The Waterford Blaa- Happy St. Paddy's Day!

A Waterford blaa is a doughy, white bread bun speciality particularly associated with Waterford, Ireland. It is currently made in Waterford and County Kilkenny and was historically made in Wexford. (Wikipedia). It actually has protected status by the EU...Kind of like Champagne I guess?

And so, I decided to try out this recipe from a great blog I follow - Karen's Kitchen Stories


These buns were easy to make. They are good the same day- tender and fluffy on the inside and crusty on the outside - but go stale pretty quickly.

WATERFORD BLAA RECIPE
This recipe makes 24
I made them for Leslie's St Paddy's Day Pardy!

Ingredients

900 grams (285 to 300 ml) lukewarm (100 degrees F) water
30 grams (about 1 tablespoon plus 3/4 teaspoon) instant yeast
30 grams (about 2 1/4 tsp) sugar
1500 grams bread flour (just less than 12 cups) plus more for coating the rolls
20 grams (about 1 3/4 tsp) fine sea salt
30 grams (about 3/4 tablespoon) room temperature unsalted butter

Instructions

Place the warm water in the bowl of a stand mixer and add the yeast and the sugar.
Mix gentlyAdd the flour, salt, and butter. Stir with a wooden spoon or a dough whisk until just combined.
Place the bowl on the mixer and mix with the dough hook for 10 minutes, adding more water early on as needed to achieve a smooth dough. I didn't need to add more....

Place the dough into an oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and let rise in a warm spot until doubled in size, about 40 to 45 minutes.

Ooops left it tooooo long!!! STOP!!!!

Line 3 x 9 inch by 13 inch baking pan with parchment, and dust it liberally with flour.
Remove the dough from the bowl and deflate it. I first divided it in half then quarters and finally had 24 equal pieces
Form each piece into a ball, and then press each ball with the palm of your hand to flatten it into a disk. As you can see, mine didn't flatten so much so don't worry. Place each disk side by side into the pan (2 disks x 4 disks). Cover the pan with plastic wrap and place it in a warm spot to rise, about 45 to 50 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

When the Blaas are ready, liberally dust them with flour, but don't overdo it or you will be eating flour!!. Bake for 18 to 20 minutes.
Lift the parchment out of the pan and place the Blaas on a wire rack. Using a pastry brush, distribute the flour that is already on the rolls evenly over the tops and brush excess from the bottoms too.
The rolls can be served warm or cooled. Cool completely before storing. You can wrap them in plastic if you are going to store them for the next day.

Remember check out Karen's Kitchen Stories! This recipe was inspired by Comfort and Spice by Niamh Shields

Until we bake again....

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Penny

Sinful Cinnamon Buns

Somethings just bring back memories...Cinnamon buns remind me of the time we went to Atlantic City.  My mom, dad and me.  I remember Mr Peanut Man on the boardwalk and how I looked forward to shaking his hand every day.  And then there were the cinnamon buns.  Maybe it was my first experience with buying freshly baked cinnamon buns and also the fact that I was allowed to run to the corner on my own to pick them up.  Probably kids 6 or 7 years old wouldn't be allowed these days... I remember the door man at the hotel calling my name in a very southern drawl  Penna soooooo   (yes my name is really Penny-Sue)  And always bringing him back a cinnamon bun.  He probably didn't realize it was the highlight of my day - and a lasting memory.

Here is a recipe for sinful cinnamon buns...very yummy!  It is from one of my favourite bread baking books The Bread Baker's Apprentice by Peter Reinhart.

Six and half tablespoons granulated sugar

1 teaspoon salt

5 1/2 tablespoons shortening or unsalted butter - room temperature

One large egg slightly beaten

1 teaspoon lemon extract or 1 teaspoon grated zest of one lemon

3 1/2 cups unbleached bread or all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons instant yeast

1 1/4 cups whole milk or butter milk at room temperature

1/2 cup cinnamon sugar 

Cinnamon sugar is 6 1/2 tablespoons granulated sugar +1 1/2 tablespoons ground cinnamon

White Fondant glaze for cinnamon buns

4 cups of powdered sugar 

1 teaspoon of lemon or orange extract 

6 tablespoons to 1/2 cup of warm milk

1- Cream together the sugar salt and shortening at medium high speed in the mixer with the paddle 

2- Whip in the egg and the lemon extract until smooth. 

3- Then add the flour, yeast and milk. 

4- Mix on low speed until the dough forms a ball. 

5- Switch to the dough hook and increase the speed to medium, mixing for approximately 10 minutes or until the dough is silky and supple, tacky but not sticky.  You may have to add a little flour or water while mixing to achieve this texture. 

6- The dough should be about 78° or between 77 and 81°F 

7- Lightly oil a large bowl and transfer the dough to the bowl rolling it around to coat it with oil.

8- Cover the bowl with plastic wrap to ferment at room temperature for approximately two hours or until the double doubles in size.

9- Mist the counter with spray oil and transfer the dough to the counter. 

10- Line one or more pans with baking parchment. 

10- Roll out the dough with a rolling pin, lightly dusting the top of the dough with flour to keep it from sticking to the pin.  Roll into a rectangle about 2/3 inch thick -14 inches wide by 12 inches long for larger buns or 18 inches wide by 9 inches long for smaller buns. Don't roll the dough too thin or  the finished buns will be tough and chewy rather than soft and plump.

11- Sprinkle the cinnamon sugar over the surface of the dough and roll the dough up into a cigar shaped log creating a cinnamon sugar spiral as you roll.

12-With the seam side down cut the dough into 8 to 12 even pieces- about one and three-quarter inches thick for larger buns,  or 12 to 16 pinch pieces - each one and a quarter inch thick for smaller buns.

Place the buns approximately 1/2 inch apart so they are not  touching but are  close to one another and leave to rise at room temperature for 75 to 90 minutes  (covered) or until the pieces have grown into one another and have nearly doubled in size. 

You can put them in the refrigerator for up to two days pulling the pans out of the refrigerator 3 to 4 hours before baking to allow the dough to prove.

Preheat the oven to 350 with the oven rack on the middle shelf  and bake cinnamon buns 20-30 minutes or until golden brown.

Cool the buns in the pan about 10 minutes.

Sift 4 cups of powdered sugar into a bowl. Add 1 teaspoon of lemon or orange extract and 6 tablespoons two 1/2 cup of warm milk, briskly whisking until all the sugar is dissolved. 

Add the milk slowly and only as much as is needed to make a thick smooth paste. 

When the buns have cooled but are still warm, streak the glaze over them by dipping the tines of a fork or a  whisk into the glaze and waving over the tops.  Then streak white fondant glaze across the tops, while the buns are warm but not too hot.

Remove the buns from the pans and place on a cooling rack.

Wait at least 20 minutes before serving

Don't wait too long.....serve warm.  mmmmmmm sinfully good...

Until we bake again
Penny

Oh My...Beautiful Home Made Hamburger Buns and...

... Camera Guy's homemade burgers (pure beef)  as well as home made fries!  I am drooling just writing about it.   It has been such a long time since I had home made french fries.  My mom (Sadie) used to make them all the time and I am sure many of you grew up with those words of warning..."Be careful around the hot oil!!!!"  I remember one time my sister Lorna and I decided to make fries when my mom was out....we were young - ok maybe not that young but anyhow...we had this fear of the hot oil so we had the oil on low...needless to say we were wondering why hours later they were still not ready and definitely not like mom's!  A few weeks ago I was at my friend Anne's house and she made fries, which brought back memories, (they were amazing) so when I had some friends over  this week, I decided to make them. 

I also made the buns.  They were a little small but they were quite impressive. They fit the burger though! I used the recipe from Canadian Living and it was easy!

 They looked so pretty...  I think I am in love with dough...sorry Camera Guy....

Sprinkled the sesame seeds on top...

and Voila......

Until we bake again
Penny