Fresh From The Oven ~ Khrushchev

Time for another Fresh From The Oven challenge.  This month the recipe was selected by Silvia and Ivan from mushitza and they picked a bread that I have never even heard of let alone tasted or baked.  I was pretty excited to venture into the unknown, I love trying out new bread recipes and this one is pretty relaxed ... gotta love relaxed bread making!!!!

The filling can pretty much be whatever you like, although I think traditionally Khrushchev is a cheesy kind of bread, it is possible to use sweet fillings too.  Guess which option Chocolate Teapot went for?  Yep, we went sweet!  But just to shake things up a  bit you'll be surprised to note that there is no chocolate or nutella in these little buns ... I'll wait while you pick yourself up off the floor .... it is a shock to the system.  Instead, these buns have a strawberry jam centre, mainly because I found another jar of that pesky over set strawberry jam that I have previously used in Jammy Doughnut Muffins and Strawberry Jam Bread and Jam Tarts in an attempt to try and use the stuff up .... mental note to self; never make that jam recipe AGAIN!  Of course, the original plan did contain chocolate, I was thinking of maybe filling them with lemon and passionfruit curd and placing a couple of white chocolate drops on top before baking.  When I tried this the dough became really soggy and difficult to work with due to the moisture in the curd so I had to scrap the idea.

The recipe is pretty flexible with how the dough can be shaped and cooked too.  I was quite intrigued by the idea of doughnut like buns but the thought of deep frying scares the you know what out of me so opted to bake them.  They turned out OK, not great but not terrible either.  Not sure if I put too much jam in the centre or if I rolled the dough too thin to start with but most of the buns split while baking, oozing their contents all over the baking tray instead of being all nice a plump and jam filled.  As they say 'practise makes perfect' and as these taste pretty delicious I'll be giving them another try for sure.

Khrushchev Dough Recipe
10g dry yeast + 30g water
10g salt
250ml cold milk (directly from the fridge)
150g unsalted butter, cut in small cubes, room temperature (NOT melted)
1 tbsp sugar
500g all plain flour + additional for the counter

Mix salt and dry yeast, then add the water.

Add in the milk, butter, sugar and sift the flour on top. Mix with an electric mixer equipped with the dough hooks till all the ingredients are combined and soft dough forms. A wooden spoon could either be used. Cover the bowl with an airtight lid or plastic wrap and place in the fridge overnight.

The dough becomes firm in the fridge (since the butter goes firm) but it does rise slowly.

The next morning, preheat the oven to 180ºC and dust the counter with flour.  Place the dough on top, roll it out and shape it as you like. Work the dough as soon as you take it out of the fridge. If needed divide it in two or three parts and place one part in the fridge while you are forming the other.

I rolled the dough out and then cut it into approx 20 squares and then dropped a teaspoon of jam in the centre.  I then folded the corners into the centre and gently rolled the dough into a bun shape.  I glazed them with an egg wash made from beaten egg, a drop of water and a small sprinkling of sugar.

Bake for around 15 minutes or until golden brown.

Makes 20 Buns