I spent this weekend in London and I was really surprised by the number of lovely cake shops and bakeries. I had a serious problem to choose which one to visit and which cake, muffin or tart to buy. I was in serious danger of sugar overdose. Maybe it’s not that bad, from health perspective, that Prague still seems to somewhat lag behind London in number of similar shops and variety of their range of products. Otherwise, I would likely be at least 10 kilo heavier now.
I didn’t bake this weekend, but I decided to share one of the recipes I tried about three weeks ago. These rolls are made of yeast dough. It was a second recipe using yeast dough I ever tried and I still have a lot to improve. I think it simply takes an experience and practice to master this type of dough.
Below I share steps as you can find at https://www.devceuplotny.cz/foodblog/loupacky. “Děvče u plotny” (could be translated as a girl at the stove) is a very nice Czech food blog I follow. Her recipes are mostly of Sweden origin, but this one is more of a Czech nature I would say.
Ingredients (12 pcs)
- 500 g plain flour (“hladká” in Czech shops), or you can mix 400 g plain flour and 100 g buckwheat flour
- 230 ml whole milk
- 100 g melted butter
- 60 g sugar
- 2 egg yolks + egg whites
- 30 g fresh or 10 g dried yeast
- lemon zest from 1 lemon
- pinch of salt
- optional – poppy seeds
Directions
Make the leaven
Mix milk, sugar, yeast and a tablespoon of flour. It is very important that the milk is of around 37ºC temperature (human body temperature)! Stir well using a wooden spoon. Set aside in a warm, draught-free place for 15 minutes. You can also cover the bowl with kitchen towel to prevent the mixture from changes in temperature.
Make the dough and let it rise
In a big bowl, mix the leaven (prepared in the first step) with the rest of the flour, butter, egg yolks, lemon zest and the salt. Use a wooden spoon to stir the mixture until well combined, then use your hands to bring the dough together in the bowl.
Divide the dough into two same pieces, cover them with kitchen towel and let the dough rise (again in warm, draught-free place) for about 30 minutes.
Note: as I was sort of worried of work with the yeast dough, I tried to use home bakery machine. I simply put all the ingredients in (first the liquid ones, yeast should go as the last one, on the top of the flour layer). The machine than takes care of mixing and rising. The program lasts for about 90 mins. The outcome was ok, but the rolls were a bit dry. I think it is the length of the rising period in the machine, which should have probably been shorter in this case. Too long period of rising can lead to the dough being too dry at the end (based on my reasearch). Next time, I am definitely going to try the “fully manual” version. I would be happy if you let me know any tips for working with yeast dough or your own experience!
Make the rolls and let the dough rise (again)
Over a large work surface, roll out each of the dough pieces into a 25cm-diameter circle. Divide each of the two circles into 6 pieces (they will be shaped like pizza slices). Roll each of the pieces so that you get the desired shape.
Put the rolls on the tray, cover with a kitchen towel and let rise for another 40 minutes.
Preheat oven to 200ºC (392ºF). Cover a baking tray with baking paper.
Cover the rolls with egg whites and sprinkle with poppy seeds.
Put the tray into the oven and after a one minute (really) at 200ºC, lower the temperature to 155 – 160ºC. Bake for about 10 – 12 minutes, until golden.
