Japanese Style Sweet Buns

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Prep time
3 hours
Cook time
15 mins

Serves: 16

Ingredients
 3 cups bread flour
 1 cup all purpose flour
 ¼ cup sugar
 /4 teaspoon salt
 1 sachet dry yeast
 2 eggs
 ½ cup lukewarm water
 3 tbsp butter, cubed
 For Roux
 2 tbsp flour
 ½ cup water

Instructions
1. To make the roux: Mix flour and water in a small po and cook over low heat until paste
reaches 65C. It will look like a thick paste, it will take about a minute. Remove from heat
and allow to cool to luke warm temperature before using.
2. Mix the luke warm water and sugar and add the yeast. Allow the yeast to foam
3. Sift bread flour, all purpose flour and salt. Make a well and add one beaten egg and the
lukewarm roux. Mix lightly and gradually add the yeasty water to form a soft sticky dough.
Knead the dough until its elastic.
4. Knead in butter until incorporated. Form the dough into a round and leave to prove in a
greased bowl until its twice the size.
5. Punch down the dough, knead and form into small rounds and place into a greased tin and
let them rise to double the size.
6. Beat an egg and brush the buns with the egg wash.
7. Bake in a preheated oven of 375F for 15 to 20 mins.
 Banana Bread with Cream Cheese Filling

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Prep time
10 mins
Cook time
50 mins
Total time
1 hour

Serves: 10

Ingredients
 Bread
 1 large egg
 ½ cup light brown sugar, packed
 ¼ cup canola oil
 ¼ cup cup sour cream
 2 tsp vanilla extract
 1 cup mashed ripe bananas (about 2 large bananas)
 1 cup all-purpose flour
 ½ tsp baking powder
 ½ tsp baking soda
 pinch salt, optional and to taste
 Cream Cheese Filling
 1 large egg
 4 ounces softened brick-style cream cheese
 ¼ cup granulated sugar
 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 350F. Spray one 9x5-inch loaf pan with floured cooking spray, or grease
and flour the pan; set aside.
2. Bread - In a large bowl, add the egg, brown sugar, coconut oil, sour cream, brown sugar,
vanilla, and whisk to combine.
3. Add the bananas and stir to incorporate.
4. Add 1 cup flour, baking powder, baking soda, optional salt, and fold with spatula or stir
gently with a spoon until just combined; don't overmix; set aside.
5. Turn about two-thirds of the batter out into the prepared pan, smoothing the top lightly with
a spatula and pushing it into corners and sides as necessary; set aside.
6. Cream Cheese Filling - In a large bowl, add all ingredients and whisk to combine.
Alternatively, mix with a hand mixer.
7. Evenly pour filling mixture over the bread, smoothing the top lightly with a spatula and
pushing it into corners and sides as necessary.
8. Top with remaining batter, smoothing the top very lightly with a spatula as to not disturb
cream cheese layer and pushing batter into corners and sides as necessary.
9. Bake for about 48 to 50 minutes or until the top is domed, golden, and the center is set, and
a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, or with a few moist crumbs, but no batter.
Note this is tricky because the cream cheese never gets totally solid so the toothpick test isn't
the most accurate. Tip - Tent the pan with a sheet of foil draped over it at the 30 minute-
mark if you feel the tops and sides will become too browned before center cooks through.
Baking times will vary based on moisture content of bananas, cream cheese, climate, and
oven variances. Bake until done; watch your bread, not the clock.
10. Allow bread to cool in pan for about 15 minutes before turning out on a wire rack to cool
completely before slicing and serving. Optionally, serve bread with Honey Butter,
Cinnamon-Sugar Butter, Blueberry Butter, Strawberry Butter, or Vanilla Browned Butter
Glaze. Bread will keep airtight at room temperature for up to 1 week, or in the freezer for up
to 6 months.

Chocolate Babka

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Prep time
16 hours
Cook time
30 mins
Total time
 16 hours 30 mins

Author: Deb Perelman

Cuisine: Jewish
Serves: 1 loaf

Ingredients
 2 cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour, plus extra for dusting
 ¼ cup granulated sugar
 1 package (2½ teaspoons) fast active yeast
 Grated zest of ¼ of an orange
 2 large eggs
 ¼ cup water (cold is fine) and up to 1 to 2 tablespoons extra, if needed
 ¾ teaspoon fine sea or table salt
 ⅓ cup unsalted butter at room temperature
 Sunflower or other neutral oil, for greasing
 2¼ ounces dark chocolate (or approximately 6 tablespoons chocolate chips)
 ¼ cup unsalted butter, cold is fine
 Scant ¼ cup powdered sugar
 ⅓ cup cocoa powder
 3 tablespoons water
 3 tablespoons granulated sugar

Instructions
1. Make the dough: Combine the flour, sugar, yeast and zest in the bottom of the bowl of a
stand mixer. Add eggs and ¼ cup water, mixing with the dough hook until it comes
together; this may take a couple minutes. It’s okay if it’s on the dry side, but if it doesn’t
come together at all, add extra water, 1 tablespoon at a time, until the dough forms a mass.
With the mixer on low, add the salt, then the butter, a spoonful at a time, mixing until it’s
incorporated into the dough. Then, mix on medium speed for 10 minutes until dough is
completely smooth; you’ll need to scrape the bowl down a few times. I usually found that
after 10 minutes, the dough began to pull away from the sides of the bowl. If it doesn’t, you
can add 1 tablespoon extra flour to help this along.
2. Coat a large bowl with oil (or scrape the dough out onto a counter and oil this one) and
place dough inside, cover with plastic and refrigerate. Leave in fridge for at least half a day,
preferably overnight. [Dough will not fully double, so don't fret if it doesn't look like it grew
by more than half.]
3. Make filling: Melt butter and chocolate together until smooth. Stir in powdered sugar and
cocoa; mixture should form a spreadable paste.
4. Assemble loaves: Coat a 9-by-4-inch (2¼ or 1kg) loaf pan with oil or butter, and line the
bottom with a rectangle of parchment paper. Take the dough from fridge. Roll out on a well-
floured counter to about a 10-inch width (the side closest to you) and as long in length
(away from you) as you can when rolling it thin, likely 10 to 12 inches.
5. Spread the chocolate mixture evenly over the dough, leaving a ½-inch border all around.
Brush the end farthest away from you with water. Roll the dough up with the filling into a
long, tight cigar. Seal the dampened end onto the log. I found that transferring the log to a
 lightly floured baking tray in the freezer for 10 to 15 minutes made it much, much easier to
cut cleanly in half.
6. Trim last ½-inch off each end of log. Gently cut the log in half lenghtwise and lay them next
to each other on the counter, cut sides up. Pinch the top ends gently together. Lift one side
over the next, forming a twist and trying to keep the cut sides facing out (because they’re
pretty). Don’t worry if this step makes a mess, just transfer the twist as best as you can into
the prepared loaf pan. In one batch, mine was long enough to “S” inside the pan and I nested
the trimmed ends of the log in the openings. Even if you don’t (and choose to bake them
separately in a little pan, as I did in other batches), the dough will fill in any gaps by the
time it’s done rising and baking, so don’t worry.
7. Cover with a damp tea towel and leave to rise another 1 to 1½ hours at room temperature.
8. Bake and finish the loaf. Heat oven to 375°F (190°C). Remove towel, place loaf on the
middle rack of your oven. Bake for 30 minutes, but there’s no harm in checking for
doneness at 25 minutes. A skewer inserted into an underbaked babka will feel
stretchy/rubbery inside and may come back with dough on it. When fully baked, you’ll feel
almost no resistance. If you babka needs more time, put it back, 5 minutes at a time then re-
test. If it browns too quickly, you can cover it with foil.
9. While babka is baking, make syrup: Bring sugar and water to a simmer until sugar
dissolves. Remove from heat and set aside to cool somewhat. As soon as the babka leaves
the oven, brush the syrup all over it. It will seem like too much, but will taste just right —
glossy and moist. Let cool about halfway in pan, then transfer to a cooling rack to cool the
rest of the way before eating (an adorable suggestion from Ottolenghi — don’t worry, we
know you’re going to eat it warm).
10. Do ahead: Babka will keep for a few days at room temperature. Longer, I’d freeze it. They
freeze and defrost really well.

Chocolate Muffins Recipe

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Prep time
20 mins
Cook time
20 mins
 Total time
40 mins

Author: PrincessTafadzwa
Recipe type: Baking
Serves: 12

Ingredients
 ½ cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled
 2 large eggs
 1 cup buttermilk
 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
 1¾ cups all-purpose flour
 ⅔ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
 1¼ cups sugar
 1 teaspoon baking powder
 1 teaspoon baking soda
 ½ teaspoon salt

Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Position rack in centre of oven. Butter or
line with paper 12 - 2¾ x 1½ inch muffin cups.
2. In a large measuring cup or bowl whisk together the melted butter, eggs, buttermilk, and
vanilla extract.
3. In another large bowl whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, sugar, baking powder, baking
soda, and salt.
4. With a rubber spatula fold the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir only until the
ingredients are combined. Do not over mix the batter or tough muffins will result.
5. Evenly fill the muffin cups with the batter (the muffin cups will be full), using two spoons
or an ice cream scoop. Place in the oven and bake until a toothpick inserted in the centre of a
muffin comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool for about 5
minutes before removing from pan.