Day 01: Pan-dee-sal (sweet bun)

8:47pm

As said, I've managed to bake a batch of what should have been this soft, nicely browned, fluffy, sweet bun known to my filipino culture as pandesal. There's nothing better than buying a hot dozen of buns packed in a brown paperbag with the fresh smell seaping through! YUM!! ......... I ended up with pale, dry, some inflated & deflated bread - MEH!

I started to remember how baking has to be so precise & to the tee. First off, the recipe called for a simple short list of ingredients: yeast, vegetable shortening, sugar, breadcrumbs, flour & lukewarm water.

Offhand, I was beginning to feel intimidated by the yeast. The general rule for yeast is to let it sit in lukewarm water and feed it with sugar for activation of the germ. I've had failures before but surprisingly this time around, activating the yeast was not the problem!

The problem for me was the small amount of shortening & sugar that the recipe calls for, the very low heat that is to brown and cook the bun, the dry taste & texture biting into it, the possibility of not letting enough time for the dough to rise & ofcourse overworking or underkneading it.

My twist & attempt?

Next time around, use an extra 3/4 tsp of yeast to help double rise the dough, add baking powder for another leavening agent & a fluffy & light product, increase the amount of shortening for better bite texture, increase the amount of sugar for a more sweet hidden taste & bake at 375F in hopes to at least brown the top of the bun!

I'm not much of a baker but I am attempting at it - I do have some successful cakes & cookies (if only I had kept the recipes!!) Basic knowledge & continuous testing are both good starting points (if only I could find my notes from Ryerson!!)


I'll definately let the blogworld know how the second time goes! If I have any readers and/or better yet experienced bakers please do tell me what I'm doing wrong. Any help, will help!

9:40pm