitres) salt, and two teaspoons (10 millilitres) sugar.

One pound is 16 ounces, which means 12 fluid ounces of water is 75% of the flour measurement. If you use more or less flour, the water must be scaled to always be 75% of the flour.

Take 1 ounce (30 grammes) of the pre-measured flour and cook it with 6 fluid ounces (180 millilitres) of the pre-measured water and cook it into a paste in a saucepan over medium-low heat and allow to cool with cling film directly touching the surface to prevent a skin. The paste should be thick and translucent. Notice that the ratio of flour to water is 1:6, and also that half of the overall water is being trapped in the paste. 

Make the bread as usual, adding in the paste and the remaining ingredients. It will take longer to knead and sometimes get a little sticky, but don't be tempted to add a load more flour to knead it easier. You can use plain flour for dusting.

Bake as normal and cool as normal and you'll be presented with some of the most deliciously impossibly soft and fluffy bread you've ever eaten. Just like from the Chinese bakery!

This method can be used to make cinnamon rolls and other kinds of bread treats like dinner rolls, hot dog buns, or hamburger buns. You can use milk in the dough, but always make sure you make the flour paste with water; it just works better that way.

For more information on tangzhong method dough, please read through my sources and explore what the world wide web has to offer on the subject!

SOURCES

https://pastrychefonline.com/tangzhong-bread/

https://www.kingarthurflour.com/blog/2018/07/23/how-to-convert-a-bread-recipe-to-tangzhong

https://www.kingarthurflour.com/blog/2018/03/26/introduction-to-tangzhong

Variation on a Theme: Cappuccino Fudge

Along with a cake, I made Stefi an edible present: I present to you Cappuccino Fudge!

As long term readers of my blog well know, I absolutely adore fudge. Over the years, I’ve found ways of refining my fudge recipes and process, and it has ranged from using condensed milk, to evaporated milk, to caster sugar, to brown sugar, to salted butter, to unsalted butter. I discovered a better way of making fudge when I made my Southern States Caramel cake, when I was looking for a good boiled icing recipe that wouldn't set too hard.

My current fudge recipe suits my tastes because it’s not sickly, crystal sweet, but round, rich, fatty, and smooth. The consistency is firm and can even be moulded like fondant if you treat it right! It reminds me of the high quality all-butter fudges you get from Thorntons or other chocolate shops. 

But another thing I really love about my current recipe is how easily it can be adapted to other flavours and combinations. Fat is a great vehicle for flavour, and seeing as nowadays I make fudge with copious amounts of butter and full-fat whipping cream, it holds flavours exceptionally well, even better than when I did that orange chocolate fudge video back in the early days of my YouTube channel. 

 

And so, I share with you my first proper venture into an unusual fudge flavour since I started using my updated recipe: cappuccino! This is essentially fudge with instant coffee added to taste, topped off with a stiff vanilla buttercream, and dusted with drinking chocolate powder. 

Find yourself a good quality finely ground instant espresso powder. It should be more like powder than granules. This can be mixed directly into the fudge mixture to taste, starting small and adding if you want it stronger. Alternatively, if you only have coffee granules, you can dilute them in the vanilla essence to get a concentrated coffee essence. That's what I did.

I made the topping using a fairly stiff buttercream flavoured with a splash of vanilla essence. I piped it on with a star nozzle, but you could equally as easily swoop it on to look more like milk foam. I used Cadbury drinking chocolate to dust it, but you could also use the chocolate topping that comes in boxes of instant cappuccino sachets. My dad loves that stuff, so there’s never any of it around me to use! 

INGREDIMENTS

1¼ pounds (570 grammes) caster sugar

8 fluid ounces (225 millilitres) whipping cream, slightly warmed

8 ounces (225 grammes) unsalted butter

¼ to ½ teaspoon (1 to 3 millilitres) fine salt

1 tablespoon (15 millilitres) vanilla essence

For the topping

3 ounces (85 grammes) unsalted butter

9 ounces (250 grammes) icing sugar

Milk, at room temperature, for mixing

Vanilla to taste

Hot chocolate powder, for dusting

HOW-TO

• In a large saucepan with a metal or enamel interior (don't use a dark coated pan), add the sugar, cream, and half of the butter. Stir well over medium-low heat until everything has dissolved nicely and is a syrup with no gritty sugar on the bottom. Bring to a simmer.
• When it begins to simmer, turn the heat to medium-low and simmer gently for up to 30 minutes, until it reaches soft-ball stage (112°C to 115°C (235° F to 240° F)). On reaching this temperature, remove from the heat immediately and allow to cool for 10 to 15 minutes, or until the bubbling has completely stopped.
• Cut the remaining butter into small cubes, and then beat the syrup with an electric hand mixer on medium speed for about 2 minutes.
• As the syrup begins to thicken and lose its gloss, taking on a matte appearance, start adding the butter, a cube at a time while beating, making sure to beat in each cube fully before adding the next. The whole process should take about 5 to 6 minutes.
• Eventually, you will get a deliciously thick, fudge mixture. If the fudge begins to split, leaving oily patches or film, add in half a teaspoon of cold water and beat until it comes together again.
• To flavour, dissolve the coffee granules in the vanilla essence and beat in thoroughly. Salt to taste: you'll need a surprising amount of salt.
• Pour out into a 7 inch (20 centimetre) square tin, that has been lined with non-stick paper. You could use a silicone tin, which is what I do.
• Allow the fudge to cool to room temperature before icing, then make a stiff buttercream with the icing ingredients, and pipe or dollop on top of the fudge. Dust with hot chocolate powder.
• Allow the whole confection to set for at least 6 hours at room temperature before cutting into equally sized pieces. I recommend one inch (2.5 centimetre) squares.

Dulce de Leche Cake (Wheat Free, with Gluten Free Option)

Happy birthday, Stefi! 

This month my brother’s partner celebrated her birthday, which gave me another excuse to make cake! Unlike my other family members, I still have room to experiment with her birthday cakes because her tastes aren’t as definite as my parents and siblings. She migrated to Ireland from Ecuador, where they celebrate birthdays differently, with different kinds of cake and sweets. 

However, I know she likes caramel! At home, she would make a caramel sauce by slow cooking milk, sugar, and baking soda together until dark brown and syrupy. When she and my brother went to Ecuador, they brought me back a big ol’ tub of dulce de leche, which was summarily consumed in banoffi pies and on ice cream. 

So, I thought I’d return the favour by making her a delicious caramel flavoured cake, with browned butter and buttery caramel icing. Browning the butter adds a delicious note of caramelly goodness to the cake mixture, and this non-crusting icing is more like a caramel cream than a buttercream. And I love jazzing things up with sugar confetti! 

I used my Madeira cake recipe, adding a little bit of lemon zest and almond essence. I also cooked the butter until it was a deep brown and then let it cool before adding it to the mixture. Take note, however, that when you brown butter it will evaporate a lot of water, which needs to be replaced. To do this, simply pop the cooked butter in a bowl on the scales and top it up with water until it’s its original weight. 

I made the icing by whipping unsalted butter and thick dulce de leche until light and whippy, and then I added salt and vanilla essence to taste. After sandwiching the cake with straight up dulce de leche, I iced the cake with swoops of caramel cream icing, and topped it off with colouredy sprinkles! 

Despite it being absolutely loaded with sugar, the fattiness of the butter in the icing and the warm zestiness of the lemon in the cake makes sure that the whole cake isn’t too sweet. Although, I still recommend eating it in small doses. You can also add lemon juice to any part of this to cut through the richness even more, if you like.

INGREDIMENTS

One 8 inch lemon Madeira cake, made with spelt or gluten free flour, cut in half for filling

About 14 ounces (397 grammes) of dulce de leche, either shop bought or homemade

2 teaspoons (10 millilitres) vanilla essence

6 ounces (170 grammes) soft unsalted butter

Colourful sprinkles

METHOD

• Trim the dome off the cake and cut in half horizontally to get two layers. As you can see in the picture above, I didn't actually have enough cake to cut off the dome because I accidentally used a 9 inch tin when I only had enough mixture for an 8 inch. Lesson learnt!
• Set aside 9 ounces (250 grammes) of the caramel for the icing, and use the remaining caramel to fill the cake in a nice thin layer. (You'll have some leftover, which you can eat secretly with sliced banana on digestive biscuits later)
• In a mixing bowl, whip with butter with an electric hand mixer until light and fluffy. Add in the caramel and whip until creamy. Add more vanilla and salt, to taste: some people like saltier caramel than others.
• Use the icing to coat the top and sides of the cake, and swoop and swirl the icing to make it look extra delicious. Decorate with sprinkles.

Homemade Dulce de Leche: 3 Different Methods

If you live in a part of the world where canned caramel (dulce de leche) is available to you, by all means walk to the shop and get some. Here in Ireland and UK, you can buy cans of Carnation Caramel that weigh 397 grammes (about 14 ounces), and in the States and Ecuador (only because Stefi tells me) you can buy Alpina Arequipe, that comes in larger packets:

However, if you live somewhere where this is not available, here are lots of options open to you, so don't fret. You can make a quick, cheat caramel on the stove stop, or you can do a long, slow caramel on the stove top or in the oven.

The cheat caramel is the fastest, but it's not an authentic, true dulce de leche (hence cheat). It's also the easiest to overcook and completely wreck. Sometimes in life, good things really do come to those who wait.

The stove-top method is the most traditional and widely used, so it's obviously a fairly consistent and reliable way of doing it. However, I find that it's impossible to tell if your caramel is dark enough for your liking if it's hidden inside a completely hermetically sealed can.

By far my favourite way is to cook the condensed milk in the oven. It's a nice halfway house between cheat caramel and and boil-in-the-can, as it only takes 90 minutes, as opposed to three hours, and doesn't have as narrow a margin for error as the cheat method.

Quick Cheat Caramel

2 ounces (55 grammes) caster sugar

One 14 ounce (400 gramme) can of condensed milk

Vanilla essence and salt, to taste

• Caramelise the caster sugar in 2 tablespoons of water in a small heavy saucepan. Once dark brown, remove from the heat and stir in the condensed milk. 
• Return to a medium low heat and cook, stirring constantly, until it has thickened and is a rich brown colour. Do not allow to boil.
• Pour the caramel into a bowl and allow to cool completely to room temperature. Once cool, add a teaspoon of the vanilla and some salt to taste

Stove-Top Slow Caramel

One 14 ounce (400 gramme) can of condensed milk

Vanilla essence and salt, to taste

• Take the label off the can and leave it completely closed. Place the can in a saucepan of cold water, making sure it is completely submerged. Bring to the boil on the stove top.
• Once boiling, reduce the heat and simmer the can for 3 hours, topping up the water as necessary.
• After 3 hours, allow the water and can to cool completely to room temperature. Once cool, refrigerate overnight.
• When ready to use, salt and flavour to your own taste.

Oven-Baked Slow Caramel

One 14 ounce (400 gramme) can of condensed milk

Vanilla essence and salt, to taste

• Preheat the oven to 220C (450F, Gas Mk.9).
• Clean an 8 inch (22 centimetre) round cake tin very well. Make sure it has a solid bottom, not a removable one.
• Pour the condensed milk into the tin and cover the top tightly with tin foil. Place the tin in a large roasting dish and fill with hot water, until the level of the water reaches halfway up the side of the metal cake tin.
• Place the water bath and tin onto the centre shelf of the oven and bake for 90 minutes. After 90 minutes, remove from the oven and check: if it's the brown-ness you want, then it's ready! If you want it darker and thicker, cook for a little longer, but no more than 30 minutes in total.
• Once cooked, remove the tin from the water bath gently, and place on a wire rack to cool. Allow to cool completely before chilling. When it's ready to use, salt and flavour to taste.

Happy St. Valentine's Day! Strawberry Creme Hearts

Happy St Valentine's Day! Want a cute but simple treat for your valentine? Or something sweet to nibble on after dinner? Well here are some super cute strawberry creme hearts!

I remember making peppermint cremes as a kid and never having much success: the traditional recipe is a pound of sugar with an egg white and maybe a little golden syrup and Bob's your uncle, a soft malleable fondant that can be shaped into whatever you like (usually little balls pressed on with a fork). However, it never turned out so simply. The fondant was either too sticky, or too dry, and had no dimension to it other than unrelenting sweetness.

For me, the missing ingredient was always a little bit of fat to keep everything held together and to break up the sugariness. Also the vagueness of "one egg white" meant you could only make loads of it or none at all.

I've developed a simple recipe that uses only three base ingredients: icing sugar, vegetable shortening, and syrup. Not a single egg white in sight! I use glucose syrup, but white corn syrup is a perfect substitute.

INGREDIMENTS

1 tablespoon (15 grammes) white vegetable shortening

1 ounce (30 grammes) glucose syrup, or white corn syrup

4 ounces (115 grammes) sifted icing sugar

A few drops of cold water, for mixing

Salt for seasoning

Strawberry essence, to taste

Pink food colouring

Cornflour, for dusting

METHOD

• In a mixing bowl, mix the vegetable shortening and glucose syrup until creamy. 
• Stir in the icing sugar, then add in water drop by drop until you have a nice dough. It should be stiff, but not dry. 
• Knead in your flavour essences, colouring, and salt until it tastes and looks exactly how you like. You'll be surprised by how much salt you need to season it.
• Dusting your work surface with a little cornflour, you can either roll out and cut shapes like I did, or you could model it like clay.
• Allow the sweets to set for at least 2 hours, ideally 8 hours.

"How do I make dairy-free milk?": Maple Pecan Milk

"How do I make a milk alternative using nuts? Shop bought ones are too expensive."

"I can't find nut milks in my local shop. How do I make my own?"

I have a lot of lactose intolerant friends, and know a lot of lactose intolerant people: they all tend to drink some kind of nut-based milk alternative, most commonly almond. If you compare the prices of cow's milk and nut milks, however, you'll find that the nut milks are about twice as expensive and filled with ingredients you can't pronounce. This inspired me to see if I can make it myself at home.

There are hundreds of tutorials online, but all of them are American and measure everything in cups. In Ireland, people tend to measure things in grams, which is much more accurate and repeatable, yielding the same results each time. To make a nice, creamy nut milk, the ratio is:

1 part (weight) of nuts : 5 parts (weight) of water
Note: water has a density of 1:1, so if you measure a 100ml of water it will weigh a 100g

All you need to do is soak the nuts in the hot water for at least 4 hours, and then blend it up. And to separate the nut sediment from the milk all you need is a clean cotton sock: no need for any fancy equipment! However, if you do have a nut-milk bag, feel free to use it.

When you make your own milk, you can also experiment with flavours and start coming up with interesting summery drinks! If you want slightly thinner milk, just add water until it's how you like it.

This drink is inspired by the Mexican agua fresca known as "horchata", which is a refreshing drink made with long grain rice and almonds, and flavoured with cinnamon. I decided to make an American style drink using that all familiar flavour combination of maple syrup and pecan nuts, which you'll probably have noticed I seem to have a little bit of a fascination with if you've been reading this blog for a while!

Please note: because homemade nut milk doesn't contain any thickeners or stabilisers, if will separate when you keep it in the fridge. This isn't a problem, simply stir before serving.

~~ ^ _ ^ ~~

DIFFICULTY

Requires using a blender

TIME

About 5 hours, mostly waiting time

RECIPE RATING

Easy!

~~ ^ _ ^ ~~

INGREDIMENTS

4 ounces (115 grammes) walnuts

4 ounces (115 grammes) pecans

2 UK pints (1⅕ US quarts, 1135 millilitres) hot water

Salt, to taste

2 or 3 tablespoons (30 to 45 millilitres) maple syrup, or maple flavoured golden syrup

Ice, to serve

~~ ^ _ ^ ~~

METHOD

• In the jug of your blender or in a large glass jug, add in the nuts and cover with the hot water. Cover with a tea towel, and soak for 4 hours, or overnight for a richer flavour.
• When the nuts have finished soaking, blend them on high speed until completely smooth.
• Strain the mixture through a clean cotton sock, or a nut milk bag if you have such fancy equipment, into a jug and then squeeze as much liquid as you can out of the sock. If you blend it well enough, and squeeze it well enough you'll get all 2 UK pints (1⅕ US quarts, 1135 millilitres) of water back as milk.
• Season with salt to make it taste creamier. I find a pinch for each half pint (1¼ cups, 280 millilitres) of drink. Add maple syrup to taste: I like mine to taste as naturally sweet as possible, so I use only a tablespoon (15 millilitres) of syrup, but if you want a sweeter drink add more.
• Chill until completely cold before serving. and serve over ice.

STORAGE

Keep in the fridge for up to 3 days, and stir every time before serving

THIS TIME IN 2017: Kitchen Experiment: DIY Bundt Tin

THIS TIME IN 2013: Jammie Dodgers (or Linzer Biscuits) (Wheat Free)

There were no blogs at this time in 2014, 2015, nor 2016.

Death By Chocolate Trifle, Ditch the Jelly and Sherry!

I absolutely, completely hate trifle: the jelly (which I hate in general) soaked into the sponge fingers has the most revolting texture, the canned fruit cocktail is abysmal, and cold custard.... oh, cold custard. My brother and my Dad love it (sans the sherry, because neither of them drinks), but I find it disgusting.

However! There are alternatives to traditional trifle for those who, like me, despise its very existence. At the end of the day, a trifle is simply a layered dessert which includes cream, cake soaked in a flavoured syrup, and some sort of other filling like custard and/or jelly and/or mousse. Once you know the basic formula, the ideas generate themselves.

In this trifle, I chopped two chocolate brownies into little cubes and sprinkled them with a simple syrup flavoured with peppermint vodka (which I made myself). I prepared some chocolate custard following this recipe.

I made a rich chocolate mousse by separating one medium (US large) egg, placing the white in a bowl for whipping, and setting the yolk aside. In a heatproof bowl over a pan of warm water I melted 1 ounce (30 grammes) of plain chocolate and 1 ounce (30 grammes) of unsalted butter. I then quickly beat in the egg yolk and heated it while stirring for a minute.

I whipped the egg white with 1 ounce (30 grammes) of caster sugar to form a stiff peaking meringue. I folded a third of the meringue into the chocolate, then poured the now-lightened chocolate mixture into the rest of the meringue and folded through completely.

In two 10 ounce (280 millilitre) high-ball glasses, I divided the mousse and allowed it to set in the fridge for about half an hour before adding in the brownie pieces, the custard, and then finally some whipped cream with I had lightly sweetened with caster sugar and swirled with a little red food colouring for a festive feel.

One of these trifles is enough to share between two people, so you can divide the mixture among four tumblers or dessert glasses if you prefer!

If chocolate isn't your thing, you can:

• Make individual tiramisu desserts, soaking lady fingers in coffee- and rum flavoured simple syrup, a traditional light marscapone mousse, and some whipped cream.
• Layer slices of jammy Swiss roll with strawberry mousse (like Angel Delight) and cream.
• Gently sprinkle some gingerbread slices with rum and layer with some thick caramel and whipped cream.

However you make your trifle, be sure to keep it in the fridge for no more than 3 days.