5,000 Dollar Big Ass Buns

It was the second day of Hari Raya. I was filled with a sense of adventure. So I dug out this recipe for 5 Thousand Dollar Bread which I printed from Veronica's blog. Then I realised I also printed the same recipe from another Veronica. hah..hah...hah....

Up until now, I have had no motivation whatsoever to bake bread. I get stoked whenever any of my blogger friends post their bread or buns. The most recent being Joyce's Cranberry Bread. Why am I like that? I don't know - I think making bread is too much trouble and I am afraid of failure. Until that day.

So I studied the recipe. First up, make the starter dough. 

OK. Got that. The recipe said to sit the starter in a warm place to rise until it looks like "honeycomb". It's warm everywhere in the house but the warmest place is the corner where my water distiller was humming away. So that was where I placed the dough.

The starter rose to twice it's size within 40 minutes. So far so good. Now for the main dough. I wasn't too sure how to proceed but I forged ahead with gusto. I didn't know what I was getting myself into and the dough was very, very, very sticky. 

As I was sweating away, I remembered that Zoe mentioned that the dough is too sticky. I was starting to regret my foray into bread making. But there was no turning back.

My auntie would be glad to know that I have finally employed the assistance of the dough scrapper she gave me. Scrape, knead, scrape, knead, sweat, sweat and sweat some more. Gawd! This is hard! I couldn't take any photos of my hard labor because my hands were full of dough. Haiz!

My dough scraper. Price tag still haven't take out. Tsk..tsk..tsk...

But finally, I managed to pull together a ball of dough.

I covered the bowl with cling wrap and placed it at the same spot to rise. Meantime, I had a lot of washing up to do. One hour later, praise God, my dough doubled in size.

I tipped the dough onto a lightly floured board. It was still sticky. It was mind boggling how to shape this very soft and sticky dough. I had given up hope at this point. My dough is sure to fail. I have demoted this 5,000 dollar bread to 5 dollars. No, no, make that 5 sen. 

I did my best to divide the dough into 6 equal blobs. Please don't laugh. I am deeply embarrassed at this point. I want to run and hide.

Tsk...tsk...tsk...

I covered the pan with cling wrap and placed it near my still humming distiller. Whatever will be will be. About 45 minutes later, this was how it looked like.

Monster buns.

Oh, ok! At least it doubled in size. I don't know what the outcome will be. I brushed the blobs with beaten egg and put them into the preheated oven. No prayers required. This one needs a freakin miracle. Amen.

After 25 minutes, I opened the oven door and took a peek. 

Wah seh! It looked like buns. And it smelled wonderful. But looks can be deceiving. When it was cool enough, I dug it out of the pan.

The moment of truth is about to be revealed. I tore out a bun.

Mak oi! Jadi lah!

Whoah! Looks like real baybeh! I was amazed. Just to further confirm, I made a closer inspection.....

.....and tore the bun apart.

And of course I had a taste. Oooohhh....so soft, so fluffy, so tasty! I couldn't believe it. Miracles do happen.

I was amazed and elated. But this is hard work. I know, I know, I can use the mixer with bread hooks and all or even buy a breadmaker. But where's the fun? Pulak....

All I need is practice and more practice. This experience has given me much encouragement. And hope hah..hah..hah...

5,000 Thousand Dollar Bread

Recipe source : Adapted from Minty's Kitchen

Note : I knead the dough by hand. 

Ingredients :

Starter Dough

- 105g bread flour

- 45g plain flour

- 12g caster sugar

- 3g instant yeast (1/2 tsp+1/4 tsp)

- 120g water (My dough was still dry and I added extra 1 tablespoon of water at a time until the dough comes together)

Main Dough :

- 105g bread flour

- 45g plain flour

- 48g sugar

- 12g milk powder

- 1 egg

- 27g water (Again, my dough was still dry and I added extra 1 tablespoon of water at a time until the dough comes together)

- 40g salted butter

Method :

1. Add all the starter dough ingredients together in a mixing bowl until the dough comes together.

2. Cover the bowl with cling warp and place the bowl at a warm place to rise to double it's size and it looks like "honeycomb" when you break the dough.

3. Add all the main dough ingredients except butter into a mixing bowl. Mix to combine and knead the dough until it becomes elastic.

4. Add butter and knead until the dough is shiny and pliable.

5. Shape the dough into a ball and place the dough into another bowl which is greased with some oil.

6. Cover the bowl with cling wrap and place at a warm place to rise to double it's size.

7. Punch the dough down to expel the air and immediately divide into 6 equal portions and roll each into a round shape.

8. Place the dough into a lightly greased baking pan. Cover with cling wrap and allow to rise to double it's size.

9. Brush the dough with beaten egg and bake at 160C for 25 minutes or until the crust becomes brown.