Autumn Buns
Description
It pairs perfectly with tea and coffee. The pumpkin filling will depend on your pumpkin variety—it may be watery, or conversely, rather dry. My pumpkin purée turned out quite thick, so I only needed 1 tablespoon of starch; you may need more starch—aim for the filling to have a moderately thick, creamy texture. Serve cooled or slightly warm.
Instructions
- 1
Step 1
Prepare all the ingredients according to the list. Heat the milk in a saucepan to about 35 degrees.
- 2
Step 2
In a spacious bowl, rub the compressed yeast between your fingers with your fingertips, add 1 tbsp sugar.
- 3
Step 3
Add warm milk. Whisk everything until the yeast has fully dissolved.
- 4
Step 4
Sift 100 grams of flour.
- 5
Step 5
Whisk everything together until no lumps remain — this is the sponge. Cover the bowl with a kitchen towel and leave undisturbed for 30 minutes — the sponge should rise.
- 6
Step 6
Meanwhile, prepare the pumpkin purée. Peel the pumpkin pieces and remove the seeds, cut into chunks of any size, and boil in a saucepan with water until tender.
- 7
Step 7
Then drain the water from the boiled pumpkin and purée it with an immersion blender until smooth. You will need 800 grams of purée.
- 8
Step 8
Add nutmeg, cinnamon, and 40 grams of sugar to the saucepan with the purée. Stir everything together.
- 9
Step 9
Add starch.
- 10
Step 10
Stir it into the purée — the filling for the buns is ready.
- 11
Step 11
The sponge has already risen.
- 12
Step 12
Into a separate bowl, pour the butter melted over low heat in a saucepan, add the sugar. Whisk everything together.
- 13
Step 13
Beat in the eggs. Mix everything with a whisk until you have a smooth, even mixture.
- 14
Step 14
Pour the sweet egg mixture into the bowl with the sponge starter, add salt, and mix everything with a spoon.
- 15
Step 15
Now start sifting the flour in portions, and at the same time work it in—first with a spoon, then knead the dough with your hands. You should end up with a soft dough that does not stick to your hands, so you may need a little more or a little less flour. Knead the dough with your hands for 5–7 minutes.
- 16
Step 16
Shape the dough into a ball in the bowl, cover it with a kitchen towel, and leave it on the counter to rise for 1 hour.
- 17
Step 17
After an hour, the dough has noticeably risen and is ready for the next step.
- 18
Step 18
Lightly dust your work surface with flour, place the dough on it, and roll it out into a rectangular sheet about 0.7–1 cm thick. For easier handling, I divided the entire batch of dough into two portions.
- 19
Step 19
Spread the pumpkin filling in a layer on top of the dough. The filling turned out quite dense, so it layers very evenly.
- 20
Step 20
Then roll the dough with the pumpkin filling into a roll.
- 21
Step 21
And cut this little roll into equal pieces with a knife. Arrange these roll pieces on a baking sheet lined with baking parchment, brush the tops with beaten egg, and bake in an oven preheated to 180°C for 25–30 minutes.
- 22
Step 22
You can serve the finished autumn buns at the table right away.