Table Cream Raisin Buns Recipe – Super Squishy

These raisin buns made from table cream (instead of butter and milk) are soft and squishy. Instant yeast gives sourdough starter a push, making these buns ready in the span of an afternoon.

I love squishing buns. I used to get in trouble for poking the wrapped buns at Asian bakeries. (It’s like picking fruit, a poke can tell you a lot about how soft the bun is going to be; if the indent does not bounce back – that’s not a bun I want.) Squishing buns is a calling – one which no longer has to be done surreptitiously, because these buns (if the gluten is properly developed) are so squishy that you can use them as stress balls.

Making raisin buns more low-effort by using table cream instead of milk and butter

A week ago I made chocolate buns with table cream. What I thought would be a disaster turned out to be really nice, soft, squishable buns. This recipe is a spin-off of my chocolate buns recipe.

The idea behind using table cream is essentially to simplify a basic dough by substituting two ingredients with one, thereby cutting down on the number of ingredients and the number of steps. Instead of having to premix the dough and then add butter bit by bit, everything is mixed in from the start.

Differences between these raisin rolls and my chocolate rolls made with table cream.

In my last attempt at making buns with cream instead of milk and butter, I haphazardly added a yudane-like scalded flour mixture when I belatedly realized that my hydration calculations were off. Here, I increased the yudane to a more typical yudane ratio. I have also increased the amount of cream slightly for a higher hydration and fat percentage. These buns have one egg only, making them more bready and a bit less bouncy.

My observation is that this dough was harder to knead than the chocolate buns dough (possibly because of the one less egg). I found that it needed a little more kneading time in the stand mixer. Due to my Kitchen Aid capacity, I also had to divide the dough into two and knead each half separately.

For that ultra-squishable texture, it is important that the gluten network is adequately developed. The dough must pass (or at least almost pass) the windowpane test. If you are kneading by hand, it may take longer to get to this stage. Patience is key.

Tangzhong versus yudane

After making these buns, I wanted to deepen my understanding of how yudane and tangzhong works.

I knew that the two were Chinese and Japanese pronounciations of the same kanji: 湯種. My previous understanding of the difference between yudane and tangzhong (based on mainstream blogs and Wikipedia) was that

1. Tangzhong is cooked while yudane is scalded with boiling water.
2. Tangzhong has a high water to flour ratio (generally 1:5) while yudane has a 1:1 flour to water ratio.

HOWEVER, a day of rabbit holing down the topic revealed that the above widely disseminated generalizations should NOT be followed as hard and fast rules. This video gives an in-depth explanation of the topic.

To summarize:

• When used optimally, yudane and tangzhong increases the moisture content of bread, raises the natural sweetness in starch, and slows staling.
• Yudane and tangzhong works on the same principles – starch gelatinization – a process where starch granules absorb water and release amylase.
• The optimal temperature for scalding flour is 65 degrees C.
• There is no 1:5 or 1:1 ratio requirement. However, a 1:5 ratio is likely too high and may result in more denatured proteins and enzymes due to the high temperature of boiling water.
• Cooking tangzhong on the stovetop is suboptimal because it is easy to overcook (past 65 degrees C), which will inactivate the enzymes and result in water loss by evaporation.
• To optimize sweetness levels and delay staling, yudane/tangzhong should be left to cool to room temperature and rested for 8-24 hours so the amylase enzymes have time to work.
• Yudane/tangzhong can be used in high amounts (up to 40%!)

In this recipe, the yudane is around 6% baker’s percentage. In future experiments, I would increase the yudane to higher amounts and leave it to rest for longer – we will see what happens!

A grain of salt

As an aside, I stumbled onto the Novita Listyani channel linked above because of the King Arthur Baking blog article claiming that a tangzhong dough should be adjusted to 75% hydration because the water content in the tangzhong “doesn’t count”. Questionable.

I was looking at that article and scratching my head because my intuition was screaming that that’s completely absurd. Again, the King Arthur article claims that if you use tangzhong, you must adjust the dough hydration to 75%. This is regardless of the original hydration of the dough, and regardless of how much tangzhong is used. My concern was that there is wide variance in the hydration of different bread doughs from 50% (i.e. bagels) to more than 100% (i.e. pan de cristal). Tangzhong is not only used in breads with 60% hydration like the example in the post. Changing the hydration level to 75% without accounting for how much starch is gelatinized and the hydration of the original recipe seemed a very strange thing to do and likely to lead to inconsistent bakes.

Thankfully, the Novita Listyani channel has a video on the subject demystifying the 75% rule as misinformation, and breaking down why the claims in the King Arthur article are wrong. I feel affirmed!

Baker’s percentage

Hydration here is roughly 65 percent [calculation: 75 (water – boiling and in starter) + 166.5 (water in table cream) +38 (water in egg) = 279.5 / 425 = 0.657]

Suggested baking schedule

A rough guideline to help you plan your own baking schedule. Proofing and baking time may vary depending on your ambient room temperature, bread proofing temperature, and the size of your buns. The buns take around 2.5-4 hours from start to finish.

12:30: Mix dough.

1:00: proof dough (bulk ferment)

2:30: Divide and form into rolls.

2:45: Begin final proof.

3:15: Preheat oven.

3:30: Bake!

3:45: Out of the oven, ready for fika!

Print Recipe

Table Cream Raisin Buns

Soft and squishy raisin buns enriched with table cream instead of milk and butter, leavened with sourdough starter and instant yeast.

Prep Time45 minutes mins

Cook Time15 minutes mins

Rising time2 hours hrs 15 minutes mins

Total Time3 hours hrs 15 minutes mins

Course: Bread, Breakfast

Cuisine: American, Canadian, Scandinavian

Diet: Vegetarian

Keyword: Bread, Breakfast, Buns, Fika, Raisin, Sourdough, Yeasted

Servings: 8

Equipment

• Stand mixer or bread mixing machine optional

Ingredients

For the yudane

• 25 g water just boiled
• 25 g bread flour

For the raisins

• 25 g water
• 75 g raisins see note 1

For the dough

• 225 g table cream 18% MF
• 1 egg 50 g
• 100 g whole spelt flour
• 300 g bread flour
• 8 g instant active yeast 1 packet
• 50 g sourdough starter or discard
• 1 tsp cinnamon or cardomom optional

For brushing

• 1-2 tbsp table cream

Instructions

• Boil the water.
• Make the yudane by combining 25g flour with 25g boiling water in a small bowl and stirring to mix. At the same time, combine 75g raisins with 25g boiling water. This will help soften and rehydrate the raisins.
• Add all of the dough ingredients into a bowl and knead until well combined. If you are using a standing mixer, mix on low speed for 1-2 minutes.
• After the dough is well combined, add the yudane and continue kneading until the dough passes on comes close to passing the windowpane test. In a stand mixer, this should take around 5-8 minutes on medium low speed.
• Next, add the raisins (including any soaking water) to the dougsssh and mix until evenly distributed. By this time, the raisins should have absorbed almost all of the water. It is not a big deal if there is still a good amount of soaking water left unabsorbed, this water should be added along with the raisins into the dough and kneaded in for consistent hydration.
• Bulk ferment until almost doubled (around 1.5 to 2 hours).
• Divide the dough into 8-10 equal pieces. Form the dough into rounds by tucking in the corners and pinching the seams, then turning the dough around and tightening the skin. Place the rounded buns onto a tray lined with parchment paper and leave to rise until very puffy and almost doubled (around 30 minutes to 1 hour).
• Optional: brush the buns with table cream.
• Preheat oven to 365 degrees F. Bake for 15-20 minutes. The buns should be golden brown and have expanded further in the oven.

Video

@hellenshouse

For all of you who got in trouble for poking the breads in bakeries. These raisin buns are infinitely squishable so you can avoid getting scolded by bakery owners. recipe here: https://hellenshouse.com/table-cream-raisin-buns/ #satisfying #breadsquish #squishybread #breadrecipes #breadtok #sourdough

♬ Love You So – The King Khan & BBQ Show

Notes

1. If you prefer more raisins, you can increase this amount to 100 g