Rainy comfort

After staying in India for quite few years, I have to say I’m a big fan of four season. I know, I used to complain about fall being too wet and winter being too cold, but what is so bad about it, really? Living in climate that is hot and hotter made me long for those days.

To be completely honest, Goa has really pleasant climate most of the time, but it makes me miss the variety of European weather. October till February is a beach perfect season. After that it gets hotter and hotter, until it bursts into monsoon rains and temperature drops to 15 degrees. Whole state shuts down, hotels and restaurants are boarded up and all you can see around is bushy greenery. It’s a perfect time to cozy up with a hot cuppa tea and much loved comfort food.

I’m pretty sure that the need for comfort pies and cookies is what killed my oven. Since then I had to get creative. I tried all sorts of bizarre recipes, including microwave cookies or brownies in a cup, but seriously, eating half a jar of melted Nutella every day is not exactly the best idea.

Suddenly I remembered one of my childhood’s favorite “dessert” meal. It quite popular in Poland, but you will find it under different name in every region, which makes searching for the recipe a bit confusing. I succeeded in the end and here it is:

Buchty – steamed buns with strawberries and vanilla sauce

(Adapted from this recipe)

Buns:

250 g flour

100 ml milk

1 egg

Pinch of salt

2 ½ tsp dry active yeast

1 ½ tbsp. sugar

2 tbsp. melted butter

8-10 strawberries

Preparation:

Bring all the ingredients to room temperature. Warm milk slightly and whisk with yeast, sugar and 2 tbsp. flour – set aside for 10 minutes (it should double the volume).

Add flour, egg, salt, butter and kneed for few minutes – set aside for 30-45 min. to rise.

Form 8-10 small buns with strawberry in the center and set aside for 10 minutes.

Steam for 10 minutes (they will double the size).

Vanilla Sauce

2 vanilla pods (or vanilla extract)

1 ½ tbsp. sugar

100 ml milk

1 egg yolk

1/2 - 1 tsp cornstarch

1tsp butter melted

Preparation

With the tip of the knife open vanilla pods and take out the seeds. Mix all the ingredients and continue whisking on low heat until sauce thickens. It should resemble very runny custard.

Serve buns with hot sauce and strawberries.

PS.

Any kind of berry or jam would work with this recipe.

Enjoy!