Sweet Buns

Following the successful attempt of the crusty bread rolls, I decided to once again try Happy Homebaker's recipe and this time, the Sweet Bun, seeing that it could be a master recipe for variations like adding toppings or fillings.

Kept thinking about baking during work :p hence decided to try after work, instead of waiting till weekend.

After carefully weighing and preparing the ingredients, I mixed all the dry ingredients into the mixing bowl followed by all the wet ingredients. Once again, decided to let the electric mixer do the job. However, noticed that the dough was much softer and stickier (than the crusty bread roll dough) and some dough was stuck at the side and bottom of the mixing bowl.

Worried that the dough might not get a good workout, switched to hand kneading after 10 minutes of machine. Certainly not easy to handle (probably due to more fat content) but I resisted the temptation to add more flour as instructed by Happy Homebaker.

After 15 minutes (total 25 minutes) passed, the dough still seemed rather soft and sticky so decided to knead somemore. After another 10 minutes, the dough passed the 'window pane' test was quite elastic in fact! But still, felt a tad sticky. Being kiasu, I kneaded for another 10 minutes!

Finally got tired kneading and placed the dough in a lightly greased bowl and covered with clingwrap for proofing of 1hr. After 1hr, the dough grew but didn't seem double in bulk. Didn't think it matter, so proceeded to knead the dough before letting it rest for another 15 mins.

15 minutes later, divided the dough into 9 portions and placed them into aluminium trays and let rest for another 15 minutes (cover with clingwrap).

It's time to bake, after brushing the surface of the buns with egg, sent them into preheated oven at 190 degree celsius to bake for 15 minutes.

Ting! Hmmm, how come my sweet bun looked different and a little weird (unlike Happy Homebaker's)!? LOL!

I had placed 4 buns into one tray, now they looked merged. Didn't matter since still could be separately easily. There was a crust around the bun, was crispy when hot but turned hard when bun cooled down.

Some parts of the bread actually cracked?

The bread was not bad though, texture was quite soft and fluffy, tasted slightly sweet with milky taste. But as it cooled, it became slightly harder.

Curious huh? Wondered what I did wrong during the process? A few factors perhaps?

- Over kneading of dough? Kneaded for almost 45 mins in total!

- Didn't let the dough proof enough during first round. 1hr was probably not enough when I noticed the dough didn't actually double in bulk?

- After resting the dough for 15 minutes, instead of just pressing out the gas, I gave the dough some punching! LOL.

- Should second proofing be longer as I only proof for 15 minutes (for crusty white bread, second proofing was 50-60 minutes)?

- Didn't cover the dough properly during second proofing (I did lay the clingwrap over the aluminium tray)?

- Oven temperature was too hot?

Well well, looks like I got complacent a little early with my previous success :( A little deflated now, but definitely not giving up!