Haven’t been baking for quite some time. I am pretty busy lately.  Busy with kid’s homework which can kill me and take most of my time. The Ham Bun which I bake for quite some time ago but I just can’t find time to post it in my this quite blog. Hahaha…  As some of you aware, my kids and Dearie Suki loves bread. I am not a bread lover and never like to eat bread but at least I try to learn how to bake bread for them. I saw the Soft Honey Bun recipe from Sally’s blog. The original recipe are from Happy Home Baking one of the blog I love to frequent everyday.

I decided to give this recipe a try but instead of Honey Bun, I tweak the recipe and added some ham into it because I still have 2 pieces of ham in the fridge.  Hence, this is how this Ham Bun come across my mind and my little girl, Le-Ann kept telling me this bun looks like a mushroom.

Ingredients : (makes 9 buns)
300g bread flour
4g (about 2/3 tsp) salt
4g (1 tsp) instant yeast
1 egg lightly beaten plus enough milk to make 200g
50g honey ( I omit this out and subsitute with 1 tbsp sugar )
30g unsalted butter
2 pieces ham, chopped into small pieces

Method:
1. In a mixing bowl, add bread flour, instant yeast, sugar, salt and egg. Beat with the dough hook in the electric mixer till well mixed. This takes about 30 - 40 mins.
2. Then add in the butter and mixed with the dough hook for another 15 mins. Remove dough from mixer and knead the dough on a flat surface for about 10 mins or till smooth.
3. Shape the dough into a smooth round dough and put it in a mixing bowl. cover with a cling wrap and let it rise till double its volume for about 60 - 90 mins.
4. Remove dough and give a few light kneading on a lightly floured work surface. Press out the trapped air as your knead. Divide into 9 equal portions and shape them into rounds. Cover with cling wrap, let the doughs rest for 10mins.
5. Flatten each dough into a round disc and press out the trapped air. Add some chopped ham in the middle and shape and roll into a smooth round ball.
5. Place doughs in a muffin tray (lightly greased with oil or butter or line it with parchment paper). Loosely cover with a damp cloth or cling wrap and let doughs proof for 45 ~ 60 mins or until double in size.
6. When ready to bake, brush the surface of the dough with milk. Bake at preheated oven at 200 degC for about 15 ~ 20 mins until the bread is golden brown all over. Cover the surface with a sheet of aluminum foil if the surface browns too quickly. Remove from oven, unmold immediately and let cool on wire rack.

I am trying to finish off my bread flour in the fridge. Baked 12 sesame buns out using the sweet bun dough recipe from my previous bake. I omitted out the bread improver because some expert told me the bread improver is not good for health. I am not too sure why they said that but it is certainly a type of rising agent to help the bread texture become soft and fluffy. My little girl Le-Ann loves it a lot especially come to bread and bun. Both me and Dearie Suki named her Mien Pau Por ( The Bun Girl ). Check out my post HERE . She is enjoying spreading a big slab of butter on the bun. Hahaha

Basic Sweet Bun Dough
Ingredients :
330gm high protein flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tbsp milk powder
60gm castor sugar
1 egg
120ml water
10gm instant yeast
40gm butter

For glazing :
1 egg, beaten and some sesame to sprinkle on top

Method:
1. Mixed water and instant yeast together and set aside.
2. Combine high protien flour, salt, milk powder and castor sugar into a mixing bowl. Using a ‘S’ hook, mix all the ingredient together for about a minute then add in the yeast mixture with water and egg. Mixed again to form a dough and then add in the butter and give it another mix for a about 10 minutes.
3. Remove the dough and knead the dough with hand for about 30 minutes or until the dough has a smooth surface. Check the dough whether it is fully developed by stretching a small piece of dough with your fingers. When the dough can be stretch into a thin layer without tearing, then it is ready.
4. Remove dough and cover the dough with a damp cloth. Leave bowl in a warm place and let it proof for about 40 minutes till it double its size.
5. Divide dough into 50gm portions. Flatten and roll out each portion into a round shape.Cover and rest for the next 40 minutes until the buns double its size again.
6. Glaze with beaten egg wash and sprinkle some sesame on top. Bake the buns in a preheated oven at 180 DC for 15 - 20 minutes.

Note : One thing I noticed the bun I make previously as compared to this one without the bread improver. You can see the difference in my blog HERE. The one with bread improver looks softer in texture and this one you can see the surface of the bun is hard.