Mexican Coffee Bun

I recently privatized my main blog because I am and will remain busy for some time but I always have time for a little baking  experiment hence, this blog shall remain active. Today in my kitchen it was smelling all coffee and cinnamon. I baked the famous mexican coffee bun or better known as Rotiboy/ Pappa Roti.

This is my second attempt making the sweet buns. The previous time I used all purpose flour instead of bread flour which produced buns that were hard in texture. Today they were fluffy, soft and just nice. 

You will have to start with the topping and refrigerate it before making the dough for the bun. The filling is so simple that all you have to do is cut butter into 10 g cubes and freeze them.  

The recipe is as follows:

The cinammon-coffee Topping ( for 10, 55 g coffee buns)

Ingredients
100 g softened butter
60 g icing sugar1 egg plus another half ( do the division :p)1 tbsp instant coffee dissolved in 1 tbsp watersprinkle of ground cinnamon100 g all-purpose flour

• Mix butter and sugar until creamy

• Add the eggs gradually followed by the coffee mix and cinnamon

• Sift the flour into the bowl and mix at low speed till well combined

• Refrigerate the topping 

The bun ( yields 10 medium sized buns)

Ingredients
250 g bread flour
10 g milk powder (any brand)
35 g castor sugar
4 g instant yeast
half lightly beaten egg ( use the one left from the topping)
135 g lukewarm water
35 g softened butter

Steps

• Sift and mix all the dry ingredients in a large bowl
• Add the egg and water, beat at medium speed till well combined
• Add butter and knead till a soft dough forms
• Shape them into 55 g balls and set aside for 10 minutes
• Flatten the balls to add the cubed butter (filing) and gather the edges, pinching to seal.
• Place the balls on a greased baking tray and leave for 45 minutes allowing the yeast to proof.
• Pre heat the oven at 190 C
• Pipe the topping on top of the buns
  
• Bake the buns for 15-18 minutes

Best eaten the day itself while they are still warm (not too hot). Enjoy the buns and also the smell of the whole house!

Renuka G

Baked Curry Puffs

If you are a Malaysian, you got to love curry puffs. They are the irresistible crispy pastry filled with curried potatoes or chicken enjoyed for either breakfast or tea. There are two versions to it. One being the deep fried curry puffs while the other is the baked curry puffs. They are both mouth watering but I love the baked ones more because of the buttery pastry crust. It's just next level, you know?

I have made baked curry puffs or what they call as empanadas a few times before. However, it lacked the crisp and was too crumbly like apple pie crust. That was till I found this recipe which gave me the desired texture and tasted equally yummy.

The Recipe (yields 16 medium curry puffs)

Ingredients

3 cups All Purpose Flour
3/4 cup Butter (frozen then shredded)
1 Medium Egg (lightly beaten)
5 Tbs Ice Cold Water ( or as required to bind the dough)
A pinch of Salt

Egg-wash for a brown crust : 1 lightly beaten egg

Method

• Sift flour into a large bowl
• Add the egg and salt, shred the frozen butter using a grater and mix with your hand.
• Once a clumpy dough forms, add the cold water a tablespoon at a time until the dough is firm and doesn't stick to the sides.
• Wrap the dough using a cling film and chill for 30 mins or till ready to be used.
• Shape the curry puffs , insert the filling (less is more), brush the egg wash on top and chill for 30 minutes.
• Remove from the fridge and brush the pastry with egg wash one more time.
• Bake in a 190 C preheated oven for 20-25 minutes.

The filling is curried potato and I added wedges of hard boiled egg because it goes well with the baked pastry taste. Instead of curry leaves, I put in chopped coriander once I off the heat for it gives an extra kick with the fresh smell. Otherwise, it's just a normal curried potato with chopped onions, chillies, coriander power, Chili powder and some salt. I don't really have a recipe that I follow , mostly eye-ball everything and cook!

Let the filling cool at temperature before shaping the curry puffs. Always make sure the pastry dough is chilled. Don't keep at temperature for long as it will affect the texture of the curry puff crust.

Renuka G