One of the biggest powerhouses in any baker's arsenal is the stand mixer, it renders a great many tasks considerably easier and enables you to do other things whilst at the same time mixing cake batter, making meringue or kneading bread dough. Unfortunately they are generally prohibitively expensive, which is why when my (second-hand and gifted) KitchenAid mixer exploded I was unable to afford to replace it and have been without one for a long time. I still have it, sat in a cupboard awaiting the time when I get round to finding a replacement circuit board for it, but I keep forgetting to do so.
Which is why when Domu kindly offered to send me a VonShef stand mixer in my choice of colour to review I jumped at the chance to have one again. The mixer comes in a good range of colours, making picking one quite difficult! I opted for 'pistachio', which is a lovely turquoisy-green colour. When I first received and picked up the mixer I was initially dubious as to how sturdy it would be, it is not a brand of mixer I had heard of before and compared to a KitchenAid it is extremely light! It is made of plastic rather than metal, which is why it is so much lighter and I thought that this would cause it to move around while it was mixing; I was wrong however and it remained steadfast even when mixing bread dough at a high speed.
The build is similar to most other stand mixers - a tilt head with a large 5.5L removable stainless steel bowl and three attachments - scraper/mixer, balloon whisk and dough hook. It also comes with a splash guard, a silicone lid for the bowl and a dust cover. It has six speed settings, but there is also an 'Egg' button, which is basically a turbo speed button, and a 'Pulse' setting. I found that even the highest speed setting was too slow for meringue (I mixed for about 10 minutes and the egg whites didn't even get frothy), but the 'Egg' button was fast enough and after pressing it it whipped up the meringue no problem. It doesn't seem to struggle when mixing for long periods of time - I mixed dough for 15 minutes in it; though the speed is a little inconsistent - it doesn't quite remain at a steady speed, I don't think this is too much of a problem however. The beater/scraper is perfect for making cake batter, it reaches the bottom of the bowl no problem but I did have to scrape down the sides higher up, that's no biggie though.
The downsides to the mixer are: It is pretty loud, though you are unlikely to find a quiet stand mixer. I don't think that the top speed is fast enough, it is capable of going faster if you use the 'Egg' button but in some cases that is too fast and there is no speed in-between that and level six on the dial; It would have made more sense to design the mixer with ten speed levels rather than six and do away with the button altogether. Thirdly, there is no option to buy extra accessories for the mixer - with a KitchenAid you can get all sorts of attachments such as ice cream freezer bowls, pasta rollers, meat grinders, spiralisers etc. so that's something to consider if you wanted a mixer that can replace every kitchen gadget. It is also a bit plasticky, but the upside to this is that you can easily pick it up and move it around without doing your back in.
The main selling point for the VonShef stand mixer is the price, currently retailing at £84.99 it is vastly cheaper than any of the big name brand options and for the price I think it is definitely worth it. I have had no problems with it so far and other than my minor quibble with the speed settings it is easy to use and effective. It comes in a good range of colours so you are sure to be able to find one to match your kitchen (Or in my case my hair...) and I'm certainly going to be putting mine to good use!
On to the Tangzhong chocolate swirl buns; for those of you who don't know, tangzhong is a method predominantly used in Japan and China to make very soft bread that keeps well. It simply involves making a roux with flour and water which is cooked to a wallpaper paste-like consistency, cooled and then added to the bread dough. The resulting bread is pillowy soft, slightly sweet and utterly delicious. However, the dough is very soft and takes a long time to knead; until now I have had to knead it by hand and it often takes half an hour of kneading before it passes the windowpane test which is why I thought it would be the perfect thing to make to put my new stand mixer to the test; it still took nearly fifteen minutes to knead in the mixer, but thankfully I didn't have to stand there and do it by hand as kneading for that long is tiring!
I filled my buns with a simple chocolate filling - a mixture of melted butter and chocolate, sugar and cocoa powder; easy to make but very tasty. The twisted coil shape of the buns is easier to do than it looks, though you may have to shape a couple before you get the hang of it. These buns are perfect as a mid-morning or afternoon snack with a cup of tea or coffee, and because of the tangzhong they stay soft for a couple of days, though they are best when gently warmed before serving.
Tangzhong Chocolate Swirl Buns & VonShef Stand Mixer Review
Ingredients
Tangzhong:
- 20 g strong white bread flour
- 100 ml water
Dough:
- All of the tangzhong
- 350 g strong white bread flour
- 7 g fast action yeast 2 tsp
- 1 tsp salt
- 60 g caster sugar
- 1 tbsp milk powder optional
- 1 large egg (or 3 Tbsp aquafaba or non-dairy milk)
- 120 ml full fat milk (or unsweetened non-dairy milk)
- 50 g softened butter (or vegan butter)
Filling:
- 125 g dark chocolate chopped
- 65 g butter (or vegan butter)
- 50 g caster sugar
- 2 tbsp cocoa powder
- 1 beaten egg to glaze (glaze with milk if vegan)
Instructions
- To make the tangzhong, place the flour in a small saucepan and gradually whisk in the water. Place over a medium heat and cook, whisking constantly until it has thickened to a wallpaper paste-like consistency. Remove from the heat, scrape into a bowl and cover with clingfilm directly on the surface, set aside to cool.
- Place the flour, yeast, salt, sugar and milk powder in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook, lightly stir together and make a well in the centre. Add the egg, milk and tangzhong to the well and mix on a low speed until it comes together into a dough.
- Add the butter and mix on a high speed until the dough is very stretchy and comes away from the sides of the bowl, this can take about 15 minutes, even in a stand mixer.
- Transfer the dough to a lightly greased bowl, cover with clingfilm and either place somewhere warm to rise until doubled in size, about 1-2 hours, or in the fridge overnight.
- While the dough is rising make the filling; place the chocolate and butter in a saucepan and set over a low heat, stir regularly until melted and smooth. Remove from the heat and stir in the sugar and cocoa powder, set aside to cool.
- Tip the risen dough out onto a floured surface. Sprinkle with more flour and roll out to an approx. 30x40cm rectangle. Spread over the filling evenly then fold the dough into thirds, like a business letter, you should end up with a 30x13cm rectangle. Slide it onto a baking sheet and place in the fridge for about 15 minutes so that it firms up a little and is easier to work with.
- Pat the dough out width-ways a little so that you end up with a 30x20cm rectangle. Cut length-ways into 10 strips, each about 2cm wide.
- Line two baking sheets with baking parchment. Twist each strip from either end then shape into a coil, passing the end over the top and tucking it underneath. Place well spaced apart on the baking trays.
- Loosely cover with oiled clingfilm and set aside to rise for about 1 hour, until puffy. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 180C/350F/gas mark 4.
- Gently brush the risen buns with beaten egg and bake for about 20 minutes, until deep golden and cooked through. Leave to cool on the trays for 10 minutes then transfer to a wire rack. Once cooled store in an airtight container.
I was sent a stand mixer to review but was not paid to write this post and all opinions are my own.
I am sharing these with Fiesta Friday hosted by The Frugal Hausfrau and French Gardener Dishes, Foodie FriDIY, Foodie Friends Friday and Friday Features
Michelle
I love the retro style of the mixer! Pretty color too!
The swirl buns look delicious M
Thanks
Michelle
Miranda
That mixer is so cool looking! The buns sound fantastic too, the swirls are gorgeous!
Johanne Lamarche
Those swirl buns look irresistible! Gorgeous!
Julie
These buns look absolutely beautiful. They do look soft and I love the chocolate.
Frugal Hausfrau
There always to be a little something that's quirky about most of the lower priced mixers - maybe some of the higher priced ones, although I've never had any of the super expensive ones. A GE, I think, my mother's and am now on Kitchenaide number three...
Those rolls look amazing! I've made Kindred Milk Bread using the Japanese method, can't imagine how good these rolls are!! Happy FF!!
Jhuls @ The Not So Creative Cook
I've always wanted to try this method, but I have read that you should do mathematics before getting the right amount of water and flour for tangzhong. And if it is really time consuming to make it by hand, it is very much advisable to use a stand mixer and yours is very pretty. The buns look so beautiful, too.
hannahhossack
There is a bit of maths involved but once you've got the base recipe right you can use the same dough for loads of things. It is hard work to make by hand though! (Do-able, but time consuming and messy!)
Sumayya
Hope your new stand mixer brings you even more ease and convenience 🙂
I can probably handle the dairy content in this recipe and not the wheat/gluten, so I'll have to make do with just admiring your wonderful photos. Enjoy an extra extra swirl bun for me!
Sumayya
PS if anyone has success with a gluten free version of this recipe and would inform us, it would be appreciated. Cheers
Monika Dabrowski
I love the sound of this recipe! Perfect for a Sunday brunch. Fabulous photography:)
hannahhossack
Thank you! They are perfect for brunch, or breakfast, or a snack, or dessert, or just any time really 🙂
Rupert
Seems like everyone likes the mixer 😀 If there are some entrepreneurs around here, here is a good idea to get to start a new business for manufacturing mixers with retro design 🙂
Lucy Parissi
They look gorgeous! I have rediscovered my love for tangzhong method it really is amazing how soft the bread is.
elsie
love the recipe..the buns look sweet!
Lukas
There aren't that many tanhzhong recipes out there, thanks for sharing.
I tried it yesterday and it was first time I handled this type of dough. It went great except the filling leaking a lot. Any idea why? Might be to hot where I live 32 °C 90°F?
hannahhossack
Hi Lukas, I'm glad you liked the recipe! You will get a bit of filling leakage as standard but hot weather will definitely make it worse - 32C is pretty warm for working with ingredients like chocolate and butter.
Frank
Your bread is very pretty. Do you have the pictures of shaping the bread? Thanks.
hannahhossack
Hi Frank, thank you! Sadly I neglected to take any process shots of shaping the bread. Here is a video that details the process however: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PlXagPeCJyk