Adapted from Magic Bread by Alex Goh, "Earl Grey Tea Bread"
Another attempt at Asian Bread. I have plenty of tea in my cupboard, and while flipping my Magic Bread, got to a page that says Earl Grey Tea Bread. Mmmmm, something I should try. I thought I had Green Tea Powder, but when I opened my Japanese tea bag, it was tea leaves. Ok, the package was in Japanese, I couldn't read them. Well, I just have to improvise. I decided to go ahead with using green tea instead of powder. The consolation is that green tea is good for the body. The water roux starter was mixed the night before, and fridge after cool for at least 12 hours. Well, the dough didn't turn green. The following day, I mixed the dough. Again, not wanting it too sweet, I cut the sugar content and the butter content by about 1/2. Mixing it well, I ensure I have a good gluten development using the window pane test. Put aside to proof. After 45 minutes I did 1 stretch and fold, and I can see that my dough rose really well after I set a side for another 1 hour. The temperature here in the kitchen had rose. Its about 20 degrees celsius, 68-70F. It still takes quite a while for the dough to rise. Poke the dough and it slowly rises, feels bouncy, its ready. I divide the dough to 75-80g. I'm never able to get it accurately, so, at best its within the range. This does pose a problem, as some dough looks smaller than the other. Press down, roll into a ball and this time, patiently, I let the dough relax for 10 minutes. When the dough is sufficiently relaxed, I decided to shape 3 into round, 3 small baguette shape (oval) , and the other 3, make square or oblong. The recipe for the Earl Grey Tea Bread is filled with cream, well, I will skip this. I decided to top them with seeds - Poppy seeds, sunflower seeds and sesame seeds. To ensure that the seeds stay, I spray the top with water, and place them on the seeds that's on a chopping board. In this way, I can proof the dough on the seeds. Great way to ensure that the seeds stay, and let the dough proof without moving too much. After 1 1/2 hours, the dough is ready for baking. I had the oven heated up at 250 degree celsius but brought it down to 190 degree celsius for baking. This takes about 18 minutes and it came out a lovely golden brown. No steaming is required.  The bread was not green as I expected it to be, perhaps I didn't put enough green tea. Next time I'll make a thicker green tea. As for the taste, with me cutting down the sugar and butter, its not too sweet and buttery, just like how I like my plain buns, again, not much of a green tea smell or taste. The tea is soft and bouncy. This bun is just in time for tea time. I made a cup of fruit tea, spread the bread with my home made pineapple jam. mmmmm.......  | Ingredients: Water Roux Starter 120g Bread Flour 2g Green Tea with 80g Boiling Hot Water Dough 280g Bread Flour 20g Milk Powder 20g Sugar 6g Instant Yeast 5g Salt 170g Green Tea (cool) 28g Butter |