Notes about Recipes in this book

• Snittsidan bullar [Sweden]

  • Zosia on September 30, 2017

    These buns had a really good, nutty flavour enhanced by the toasted seed topping that, unfortunately, didn't stay on very well. An egg wash would help with that.

• Laugenbrötchen [Germany, Austria, Switzerland]

  • Zosia on September 30, 2017

    Thin, crisp crust, chewy centre and great pretzel flavour - we loved these.

• Spaccatini [Italy]

  • Zosia on September 30, 2017

    These little buns were crusty and chewy, like good Italian bread.

• Bastounakia [Greece]

  • Zosia on September 30, 2017

    Highly addictive! The wet dough produced an open, chewy crumb with a crisp crust. The dough didn't include salt - it was added with the rosemary during shaping - but I'm tempted to next time, or perhaps I'll just use a little more than 10g.

  • mjes on October 05, 2021

    Think thick, filled breadsticks. This is an endlessly variable perfect accompaniment for a Greece salad; in fact, they should be obligatory. They are also great with soups and as a snack. Everyone loved them.

• Pirozhki [Eastern Europe]

  • Zosia on October 24, 2017

    We loved these buns with their potato-dill filling but the best part was the crunchy exterior resulting from shallow frying (really just a slick of fat in a non-stick pan). In lieu of clarified butter (and lard and oil), I used duck fat for this step. My uber wet and sticky dough required an extra 50g flour.

• Piragi [Estonia]

  • Zosia on September 30, 2017

    Wow, these were good. The dough was quite stiff but very easy to roll out. I used a combination of bacon and country ham for the filling.

• Bun muska [Iran]

  • Zosia on March 23, 2018

    The enriched dough resulted in a soft bun with a pleasant nutty flavour from the toasted sesame seeds. The shaped buns took much longer to prove than I expected - 1.5 hours - and than the recipe indicated and I baked them before they were quite ready. They had great oven spring but I suspect they might have been a little fluffier had I waited before baking.

• Mexican coffee buns [Malaysia]

  • Zosia on September 30, 2017

    Soft and fluffy and quite delicious thanks to the sweet coffee-flavoured cookie-like topping that's baked onto the bun. I made only a half-batch of the topping and even that was a little too much (I managed to use it all thanks to a heavy application).

• Masala buns [India]

  • Zosia on June 12, 2019

    These were excellent as an accompaniment to soup or as a snack. I used all whole wheat bread flour so they were chewy as well as tasty.

• Khara buns [India]

  • Zosia on January 06, 2018

    Tasty savoury buns flavoured with garlic, chiles and spices that were delicious as an accompaniment to soup or eaten as a snack with a cup of chai.

• Pan de camote [Peru]

  • Zosia on September 30, 2017

    Despite a really stiff dough (that needed 2 tbsp water) these buns were quite soft and moist, and a very pretty colour thanks to the sweet potato. I made some larger for hamburgers which baked in 15 minutes; the smaller buns baked in 12. Both times are much less than the recipe indicates.

• Vigilantes [Uruguay]

  • Zosia on October 01, 2017

    Jam adds the only sweetness there is in these little buns and there's not room for very much so the chunky more flavourful ones worked best. The bread portion was soft with a fluffy crumb.

• Bolillos [Mexico]

  • Zosia on October 13, 2017

    Very good sandwich rolls with a tight crumb that prevents them from getting soggy. The dough takes more time than most, starting with a preferment, then 2 provings before shaping and proving again.

• Hot cross buns [UK]

  • Zosia on March 23, 2018

    This was my first attempt at hot cross buns and I was thrilled that this recipe didn't include candied fruits or peel. They were pleasantly spiced with bursts of fruitiness from the cranberries I substituted for raisins and the golden syrup glaze added delicious caramel flavour.

  • Carol.Furness on March 31, 2018

    Lots of fruit and no citrus peel for those who don't like it. Nice and spicy as well.

• Iced buns [UK]

  • Zosia on October 01, 2017

    These soft buns with a slick of sweet icing were a hit with both adults and children in my family (with nary a comment about the pepto bismol pink shade of icing!). They were fun to make and decorate.

• Lincolnshire plum buns [UK]

  • Zosia on October 01, 2017

    Delicious but a real challenge to shape. It was difficult to incorporate the fruit evenly and the resulting dough was very wet and sticky.

• Grittibanz [Switzerland]

  • Zosia on December 06, 2017

    These (Swiss bread men for St. Nicholas Day) were made with a classic butter and egg rich brioche dough that required quite a lot of effort, even using a stand mixer. They were best eaten warm from the oven.

• Skillingsboller [Norway]

  • Zosia on October 01, 2017

    Lovely pillowy soft, spicy and nutty buns, and not overly sweet. I used pearl sugar topping.

• Panini al pomodoro [Italy]

  • Zosia on November 14, 2017

    Tasty buns with a thin crisp crust and tight, soft crumb. The tomato paste added a subtle tomato flavour but was really difficult to knead into the stiff dough. I wonder if it can be added it at the start with the other liquids. Next time, I'll omit the tomato paste garnish as it was quite scorched after baking. Served with Marcella Hazan's minestrone.

• Bollo de hornasso [Gibraltar]

  • Zosia on December 21, 2017

    These smelled incredible as they baked and the flavour was quite good as well...slightly sweet, tasting subtly of anise.

• Chorek [Armenia]

  • Zosia on May 21, 2019

    Wow, these were good....light and airy and so delicious. The mahleb-vanilla combination was lovely. The buns were baked in 15 minutes at 375F in my oven.

• Sfeeha [Syria]

  • Zosia on October 01, 2017

    The meat filling had fabulous flavour. I wish I new the trick of maintaining the indentation so I could put more in. The bun base was also very good, crisp and chewy.

• Shubbak el-habayeb [Iraq]

  • Zosia on December 10, 2022

    Lovely flavour but they took much more time and work than expected. Dough was very stiff (in some reviews I came across, some bakers added 50% more liquid!) and initial proving time was over 3 hours. They had huge oven spring and didn't look much like the book photo which shows rather flat buns.

• Monkey buns [USA]

  • Zosia on January 20, 2018

    These are as delicious as they are fun to eat. I followed the assembly directions but I would do it differently next time, dipping each bun in butter and rolling it in cinnamon sugar before placing in the pan, to ensure more even distribution of all of the good stuff. I used a 12-cup bundt pan which I thought was much too large since the proofed buns filled it by only 2/3 but they had ginormous oven spring and rose well above the top of the pan during baking.

• Autumnal sticky buns [Canada]

  • Zosia on October 01, 2017

    The buns themselves weren't very sweet but they were nicely flavoured with pumpkin and a spiced filling. The "goo" didn't form a sticky coating but was absorbed by the bread leaving only candied pecans on the bottom (which became the top). Very tasty.

• Fastnachts [Canada]

  • Zosia on February 15, 2018

    Everyone loved these! They were so light, fluffy and moist, and had great flavour even without the cinnamon sugar coating thanks to the starter (and the butter, sugar and eggs, I'm sure). My dough was much softer than pictured in the book so my pieces were quite irregular in size and shape but that didn't seem to matter to anyone. My yield was about 70 (twice the size of a Timbit). Made for Shrove Tuesday.