WWW.FOODHEAVENMAG.COM OCTOBER baking heaven 13
MAKES 9
For the tangzhong paste
25g (1oz) strong white flour, plus
extra for dusting
100ml (3½fl oz) water
For the dough
125ml (4½floz) whole milk, plus
extra for brushing
30g (2 tbsp) unsalted butter
oil, for greasing
10g (2½ tsp) caster or granulated
sugar
1 tsp salt
1 large free-range egg
350g (12oz) strong white flour
7g (2¼ tsp) fast-action dried yeast
You will also need
1 free-range egg, lightly beaten, for
brushing
brown food dye
a small amount of vodka or alcohol-
based extract
black edible pen or royal icing, dyed
black1 First, make the tangzhong paste. Using
a balloon whisk, mix the flour and water
together in a pan until smooth. Place the
pan over a low-medium heat and stir
constantly with a spatula until thickened to
a pudding-like consistency. If you have a
thermometer the paste should reach
65°C/149°F before you take it off the heat.
Transfer the tangzhong to a small bowl,
cover with clingfilm (making sure this
touches the surface of the tangzhong) and
chill in the freezer for 10 minutes.
2 Meanwhile, for the dough, warm the
milk in the microwave. It should be
warm, but not hot. Melt the butter, too.
Lightly oil a large bowl and grease a 20cm
(8in) square baking tin, then set aside.
3 Place the milk and butter in a largebowl and add the sugar and salt. Add
the chilled tangzhong to the bowl along
with the egg and whisk together.
4 Add the flour and yeast to the mixture. If
using a stand mixer, just allow the
machine to knead for 10 minutes with the
dough hook attachment. If working by
hand, use a wooden spoon to combine
ever y thing into a shaggy ball of dough,
then turn out onto a floured surface.
5 Knead by hand for about 10-15 minutes.
The dough will be sticky to start with, but
avoid adding too much flour – it will
gradually become less stick y as you
knead it. If the dough sticks to the surface,
use a dough scraper to scrape it off. Keep
kneading until the dough is smooth; it will
still be a little tacky, but that is normal.
6 Place the dough in the oiled bowl and
cover with clingfilm. Leave to rise in a
warm place until doubled in size. This
takes about 1 hour, but it depends on
the temperature of your kitchen.
7 When the dough has doubled in size,
turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and
knock back. Form into 9 balls, weighing
65g (2¼oz) each. Shape them by tucking
the dough under to create a smooth
surface. There will be leftover dough – this
is to shape the ears and paws.
8 Shape the small balls of dough into
ears and paws for the cats. You can
brush on a lit tle milk to help them stick.
Shape a tail for one of the buns – this
will look like the cat has turned around.
Work fast to avoid the dough forming
a skin.
9 Place the dough balls in the prepared
square tin. Cover with lightly oiled
clingfilm and leave to prove in a warm
place until roughly doubled in size. The
time this takes varies depending on the
temperature of your kitchen, but won’tbe as long as the first rise. You are
looking for the dough to have nearly
doubled in size and spring back halfway
when lightly pressed with a finger.
10 About 15 minutes before the end of
the proving time, preheat the oven to
180°C/Gas Mark 4.
11 Brush the beaten egg on top of the
buns just before baking. Bake for
20 minutes until lightly golden brown.
You will need to cover the buns with foil
after 5-10 minutes, just to prevent them
browning too much.
12 Transfer to a rack and leave to
cool completely.
13 Paint coloured patches on the cold
buns using a little brown food dye
mixed with a tiny bit of vodka. When
dry, use black edible pen or royal icing
dyed black to add cute facial features
and details to the paws.Tangzhong cat buns
KIM-JOYYou might hear this kind of bread
r e f er r ed t o as hok kaido milk br ead ,
Asian milk bread or shokupan.
Tangzhong is simply about making a
roux with some of the flour and
wa t er, w hich is t hen cooled and
added to the dough mixture. This roux
essentially locks in the liquid, and
helps to give the final bread a higher
moisture content.Kim-Joy (^) sa
ys +++
the (^) soft
f est,^
luffiest
bread (^) yo
can f u^
ind, (^) than
to t ks^
he 'tang
zhong'
techniq
ue