Pull-Apart Cute Hotdog Buns

Sometimes inspiration comes from nowhere and gets me all excited thinking about it. This is one of those ;)

I am sure you have seen cute hotdog buns whereby the sausage is in the doggie's mouth. I was really excited when I envisioned making mini hotdog buns with the doggies hugging the sausage and appear a little like they are chewing on one end of the sausage! So even though my schedule was full and I had extra personal stuff to handle at home, I just had to try this out. This was an optional bake for a cute doggie's birthday party as I was really busy and not too familiar with pull-apart buns at the moment. But I am really glad that it turned out fairly well although there's room for improvement. Keep a lookout for more bakes for this lucky canine!

The recipe for pull-apart buns is adapted from Victoria's killer toast recipe. I have used it for my first pull-apart buns for sale that were very well received and I am told, still stayed yummy despite some of them being frozen for a few weeks and steamed before consuming.

Recipe for cute mini hotdog pull-apart buns
Ingredients (makes 12 buns in 7" or 8" square tray):
Dough
260g bread flour
3/4 tsp instant dry yeast
1tsp (2g) salt
20g caster sugar (more if you prefer sweeter bun)
180g one egg plus top up the rest with milk
30g unsalted butter
12 mini sausages, rinsed and pat dry with paper towel

Decoration
20g White compound chocolate
5g Vegetable shortening or butter
1/8 tsp Charcoal powder

Steps:
1. Combine all ingredients for the dough together except butter. Cover the mixing bowl with cling wrap and let the mixture rest for 10 minutes. This is to help the flour absorb more moisture but it is optional. Knead until the dough is smooth. About 5-8 minutes. Add butter and knead until the dough passes the windowpane test (another 15 minutes or so).

2. Place the kneaded dough in a bowl loosely covered with cling wrap. Let the dough proof for about 25 minutes at room temperature (27-28℃ in hot Singapore).

3. Punch down the dough to release trapped air bubbles. Divide the dough into 33g portions for the body of the dogs and plain hotdog bun designs. You will have extra dough which is used for forming the ears and limbs of the dogs.

4. Form an oval shape for each ball of dough that is slightly larger than the sausage. Use a pair of scissors to make a vertical slit to insert the sausage into the dough. For the dogs, make the slit nearer the lower portion of the dough as you want to leave some space for dogs' face. For plain buns, make the slit in the middle. Place the buns with sausages into the baking tray lined with baking paper.

5. Form the ears and limbs using the extra dough. Use a toothpick to help to attach the parts firmly to the body. I apologise for not taking photos of this step as I was in a hurry to complete assembly. You may refer to this post on how to use toothpick to secure the parts.

6. Loosely cover the assembled buns with cling wrap and proof until double in size, about 45min to 1.5h depending on temperature conditions.

Assembled buns!

7. Towards end of proofing time, set oven rack to second lowest position and preheat at 170℃. Bake the buns for 30-35 min or until they sound hollow when tapped. Cool in the tray for 5 min before taking the buns out and cool on cooling rack.

8. Melt compound white chocolate with shortening using double boiling method or microwave oven. Be careful not to overheat. Pipe on the snout of the dogs. Add charcoal to the white chocolate and pipe the eyes and nose. If you would like to toast or steam the buns before eating, please remove the chocolate portions as they will melt and become runny...Unless you don't mind seeing a Halloween version of the doggies after reheating :p

If you happen to consume the buns within a few hours after decorating, you can consider using sliced cheese for the snout instead. Use an oval cookie cutter to cut out ovals for the snout and then add on the nose and eyes using cocoa powder or charcoal dissolved in a little water to make a paint. I was concerned about food safety so I used white chocolate instead.

These buns can stay soft for a few days. Enjoy!

With love,
Phay Shing

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Tiger and Bear Pull-Apart Buns with Cream Cheese Filling (Naturally coloured!)

I love new challenges and bakes that break away from the routine of what I am familiar with. Although that means trial bakes may be necessary, I welcome the challenge if it is not out of my reach. And that was why I accepted the request for making my first cute pull-apart buns for sale! The cute bee on top is made from shortbread cookie.

Bee on tiger and bear buns!

Shortbread bees! Requested as part of the deco. Refer to this post for the recipe.

I am very much in favour of making cute buns for birthday celebrations as they are healthier than cakes or macarons. I use absolutely no artificial colouring at all for the buns. Although using cocoa powder would have been the easiest to create brown colour, I was told not to use it due to allergy. I experimented with dark brown sugar with a little Earl Grey powder, vanilla bean paste and a pinch of charcoal. It worked perfectly :). The deep orange colour was created using pumpkin powder and a pinch of paprika. I adapted the recipe from Victoria Bakes' killer toast recipe which stays soft for 5 days (I tested it myself). I bought both pumpkin powder and Earl Grey tea powder from Kitchen Capers.

It would also be easier to knead one large batch of dough, divide it into two and colour it separately when the dough almost passes the windowpane test. But because the brown colour is primarily coloured using dark brown sugar, the orange and brown dough have to be prepared separately as sugar has to be added at the beginning of making the dough. I did a few trial bakes before finally coming up with a satisfactory version. Here is one of my earlier trial bake.

How do I knead two separate batches of dough at the same time? I spend about 5-8 minutes kneading each colour at a time. This also allows the dough to relax in between 3 kneading cycles for each coloured dough. Those of you who have followed my blog posts will know that I prefer to knead dough by hand as I can feel the change of structure through my fingers. You may save yourself the trouble and use cocoa powder instead to colour the dough brown. That way you can just knead one dough and divide it later. Having said that, the brown sugar vanilla bread tastes awesome on its own!

Recipe for pumpkin and dark brown sugar cream cheese bun
Ingredients (makes 9 pull-apart buns in 7" tin):
Dark brown sugar dough
130g bread flour
25g dark brown sugar
1/2 tsp instant yeast
1/8 tsp Earl Grey powder (optional)
1/16 tsp charcoal powder (optional)
1g (or 1/2 tsp)  sea salt
1 tsp vanilla bean paste
85g half an egg and top up the rest with milk
15g unsalted butter

Pumpkin dough
110g bread flour
10g caster sugar
1/2 tsp instant yeast
20g pumpkin powder
1/8 tsp paprika powder (optional)
1g (or 1/2 tsp) sea salt
90g half an egg and top up the rest with milk
15g unsalted butter

Filling
9 pieces of Laughing Cow cream cheese (about 16g each piece)

Decoration
White compound chocolate
Charcoal powder
Edible markers

Notes: You may use any pumpkin bread recipe that uses fresh pumpkin but I find it more convenient to use the powder form here. You may also use any brand of cream cheese or any filling of your choice.

Steps:
1. Shape each piece of cream cheese into a ball and freeze it. Add vanilla bean paste into the egg and milk mixture for brown dough. Line a 7x7" tray with baking sheet.

2. Combine all ingredients for the dough together except butter. Cover the mixing bowl with cling wrap and let the mixture rest for 10 minutes. This is to help the flour absorb more moisture but it is optional. Knead until the dough is smooth. About 5-8 minutes. Add butter and knead until the dough passes the windowpane test (another 15 minutes or so). Place the resting dough in a bowl loosely covered with cling wrap to prevent it from drying out if you are kneading two separate balls of dough at the same time like me.

3. Place the kneaded dough in a bowl loosely covered with cling wrap. Let the dough proof for about 25 minutes at room temperature (27-28℃ in hot Singapore).

4. Punch down the dough to release trapped air bubbles. Divide the dough into 44-45g portions for the head and 3g for a pair of ears. You will end up having extra dough for one colour.

5. Lightly flour the work surface with bread flour. Flatten a ball of dough for the head and wrap a ball of cream cheese filling. Pinch seal the dough and place in baking tray seam side down. Repeat for all the heads.

6. Divide the 3g dough into two for the ears. Stick the dough on the head and use a toothpick to press down the edge of the ears as shown in the picture below. This is to prevent the ears from falling out during proofing and baking.

7. Cover baking tray loosely with cling wrap and proof until the buns double in size. This can take anywhere from 45min to 1.5h depending on proofing conditions.

Assembled buns before proofing

After doubling in size

8. Towards end of proofing time, preheat oven to 180℃ (fan off) and set the rack to lowest position. Bake for 10 minutes. Carefully tent a foil over the tray and bake for another 20 minutes at 150℃ or until done.

9. Let the buns cool in the tray for 10 minutes before letting them cool completely on a cooling rack.

10. Prepare some melted compound white chocolate to decorate the snout and ears. Colour the white chocolate with charcoal powder for the eyes and nose. Use edible marker to add the markings on the tiger and rosy cheeks.

All packed and ready to go!

Thank God these were very well received! The birthday boy gobbled up the bun before mummy could take a picture :p.

With love,
Phay Shing

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‘Animal Family’ Pull apart Chiffon Cupcakes (Pull apart 'buns')

Happy 11th year wedding anniversary!! These are my first Pull apart Chiffon Cupcakes in a ring, inspired by those cute pull apart buns. I made this as a surprise for hubby as a special memory of our 11th year together (now with 3 more little ones). This ‘Animal family’ represents our small sweet family of 5 and our favorite animals/characters! Can you tell who is who?

(Obvious hints: Those who knew me in jc know that my favourite character is in pink ;). My son is my hubby’s mini ‘me’. My girls look alike and love the animal that ‘meows’).

I used my basic chiffon recipe below, and baked it in 2 bigger glass bowls (11.5 diameter) and 3 smaller bowls (8 cm diameter). Do look for thicker bake proof bowls, Pyrex or Iwaki brand.

I divided by batter roughly into 3 parts for the different animals/colours.

Egg yolk batter
3 egg yolks
20g castor sugar
39g vegetable/corn oil
42g water
5g vanilla extract
60g Prima cake flour, sifted

Meringue
4 egg whites
45g castor sugar
1/4 tsp cream of tartar

1. Preheat oven to 160°C.

2. Prepare egg yolk batter:

a. Whisk egg yolk with sugar using hand whisk until light and well-mixed.

b. Add in oil first, then water and vanilla extract and mix well.

c. Whisk in sifted cake flour and whisk well, ensuring that no lumps are formed.

3. Divide the batter into 3 parts.

To the first portion, leave plain. To the second portion, add approximately 1/5 of a teaspoon of strawberry paste/emulco. To the last portion, add approximately 1 teaspoon pumpkin powder. *You may substitute with your preferred food coloring/flavour.

4. Prepare meringue:

a. In a grease-free, dry bowl, using electric mixer, whisk egg whites with cream of tartar till frothy.

b. Add in ½ castor sugar for meringue and whisk at high speed till soft peaks form - peaks slope downwards forming a hook.

c. Add in rest of the castor sugar for meringue and whisk till firm peaks form - peaks point up but slightly hooked at the tip.

5. Divide the meringue into 3.

6. Fold in meringue gently into each colored egg yolk batter 1/3 at a time. *Fold in unidirectional, gentle strokes and do not overfold.

7. Fill the bowls with the batter till 3/4 full.

8. Bake at 160°C for 10 min then at 140°C for 20-25 min, or until skewer inserted into center of cakes come out clean.

9. Pour excess pink batter into 15-cm baking pan lined with baking paper. Pour excess plain and orange batter into cake pops molds. These are for the ears. Bake at 160°C for 15 min.

10. Allow to cool completely on wire rack, before unmolding by hand.


I used charcoal chiffon sheet cakes (from another bake) to cut out facial features using bento cutters. You can also pipe on using melted chocolate. I cut out ears from the sheet cakes/cake pops and used melted marshmallows to stick everything together. You can also use melted white chocolate to stick them together. 

Hope you like my simple, sweet ‘family of 5’ pull apart buns! Thank God for the blessings of family!

With lots of love,

Susanne

More loving, chiffon creations here =)

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