Pampushky (пампушки, garlic buns)

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •A 23cm round baking tin or shallow speckled enamel dish
• •A pastry brush
• •A mixing bowl and dough scraper
• •A stand mixer with dough hook or strong hands

Instructions

1. 1

   Start the poolish

   The night before, stir 150g flour, 150g cool water, and 1/4 teaspoon yeast into a loose batter. Cover and put it in the fridge for 8 to 12 hours. By morning it should be bubbled, slack, and faintly beery, with that good bakery smell just beginning.

   This is the step that doesn't forgive skipping. The poolish is the pampushka: soft crumb, deeper wheat flavor, and the difference between bread that fills a gap and bread people reach for.
2. 2

   Mix the dough

   Scrape the poolish into a bowl and add the remaining flour, warm milk, egg, yeast, salt, and sugar. Mix until no dry flour is hiding at the bottom, then knead in the soft butter. Work the dough until it turns smooth and elastic, soft under your palms but not gluey.

3. 3

   Let it rise

   Cover the dough and leave it somewhere warm until it grows almost double and looks full of breath. Press it gently with one floury finger; the mark should fill back slowly, not spring away at once. If your kitchen is cold, it will take its time. Dough has never cared about your diary.

4. 4

   Shape the buns

   Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and divide it into 12 pieces. Roll each piece under your cupped hand until the top tightens into a smooth little dome. Set them close together in a buttered round tin or enamel baking dish, close enough that they will rise into each other's shoulders.

5. 5

   Prove and glaze

   Cover the tin and let the buns puff until they touch and wobble together when you nudge the pan. Brush the tops with the egg yolk and milk glaze. Be gentle here; you spent the whole morning teaching them to breathe.

6. 6

   Bake them golden

   Bake at 200C until the tops are deep golden and the joined buns sound hollow when tapped at the edge, about 20 to 22 minutes. They should lift as one piece, with pale soft sides where they held onto each other in the tin.

7. 7

   Brush with garlic

   While the buns are still hot from the oven, stir the crushed garlic, sunflower oil, dill, and flaky salt together. Brush it over every dome and let it run into the seams. Raw garlic is the point. Cook it and you make it sweet; leave it raw and the pampushky speak properly.

   Use unrefined sunflower oil if you can. It is Ukraine in a bottle of oil, green-gold, nutty, and strong enough to stand beside garlic.

Chef Tips

• •The poolish can wait in the fridge up to 18 hours. If it smells sharp and alcoholic rather than gently beery, use it anyway, but expect a tangier bun.
• •The dough should be soft, not stiff. Add flour only a dusting at a time when shaping; too much makes the crumb tight.
• •No unrefined sunflower oil? Use a mild oil and add a small spoon of melted butter for roundness. It is a bit more modern, not a crime.
• •Brush the garlic oil on after baking, not before. Raw garlic on hot crust gives the bright bite that makes these belong with borshch.
• •Leftovers split well and toast beautifully. Brush them again with a little fresh garlic oil after warming, because yesterday's garlic gets tired.

Advance Preparation

• •Start the poolish the night before serving; it needs 8 to 12 hours in the fridge.
• •The shaped buns can be refrigerated overnight after their first short proof in the tin. Bring them back to a puffy wobble before glazing and baking.
• •Bake the buns earlier in the day if needed, then warm them through and brush with fresh garlic oil just before serving.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 75g)