Homemade rolls and buns, according to the bakers at Ambiente
Prepare homemade pastries that will become the highlight of your weekend breakfast and every afternoon snack. It's easy, quick and the buttermilk makes the rolls and buns beautifully moist.
A bakery and kitchen full of life
Visit Eska in Karlín. Everry day, we bake our renowned bread 33, along with sweet buns, cakes and kolache. On Fridays, our bread 66 is available until it sells out – and if you're not in the mood for baked goods, come for a lunch of local produce, or one of our famous breakfasts, which are prepared until late afternoon. Oh, and don't forget to take a look round our shop on the way out.
For 10 pieces of pastry:
- 540 g plain flour
- 90 g butter, softened
- 16 g salt
- 5 g sugar
- 340 ml buttermilk
- 23 g fresh yeast
- Put the flour, butter, salt and sugar in a bowl. Mix.
- Pour in the buttermilk, stir in the crumbled yeast and make a smooth, non-sticky dough. Mix in a food processor for about 10 minutes.
- Let the finished dough rise (it should double in volume) and knead it once or twice as you do so, tipping it out of the bowl, rolling it over and put it back in to allow it to continue to rise. The process can take up to 90 minutes, depending on ambient conditions.
- Divide the dough into ten loaves (called wedges), roll them up and leave them to rise for another 20 minutes, covered with cling film. The gluten is activated in the handled dough and carbon dioxide is released at the same time. This means the yeast breathes in oxygen and is then better able to assist in the rising dough, which becomes stiffer and softer.
- Roll out the risen loaves into a triangle-like oval, shaping them into rolls and roll each one out gently. Place them on a baking tray lined with baking paper and cover again with cling film, as they need to rise slightly.
The procedure for classic Czech "housky" is slightly different: Roll out the risen dough into loaves and straight into a rectangle. Now shape into a long, thinner snake and knit the buns. Then transfer them to a baking sheet with baking paper and cover with foil. They will rise in 20 to 30 minutes.
- You can sprinkle poppy seeds, caraway seeds or coarse salt over the rolls before baking. This is usually done right after the rolls have been shaped.
- Bake for 10 to 15 minutes in a preheated oven at 200 °C until nicely golden. Bakers use a convection oven to do this and set at 10% steam.
Kneading helps the ingredients form a compact dough, in which gluten is activated and carbon dioxide is released. This lets the yeast absorb oxygen and helps the gluten perform better in the rising dough, which becomes firmer and more tender.
