No tags yet.
I am not the baker in the family. I cannot cook. The extent of my skill is putting the water and sauce into a Pot Noodle. So, when my sister (the baker extraordinaire in the house) set me the challenge of following our family bun recipe (apparently the simplest bake ever, according to her), I wasn’t the most hopeful of the outcome but never say no to a challenge. Here’s my attempt and well call it attempt at baking some buns. The recipe has been passed down from our great grandma, nana, mum and now to me and my sister (my sister more than me).
The last time I saw this recipe, I was 12 and was helping my grandma make them. And by helping, I mean cracking the eggs too early and licking the bowl, spoon and my messy fingers clean. I’ve always been a very hands-on, enthusiastic person and that didn’t sit well with the precise and delicate art of baking. Our family has always baked by hand, no use of the modern kitchen-aid that is seen in all the modern baking videos. As my grandma would say while wiping her hands on her gingerbread man printed apron, “hard work and a lot of love makes them the best”. The time that went into the mixing and folding gave our buns that unique taste that made them a family tradition. Therefore, my sister locked away her helping hand in the kitchen, her kitchen-aid, meaning I had to do it the good old traditional way by hand.
Our family is multi-functional, so the ingredients used are the same for both buns and a cake. Our family is resourceful like that. It can make 24 buns or 2 layers of a cake.
The ingredients needed:
1) Preheat the oven to Gas Mark 5 to prep the oven for baking later on
SISTERS TIP: Once in the oven, that door stays closed, not even a peep!! It could affect how the buns are rising.
2) Lay bun cases in baking tray… preparation is key!!
3) Mix together butter and caster sugar together in a fancy pot bowl you’ve had in your baking cupboard since you can remember.
SISTERS TIP: Fold mixture with spoon rather than stir as it makes sure everything off the sides is blended and makes mixture smoother with no mess.
Wish she’d have told me this earlier as this happened whilst stirring!
I’m such a messy baker. My grandma calls it artistic? Think she was just trying to be nice.
This is when my arm starts to hurt… baking, more like a workout. I hope I get stronger arms from doing this. I was tempted to sneakily use the kitchen-aid but I stayed true to the traditional way, I couldn’t give in so easily. I.MUST. CONTINUE.
4) Crack 3 large eggs into a separate bowl and whisk before adding to mixture.
Notice how there are no shells, I was so proud of myself as I’m the kind of person to get at least 2 pieces of shell in the mixture.
Once added, fold into mixture with same technique used previously.
5) Sift sections of flour in and mix till all blended. Continue till all flour is used.
Now this is where I messed up. I forgot to use a sieve and just poured it in, causing the lumps I found I had while I was mixing.
6) Add a teaspoon of vanilla extract. One thing I did remember to do after I’d mixed everything together was add the vanilla flavouring. It’s never too late to add it in. One time I’d already put the mixture in the cases and put the cases in the oven before I remembered what I’d forgotten to do. I then decided to pull them out of the oven and put a little drop in each case. Let’s just say that wasn’t the best decision and that batch definitely went straight in the bin. I hope to not make that mistake ever again.
7) When everything is thoroughly mixed together and your arm is numb, begin to fill up all the bun cases half way, giving them room to rise.
Tools for choice:
My tools of choice for doing this is a table spoon and a knife. The table spoon to scoop the mixture from the bowl and into the bun cases. The knife to scrape any excess mixture left onto the spoon into the cases so nothing is wasted.
SISTERS TIP: Table spoon and a half per bun case is the perfect amount.
8) Place buns into oven and leave for 20 minutes/ until golden brown.
This is again where I went wrong. I think I was too busy licking the spoon and the bowl (one of my favourite parts of baking since I’ve been little) and not kept an eye on the buns.
SISTERS TIP: ALWAYS keep an eye on how your buns are rising. Can tell by eye if they are done.
This led my buns to come out like this… crispy and burnt. This is why I cannot bake, I get distracted and don’t always finish what I am doing.
They tasted good though, I enjoyed them.
Moral of the story: leave my sister to handle the baking and never doubt how people used to do it in the olden days as I think I’d be lost without a Kitchen Aid. I think I’m going to stick to standing on the side-lines of observing and enjoying the end result.