Today we will be making baps or rolls.
We will use a generic bread dough recipe, adapted from Mary Berry, but we're going to split the dough into 50g portions and make interesting fun shapes out of them.
We even did the same thing with half white / half seeded whole grain flour for heartier baps.
It's a game the whole family can play!

We also experimented with some different washes for coating and glazing the rolls.
When dough is placed in a hot oven, it puffs up in the first few minutes. This is called oven spring. If the dough's skin dries too quickly it may restrict this rise. Two ways to permit the maximum rise are washes and scoring.

Washing with a glaze:
A wash is applied to the dough before baking and helps to keep the skin of the dough pliable in the early bake. It may also smooth or colour the crust as well as add flavour. Some washes also provide the glue if you want to add seeds or toppings to the crust. Once the final proof is complete, the finish of the crust is determined. Glazes affect the look, taste and crunch of the crust, and some are fundamental to the end product, such as washing a Challah with egg and topping with sesame seeds.
The standard egg washes are 3 parts egg to 1 part liquid, so you'll need to add roughly 1 tablespoon of liquid to a large egg. The less liquid you use, and the thinner you paint it on, the darker and shinier the crust will be. Paradoxically!
Milk or cream alone will result in a softer crust with little colour.

Here's what the Internet has to say about the various bread washes:

• Whole Egg Wash (egg + water): Produces a deep golden color and a glossy, professional-looking shine. It is the standard for enriched breads like challah, brioche, and dinner rolls where a balanced, bakery-quality finish is desired.
• Egg Yolk Wash (yolk + cream/milk): Creates the richest, deepest brown color with a maximum, lacquered shine. The high fat content in the yolk and cream results in a dramatic, almost varnish-like finish ideal for pastries and holiday breads. For a truly rich glossy varnish then repeatedly apply several coats to the bread as it bakes.
• Egg White Wash (white + water): Provides a light shine with minimal browning. This is best for lean breads like baguettes or sourdough where you want surface gloss without altering the natural crust color. Be sure to thoroughly beat the white - since any stringy elements will bake into unpleasant thick rubbery blobs on the crust.
  Salt can help loosen egg whites: For a no-yolk egg white-only wash add a pinch of salt. Even when mixed with water, this will make the wash easier to spread on savory breads and rolls.
• Milk or Cream Wash: Yields a soft golden-brown color with a matte to semi-gloss finish. Milk's lactose sugars caramelize for a subtle sweetness and tender crust, making it ideal for soft rolls, biscuits, and scones.
• Water or Steam: Results in a crispy, crackly, and thin crust with no added richness or shine. Water delays crust formation, allowing for better oven spring, which is essential for artisan loaves and baguettes. Create the steam by pouring water into a hot tin in the oven when the loaf begins to bake, if you don't have a steam oven.
• Butter Wash: Creates a soft, tender, matte crust with a rich, buttery flavor. Typically brushed on after baking, it is the secret to impossibly soft dinner rolls and modern variations of focaccia. You can even add a touch of honey!
• Olive Oil Wash: Imparts a light golden color and a smooth chewy crust with crispy edges. It is traditional for Mediterranean flatbreads like ciabatta and focaccia.
• Flour: A dusting of plain flour produces rustic and chewy crust.
• Cornstarch: Pasted on as a cooked cornstarch slurry it results in a shiny, hard crust.
• Egg White and Sugar: A frothed egg whites and sugar coating on sweet buns before baking gives a glossy non-stick crust.
• Sugar Syrup: A 50:50 sugar and water mix brushed on after baking for a shiny glaze for sweet buns.
• Marmalade: Brush your Hot Cross buns with marmalade after baking for a sticky zesty shine. Dilute with a little lemon for extra tartness.

Throwing Shapes:
Teacher Paul talked us through some exciting bun shapes you can make with around 50g of dough. The names are my own 😉:

• the spiral: Roll the dough into a sausage, then coil it up into a spiral. You can use beaten egg wash to glue the end in place.
• the double spiral: Roll the dough into a (longer) sausage, then roll opposite spirals from both ends so it looks like a complicated S shape.
• the knot: Roll the dough into a (fairly thin) sausage and tie it into a knot.
• the ball: Just roll it into a ball! It takes a bit of practice to get the ball smooth and round - you start of with firm downward pressure rolling the dough under the palm of one hand, then gradually ease off the pressure while rolling it around the whole palm using your fingers like a cage.
• the snowman: Roll two balls, one much smaller, place the smaller ball on top like a snowman's head! and push your finger down through both of them to press them together and leave a slight dimple.
• the plait: Roll out three similar thin sausages, you will probably want to start with more than 50g of dough for this one stick them together at one end, then plait your way along the three strands, folding and sticking the final ends together with a bit of egg wash.
• the poo: Roll into a thick sausage, then just fold one end over the other so it looks a bit like a dog's poo. Yum!

Dust with flour or glaze with egg wash and sprinkle with your seeds of choice.

Paul's BapPointers™

• Adding some milk to bread dough softens the crumb making it softer and sweeter, but also promotes a darker crust, from caramelising the contained sugars - Teacher Paul recommends using only 40% or at most 50% milk.
• To bake soft rolls without them developing a crispy crust - just bake them for a shorter time.
• Teacher Paul suggests that you should knead the dough for around 8 minutes - which you should be able to gauge by the sweat you work up.