Cute baby buns & Cinnamon Spread

I think these little buns are so cute! I really enjoyed making them. They took less time rising and kneeding than the buns I've made before, which of course I totally didn't mind!
I tried making two different kinds of buns with the same dough. Not that the difference was that big: one had sugar on it and the other didn't. They both tasted very nice! I thought they had a bit of a sweet taste to it although I really don't know how that is possible since the recipe doesn't have any sugar in it. Perhaps it's because of the yeast or the flour I use.
Anyway, these buns were a real succes and I'll defenitely make them agian! I want to try making them with full wheat flour (if that is what you call it?).



Note:
The sprinkles I used are fine rock candy or rock sugar. If you can't find these in a shop and if you don't have sugar cubes either you can sprinkle a plate with sugar and sprinkle this with water. When it has dried the sugar will stick together around the water drops.

Ingredients:
300 grams (white) bread flour
50 grams (white) bread flour - seperate from the other flour
1 tablespoon caster sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon dried yeast
3 eggs
80 ml milk
75 grams butter
rock sugar or sugar crushed cubes

1. Sift the 300 grams flour into a big bowl and add the sugar, salt and yeast. Mix it well and make a well in the middle.
2. Melt the butter in a pan or microwave and leave it to cool before the next step.
3. Beat the eggs shortly until the mixture is yellow. A electric mixer is handy for this. Add the milk and mix again. Put one tablespoon of the mixture aside.
4. Stir the cooled butter into the egg&milk-mixture and poor it into the well you made in the flour-mixture.
5. Mix both mixtures together, a fork is handy for this, to form a smooth dough.
6. Knead the 50 grams flour (you will probably need all) into the dough, to make it less sticky. Use this flour to flour your surface and hands as well.
7. Knead for about 5-10 minutes. Add more flour if the dough is still too wet.
8. When done put the dough in a lightly greased bowl (use either butter or oil for this). Cover it up with a damp towel and leave it in a warm place to rest for 1 hour until doubled in size.



9. Take the dough out of the bowl and put it onto a lightly floured surface. Knead again for about 5 minutes. Make sure to press the trapped air out. The dough will become more firm.
10. Divide the dough into 12 equal pieces (more or less for smaller or bigger buns) and roll them into little balls.
11. Use greaseproof paper or butter in either a muffin or bun-tin. For me a brownie "tin" worked just as well. Place the balls into the tin and cover them with a damp cloth. Leave for about 20-30 minutes.



12. Preheat the oven at 200 degrees Celsius or 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
13. While the oven is heating, brush the buns with the tablespoon of egg&milk-mixture you put aside. If wanted, sprinkle the sugar over the little buns.
14. Leave the buns in the oven for about 15 minutes until golden and risen. With a fork or foodpin check if the buns aren't wet from the inside. When done, take the buns out of the tin and place them onto a wire rack to cool.

You can serve these buns warm with some jam, but also leave them to cool for a lovely breakfast! One of the things I loved to do with these is cinnamon-butter.

Ingredients:
50 grams (unsalted) butter
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1. Just mix it together with a knife (or anything else) and spread it over the lovely buns you made. This spread is also very nice on pancakes!



I actually wonder what the buns would taste like if I didn't sprinkle sugar but cheese over them. I think I'll try this next time. I also want to try adding more sugar, a bit of nuts and almonds over the buns. Recipes that work out do inspire, don't they?

Blini's / Pancakes

After I tasted a simply delicious meal at a restaurant, I had to try making it myself. I tasted a rather large blini with salmon and a delicious, bit sour, cream. I happened to have the recipe for blini's myself, so I wanted to give it a shot. The first time I made them I thought they were a bit too thick, so I decided to improve it. Unforuntaley for me I forgot to buy salmon and any cream so I decided to eat them like american pancakes: just poor a bit of syrup over them and voila! It worked out pretty well!
I must say the pancakes are a bit heavy and taste a bit floury and to my surprise actually require three different kinds of flour! But a succes none the less!



Ingredients:
80 grams flour
70 grams boekweit flour
1 teaspoon selfrising flour
a pinch of salt
1 egg
200 ml milk
25 grams butter
Extra butter to grease

1. Sift the different kinds of flour and mix them together in a bowl. Add the salt and mix again. Make a little well in the centre of the flour-mixture.
2. In a seperate bowl whisk the egg shortly with an electric mixer (or whisk if you dont/cant use an electric one) until the mixture is yellow. Add the milk and the flour to the whisked egg and mix again.
3. Poor the egg-mixture into the well you made in the flour-mixture. With an electric mixer or fork, mix the two mixture together untill it forms a smooth thick liquid.
4. Put a frying pan or special blini-pan if you have one, on the middle fire with a bit of butter to grease it. Poor small amount of the mixture onto the pan with a spoon.
5. Wait for the top of the blini to turn a bit dry, or until little bubbles form on the top. Then turn the blini's over (with a spatula, is most handy). Bake the other side as well until golden brown. If the other side is not the colour you like it, turn over till both sides have a nice brown colour.

You will have to repeat step 4 and 5 until all the blini's are done. You might have to add a bit more butter every once in a while as well.
To keep the blini's warm you can simply put them on a plate and cover them with a lid of a pan or so.
When all blini's are done you can do whatever you want them! You could either eat them as little pancakes or put a bit of sour cream with kaviar on them. What I really like with these blini's is a creamy herb paste and some smoked salmon. Very simple, I might as well give you the recipe to it as well!

Ingredients:
2 blini's
Creamy herb paste [if you click on it, it gives you a link to the herb paste]
Smoked salmon

1. Start out with a blini and spread as much herb paste on it as you want. I prefer A LOT of it!
2. On top of the herb paste put a layer of smoked salmon. I like to make two layers, because the smoked salmon always comes in very thin portions.
3. On top of that comes a lot of herb paste again and then another blini. And there you have your own delicious blini!!

Honey buns

I made these cute honey buns some time ago, but really have to share them! They weren't what I expected them to be. The sweet taste I imagined was not so much there, but they were still really worth it!
It was one of the first buns I have ever made, so I still have a lot of room to improve this recipe! I want to try making them sweeter, so it's a mission!
But for now I will just share this recipe with you, so you can experiment with it as well!
I made my recipe with plain white flour, but I think it would be exiting to try this recipe with full wheat flour. Another note: I used the bread machine for this one, but you can just kneed it by hand as well.



Ingredients:
300 grams bread flour
4 grams or 2/3 teaspoon salt
4 grams or 1 teaspoon instant yeast
1 egg
milk
45 grams honey
25 grams (unsalted) butter

1. Mix the flour, salt and yeast together and put these into the pan of the bread machine.
2. Beat the egg lightly and add enough milk to the beaten egg to make 200 grams.
3. Make a little whole into the flourmixture and poor the milk into it. Start the Dough function on the breadmachine. Wait until the dough forms a smooth dough. Check it after about 5 minutes or so. If the dough is still too wet add a tablespoon of bread flour.
3. Add the butter to it when the dough seems smooth. Let the breadmachine finish the first doughcycle of 20 minutes, then stop it, and start it again for another 10 minutes.
4. Now, to save yourself from kneeding by hand anyway, you will have to check if the dough is dry enough. You can add more flour, but make sure you add more yeast as well then.
5. Now take the dough out of the pan kneed it for a bit to feel if it is right and shape it into a bit round ball. Then place it in a lightly greased bowl and cover it with a (damp) cloth/towel or cling wrap. Let it rise in a warm place for about 60 - 90 minutes. It should be about double the volume.
6. Flour a working surface and remove the dough from the bowl. Lightly kneed it to press the air out. Then divide the dough into 9 equal portions (more or less if you want smaller or bigger buns) and shape them into little rounds.
7. Cover the buns with cling wrap or a towel, but make sure it can still breathe and the towel doesn't stick to the buns. Let it rest for about 10 minutes in a warm place.
8. Take each little dough ball and kneed them on a floured surface to press the air out. Then shape them into nice round balls. Do this by folding them inwards and then rolling and pressing them onto the worksurface. Place them seams side down on a greased (or bakingpaper-lined) baking tray. Leave them for 45 - 60 minutes covered loosely with cling wrap or towel.
9. Brush the top of the buns with a bit of milk (this is mostly to make them nice in colour and shiney). Bake them for 15-20 minutes in a preheated oven or until they are dry and goldenbrown in colour. If it brown too quickly you might want to cover it with aluminium foil.
10. Remove from the oven and let them cool on a wire rack.

Now you should have some lovely little buns! Ready to put whatever you want on them!

Cute honey cupcakes

I made these cute little cupcakes with sugar figures I found in the supermarket nearby. I couldn't resist them! I think they look really cute! I have to be honest and say the topping was a pre-packed one.. I baked more that day, and was too lazy to make some real good topping. It tasted nice though!
Anyway, for the recipe: it is very easy and very delicious! The things between (...) mean that it tastes better if you use that, but feel free to just change it into something less fat or the like..

Ingredients:
60 grams (unsalted) butter
50 grams sugar
4 tablespoons honey
80 ml (full fat) milk
1 egg
115 grams selfrising flour

1. Melt the butter in a pan above the fire. When the butter is melted take it off the fire and add the sugar and honey. Stir it with a handmixer. Make sure you do this quick after, or keep the pan on the fire.
2. Let it all cool down a bit and add the milk. Stir it with a handmixer.
3. Whisk the egg a bit, just a bit will be enough! Spoon this into the mixture.
4. Sift the flour and add this to the mixture as well. You can use either a spoon or the handmixer on the lowest setting (can you notice I cant live without my handmixer?)
5. Put the mixture in little cupcakeforms. You might find it handy to put the paper cupcakeforms in a silicone or metal cupcake-tray. That way they will keep the cupcake-shape. You can also poor it into a silicone or metal cupcake-tray right away though!
6. Preheat the oven to 170 Celsius or 340 degrees Fahrenheit before putting the cupcakes inside. Leave them in the oven for about 20 minutes or till they have risen, are dry from the inside (check this with a metal foodpin or fork) and have a goldenbrown colour. They will still have a wet look.
7. When they cooled down enough put the topping on. I added foodcolouring for the blue look. You could also just put jam on them, or chocolate paste or sprinkles or anything your creative mind can think of really!!



I made buns at the same time as these. They were from a pre-made package (you know, just add water and put it in the oven) but they were a total disaster. They turned out like cute little bricks.