Some very exciting news to share this week. In a very spontaneous and totally unplanned turn of events, my mother in law, Ida and sister in law, Jenna are heading over to Europe. In fact, as I type these words, they are sitting on a plane, possibly flying over the Pacific!
It still seems quite surreal to Kristian and I, who have been totally out of the ‘family loop’ for quite a while now. Ida and Jenna will kick start what will be a very family focused end of year. Alex gets back from his travelling extravaganza in a couple of weeks (he’s been EVERYWHERE!) and will be staying with us for a couple of months, Amy and her brother are coming up to visit Manchester the same weekend Alex gets back and shortly after Ida and Jenna leave, my parents and Charlotte (my little sissy) will arrive.
We are so excited for the coming months. I have really missed my family so it is so great knowing that we get to see them, one after the other, until mid February! I honestly can’t wait!!
But back to this week’s very impromptu adventure…Now, Jenna was part of a skating documentary filmed last year in Israel called ‘Open’. To cut a long story short, we recently found out that it premieres on Friday in Madrid which prompted Jenna to talk everyone into a very unexpected, but warmly welcomed, voyage to the Spanish capital. So, Kristian and I are off on Friday to lovely, sunny España to be reunited with Ida and Jenna and attend the premiere of ‘Open’.
This word ‘random’ gets thrown around a lot nowadays, quite often misused and overused, but if this little escapade isn’t the perfect example of ‘random’, then I don’t know what is. Totally random. Totally fantastic.
So now you know where we’re at.
I didn’t come here merely to rant about upcoming happenings in our rather unpredictable lives. I came here to share what is, in my opinion, one of the best Brioche Burger Bun recipes going around. Finding the perfect bun for your homemade burger isn’t easy, but I am quite sure that you’ll be pleased with these one.. I picked up this little gem of a recipe from Deb over at smittenkitchen.com (if you haven’t checked it out you really should) and very so slightly adapted it to make the buns a little less sweet (Kristian’s preference).
Although it takes a bit of time and patience (with the rising and all) it really is simple to put together. And I guarantee that when you take those shiny, perfect little buns out of the oven, you will be feeling pretty pleased with yourself.
I made these on impulse after inviting our friend, Tom, around for burgers. It was the first time I had made them and had no back up plan (ie- store bought rolls) if it turned out to be a miserable failure. Luckily, they came out perfectly and I served them up feeling extremely satisfied with myself. You know you’ve succeeded when your dinner guest asks you that all important question… ‘Do you mind if I have another one?'
MAKES 8 10-12cm BUNS
3 tablespoons warm milk
2 teaspoons active dry yeast
2 1/2 teaspoons sugar
2 large eggs
3 cups white bread flour
1/3 cup plain flour
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
2 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
In a small bowl, combine one cup of water, the milk, yeast and sugar. Let it stand until it becomes foamy, this should take about five minutes. Meanwhile, in a separate bowl, beat one of the eggs.
In a large bowl, combine the flours with the salt. Add the butter and rub it into the flour/salt mixture until it resembles fine breadcrumbs.
Make a well in the middle and pour in your yeast mixture and the beaten egg. Mix until a dough forms. Scrape this out onto a clean, floured bench top. Knead until the dough is smooth and elastic, this should take about 10 minutes. The dough should still be fairly sticky. Don’t add too much flour as this will lead to a much tougher bun.
Shape the dough into a ball and place it back in the bowl. Cover with cling film and leave it to rise in a warm, draught free place until doubled in size, this should be about one to two hours.
Line a couple of baking trays with non stick paper. Divide the dough into eight equal portions (you could use scales here if you would like). Gently shape each potion into a round ball by tucking the dough under itself and place onto the baking tray, leaving at least 5cm between each bun. Lightly cover with cling film and place leave to rise in a warm spot until doubled in size (again about 1- 2 hours).
Place a large, shallow pan of water on the oven floor. Preheat oven to 180˚C fan-forced. Beat the remaining egg with one tablespoons of water and very gently brush over the top of the buns. Place in oven and bake for about 15 minutes, turning the tray half way to ensure they cook evenly. Transfer to a rack to cool completely.
Adapted from smittenkitchen.com