Sweet bun with two flavors

Few days back, I won the Open sesame 2 contest. Thanks for my fellow buddies who voted my Wheat idlis. First time, I won a contest and received a sweet and lovely gift sponsored by Anjali Darmela.I received a hand written letter from her about the spice and some ideas how to use it. What could be the next? I wanted to try out other than chai!
I just felt in love for the aromatic smell, the small bottle of spice extract is a great idea. You can just add a drop in ur cuppa and flavor the ordinary tea into extraordinary one!
If you are addict to tea, u can even sneak under your papers/files in ur work place and flavor it instantly. Check out her site, she carries many flavors….

So now, let’s move to the recipe I came up. I really wanted to use this extract other than tea!
Tea and bun go well together! As this month, small bread event is anounced by Aparna; I just wanted to make bun which is little sweet. I borrowed a baking book from my local library and found a bun recipe. But made lots of twists and changes except the dough recipe remains the same.
I decided to bake off bun with the extract of “Tea masala” and the other off my favorite “pain au chocolat”.
In France, “Viennoiserie “ referred to morning breakfast pastry delicacies, like croissant, pain au chocolat, Danish pastries, pain aux raisin, etc…
Those viennoiseries were my morning breakfast for many years! I really miss those fresh pastries in US. Only some French boulangerie carries those items. So I sneaked some nutella, well I didn’t had any chocolate around and turn the bun into chocolate!

Now, coming to those sweet buns toped with tea Masala sugar and some stuffed with nutella!
Feel free to stuff or top whatever you like, the bun dough is dense but little sweet!



Sweet Buns



Ingredients:

Dough:
Milk:
½ cup
Butter melted: ¼ cup or (4 tbsp)
Sugar: ¼ cup
Egg: 1 (beaten)
Rapid yeast dry: 1 packet
Salt: ½ tsp
All purpose flour: 2 cups and more for kneading

Egg wash: one egg + 1 tsp water beaten well

*Topping no 1: Tea masala Sugar (I made this topping for for 4 buns)

Ingredients

Sugar:
4 tbsp
Tea masala extract (Cinnamon, Cardamom, Cloves, Peppercorns, Nutmeg and Ginger): 2 drops or more depending ur taste

Method:
Mix those drops with sugar. Well if you want to stuff the bun with calories, go ahead with 4 tbsp of softened butter and flavored sugar and stuff in middle of the bun.

Filling to Pain au chocolat: Chocolat bread

Ingredients
Nutella or dark chocolate

Method:

Heat the milk into saucepan when they reach around 105F. In a large bowl , pour the milk and sprinkle the yeast, add a pinch of sugar. Let it rest 5 minutes, it should foaming, if not throw it :) yes, it is waste to continue if the yeast is not foaming!
Now, add the melted butter, sugar and 1 cup of flour + egg. Mix well it should come out creamy.
At this stage, add the salt and sprinkle the remaining flour and mix with a spatula, when they come together.
Dust some flour in work surface, and pour the dough and knead well until u get smooth and shiny dough. It takes approximately 5 to 8 minutes.
Add little oil in a clean bowl, transfer the dough and let coat the dough with oil in all side. Wrap with plastic and let it rest at least 1 hour, mine took 2 hours. It really depends of your room temperature.
Once the dough is double in bulk. Take it out and make approx 8 to 10 same size balls.
To insert the filling:
Now, flatten the dough with ur finger into any shape (mostly u get a rectangle shape), sprinkle some flavored sugar of topping 1 or topping no 2 add a dollop of nutella/or a chocolote square!
Close the edges carefully and give a pinch, now seam side down try to shape with help of your palm like this.
Place the bun in tray and cover it. Let it raise until it double! Probably another 1 hour or more…
After the bun doubled in shape. Brush with egg wash and sprinkle some flavored sugar (optional) Preheat the oven for 375 F and bake for 20 to 25 min or until the top turn golden brown.


Note: Till now, i baked only cookies, cakes, etc... Did I mentioned, I am baking bread for first time! Only thing, I worried the bottom started to brown slightly. Any baker friend’s could you help me where I made mistake?
Is it the oven temperature/cooking time or placing the tray, I placed in middle of the oven and lined with wax paper my tray. I would like to hear your suggestion which could help improve my bread making skills!


My flavored buns are participating Bread making day event hosted by Aparna, originated by Zora.
As, the tea masala contained Nutmeg, I am sending to think spice Nutmeg originated by Sunita and guest host this month is Aparna.
Well, the plain bun is flavored with tea masala so, I am sending to click event hosted by Jai & Bee.

Comments

Laavanya said…
Congrats on winning OS2 Chams. The tea masala topped breads sound delicious and stuffing them with nutella - Yum! :)
kamala said…
Congrats Cham ..would be delicious for tea lovers ( I don't drink tea or coffee )I too a novice baker...so waiting for the response
Madhavi said…
Congratulations Cham, bun look great, delicious and with nutella omg, love nutella. Yummy yummy!!!
Unknown said…
looks fantastic....sound delicious...
Anonymous said…
Congratulations on winning the contest! I'm having some afternon chai right now and wish I could much on that bun...it looks so good.
Anjali's tea masala is something I dearly love too...I have been giving her spice extracts as small hostess gifts instead of the usual chocolates and flowers.
Dori said…
Congratulations! And, that looks like an awesome way to use the extract!
Seema said…
Congrats on winning!!
Bun & tea look great & go so well together. Baking for first time they look just perfect! No one will say your first time baker!!
Cham said…
Thank you everyone for your comments.
Nupur she refered ur Tea truffle & Stephanie cup cake! ur and her recipe were just awesome!
Kamala & Seema :First time i am baking bread! But "baking" is the first skill i acquired when i was teen in India.
Congrats on ur win, Cham!!

ur triple entry sounds wonderful!! i cudnt see the pic though!! :-(
saw the pic now...awesome!! :-)

the query abt browning the bread - my only advice wud've been to line the sheet with parchment paper, which u already did!
Rachel said…
Congrst on winning OS2...That;s a nice gift..I love the way you made use of it!!!

As for ur query...either the oven temp was too high or sometimes when you bake in dark pans..they tend to absorb more heat..Hence when you bake quick breads such as these..use shinier pans or a glass pan that reflect heat....
Cooking Station said…
Congratulations Cham..and those buns look so good, bet it must have tasted heavenly with that cup of chai!
Congrats for winning OS2.
Thanks for the entry, Cham. These buns look quite good, hard to believe this the first time you baked bread.
The browning could be because of the dough. Breads with a lot of sugar tend to brown more than those with very little/ no sugar.
Cham said…
Rachel: I baked in darker pan - u might be right, i will try in glass tray, Thank u gal!
Aparna: If my bun brown again at the bottom in glass pan, may be it is due to the dough!
Cookingstation from 2 days, it is our breakfast!
Srivalli said…
Congrats on winning the OS2 Cham, you deserve it for such wonderful dish...and your buns looks lovely!!...great thing to start you know...all mistakes will take care of themselves...:))...I have two minds to have next mec as breads..hehehe
Divya Kudua said…
Congrats on winning OS2!!The buns look amazing Cham,its very creative of you to flavor with tea masala!!Yummy!!
ST said…
Congrats on winning OS2 Cham. The tea masala topped breads sound delicious must have tasted heavenly wiyh a cup of tea......
Illatharasi said…
Congrats Cham!

Great description....
/" Let it rest 5 minutes, it should foaming, if not throw it :) yes, it is waste to continue if the yeast is not foaming!" /

I love this ;)

Its interesting to read.... so much patience to write .... U R great!!!!

Buns looks yummy:)
Swati said…
Dear Cham

Congrats on the win!!
Buns are lovely... French Connection!!
ranji said…
congrats on winning OS2 ...tea masala buns with nuttella looks YUMM...i love nutella...especially spread on a simple plain bread...stuffing inside a bun is a lovely idea!!great use of ur prize...looking fwd to more recipes using it :)...
Medhaa said…
Looks lovely Cham. Congratulations.
notyet100 said…
congrats for winnin os2,..lovely click with yummy bun and hot tea,..:-)
Bhawana said…
CONGRATULATIONS Cham for winning OS2. And ur bun looks great, must be delicious. will try.
Uma said…
Congrats on the win, Cham! The spice extracts look awesome. And you have used them in a nice way. The buns look so good for a first timer. Good job Cham!
Deepthi Shankar said…
Congratulations to you .. Bun looks really delicious
Sangeeth said…
congrats dear cham...btw ur bread is yummy...luv the tea masala....
Dee said…
Congrats on the win Cham!! The buns look great , they are such a treat to eat!
Purva Desai said…
Cham congrats on winning a contest :)
Bun looks really tempting and has turned out really well :)
Unknown said…
Congrats buddy..Your recipes really deserve this award..And hope u enjoyed the award..And those buns look really to too good..Was amazed when u mentioned it was the first time u baked a bun..Great going..
Richa said…
congrats on the win, sweetie!
i know how u must miss all the delicacies, i usually get the choc croissant from 'au bon pain'. though i don't see myself baking such anytime soon, 'coz i know i won't rest till i finish 'em all...lol
ur bakes look excellent!
congrats once again! i too felt sooooo happy when i won sig's contest a while back ;)
Lavanya Raj said…
Congrads Dear Cham..i have to try out those wheat idli's..

sweet bun looks yummy..with nutella..it should be yummy!
bee said…
they look so delicious. thank you.
Unknown said…
Congrats Cham.... The buns look delicious!! a nice and different stuffing :-)
mitr_bayarea said…
Cham-

Congrats on winning the spice for the tea, bun looks great with tea. You really rock w/ ur recipes.
Anonymous said…
3 birds in one shot! nice work Cham! the buns look lovely:)
Mansi said…
Anjali's spice extracts are really nice! I love the way you've used it in the sweet buns!

oh, and congrats on winning the OS2!:)
Vaishali said…
Cham- what a great idea to use tea extract as a topping for the sweet buns. They sound delicious. And congratulations on winning the contest.
Padma said…
Congrats Cham! I love tea very much and try adding diff spices everytime.

Sweet bun looks like a pro-job! it is good for a first time bread baker.

I was scared while I was baking for the first time (0_0)
vandana rajesh said…
congrats on winning the contest cham...great buns. Will definitely give it a try.
Unknown said…
Thats a beautiful bread cham..have never tried making bread..planning to do it soon..will refer this recipe..sounds good!!!
Sujatha said…
Congrats on winning the contest, Cham! And the tea extract sounds interesting! I love masala tea and I can imagine the taste with this extract! Sweet buns look delicious and its a very creative idea to make it with tea extract :)
ST said…
The Award is waiting for u at my blog:))
Cham said…
Thank everyone for your valuable comments and clearing my query too, it was really helpful ur suggestions
Sunshinemom said…
I am all for buns..and Jr.H & P have been asking me for chocolate wrapped buns for a long time now! Perfect with tea. I wanted to try nutella but found it way too expensive here! Anjali has got some neat suggestions about spices on her blog - I used one of them recently...yet to blog as no connection at home...server problem due to the downpour!
Sunshinemom said…
Me again...Congrats and hugs on those prizes! I loved your wheat idlis, Cham:)

You are so lucky! Our libraries do not stock recipe books...unless it comes in mags!

Some amount of browning at the bottom is fine. Was it too much? The top looks fine..and for a first one that is abs great!
Cham said…
sunshinemon I know nutella is expen in India, but try to keep some semi-sweet chocolate bar or dark choco, like cadbury.
We get lots of books in library with very tempt pic.
Browning is very slight and thin, i got scared seeing the bottom but was not that bad when i tasted it! Is it due to sugar?
Namratha said…
Awesome Cham, the buns look perfect ..like right out of a bakery. Congrats on winning OS2, interesting way to use the Tea Masala :)
Anonymous said…
Very cool and unusual flavors. Congratulations!
Unknown said…
Lovely bun, trying today and thanks for the link too.I like the gloss on the top of your buns.
Anonymous said…
We would like to feature your sweet bun recipe on our blog. Please email haleyglasco@gmail.com if interested. Thanks :)

Haley

blog.keyingredient.com/