Tartine Bakery Sweet Potato Hamburger Buns
Tartine Bakery is universally beloved for their amazing creations, and these delightful buns are no exception. Light and tender, they will be a delicate yet well-structured carrier for all your summer grilled goodness. In this recipe, the Tartine bakers combined our buttery, golden Edison with fresh butter and sweet potatoes. These buns come out golden, creamy, and truly scrumptious!
Chad Robertson and Jennifer Latham from the forthcoming "Bread Book," Ten Speed Press, December 2021
Prep Time
1 hour
Bake Time
14 minutes
Total Time
15 hours
Yield
12 buns
Ingredients:
For the final dough:
1/5 cup (45g) water, cool (70°F)
1/3 cup (72g) buttermilk, at room temperature
1 (45g) medium egg, at room temperature
1/3 cup (67g) leaven
1/3 cup (67g) poolish
3 teaspoons (13g) sugar
2 scant cups (266g) Edison flour
2 scant tablespoons (13g) buttermilk powder
1½ teaspoons (9g) salt
1 teaspoon (3g) instant yeast
3 scant tablespoons (40g) unsalted butter, at room temperature
½ small (80g) sweet potato, roasted and pureed
For the poolish:
1⅓ cups (200g) Edison flour
1 scant cup (200g) water, warm (75°F)
1 teaspoon (3g) instant yeast
For the leaven:
1 tablespoon (25g) mature starter
1⅓ cups (200g) Edison flour
1 scant cup (200g) water, warm (80°F)
Baker's Notes:
* The sweet potato will lose some weight when roasted, so pick one that weighs about 100-120g.
** This dough requires a young, fresh leaven (but not a booster leaven) for the right flavor and rise. The leaven is ready for bread-making when it looks bubbly and tastes slightly tangy but also slightly creamy (like yogurt). Unready leaven tastes like raw pancake batter. Overripe leaven tastes very sour or boozy.
If you are unsure if your leaven is ready, you can perform a float test. To do so, fill a small pitcher or cup with cold, clean water. Wet your hands to prevent the leaven from sticking to your fingers. Gently pinch off about 1 tablespoon of the leaven, handling it minimally so as not to deflate the air bubbles, and carefully place it in the water. It should bob or float on the surface, not sink to the bottom. If it hovers or rises slowly, you can still use it, but your bulk ferment may take a little longer than it would if using a riper leaven.
*** To shape the buns, working with one ball at a time, very gently cup your dominant hand over the dough and press it into the work surface while rotating your hand clockwise in a circular motion (if you're a lefty, counterclockwise might be handier). The bottom of the bun should stick to the surface a little, anchoring it. Continue the circular motion until you have a tight, cohesive ball.
**** The amount of time this takes depends on the proofing environment, thus the wide range.
***** To dress for sandwiches, using a bread knife, cut the buns in half horizontally. If using on the second or third day after baking, butter the cut sides and toast, cut-side down, in a cast iron skillet over medium heat until golden, 2 to 3 minutes. To store longer, once the buns are cooled and split, place them in an airtight freezer-proof container and freeze for up to 2 weeks. To refresh, toast directly from the freezer.
Instructions:
To prepare the sweet potato, polish, and leaven:
- The night before you want to mix the dough (or up to 3 days ahead), roast the sweet potato* (see Baker's Notes). Preheat the oven to 450°F. Cut the sweet potato (with peel on) into six equal pieces (each about 2 inches) and place in a baking dish.
- Cover tightly with foil and bake until the pieces are very fork-tender, 30-35 minutes.
- Let the potato pieces cool to the touch, then mash well with a fork or blend in a food processor until smooth. The smoother the sweet potato puree, the more easily you will be able to incorporate it into the dough.
- Transfer to an airtight container and store in the refrigerator until your baking day.
- The night before you want to mix the dough, prepare an overnight poolish. In a bowl, mix the flour, water, and yeast. Let stand overnight in the refrigerator.
- The morning of your baking day, prepare the leaven: feed 1 tablespoon of mature starter with warm water and flour** (see Baker's Notes).
To make the final dough:
- Remove the sweet potato puree from the refrigerator and set aside to come to room temperature.
- If using a scale, place a small bowl on the scale and tare the scale. Crack the egg into the bowl. If there’s more egg that you need for this recipe, use a spoon or your fingers to remove enough of the egg white so only 45g remain.
- In a bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with the dough hook attachment, combine the water, buttermilk, egg, leaven, poolish, and sugar and mix gently until mostly combined.
- In a separate medium-size bowl, whisk together 2 cups of flour and the buttermilk powder.
- With the mixer running on low speed, mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until combined, about 3 minutes. Cover the bowl with a clean tea towel or plastic wrap and let the dough autolyze (rest and hydrate) for 20 minutes.
- After the resting period, uncover the bowl and mix the dough on low speed for 3 more minutes. Add the salt and yeast and continue to mix on low speed until the dough is smooth, supple, and stretchy, about 5 minutes.
- With the mixer running, add the butter in three equal additions, mixing in each addition completely before adding the next.
- When all of the butter has been incorporated, add the sweet potato puree and mix until combined.
- Cover the bowl and let the dough rise in a warm (82° to 85°F) draft-free spot for 30 minutes.
- After a 30-minute rise, give the dough a turn by gently lifting and stretching up the sides and folding them into the middle.
- Re-cover the bowl and let rest for another 30 minutes, until doubled in volume.
- Line two sheet pans with parchment paper.
- Transfer the dough to a clean, unfloured work surface.
- Using a bench knife, divide the dough into twelve equal pieces, each about 60g.
- Using lightly floured hands, shape each piece into a ball*** (see Baker's Notes).
- Place each prepared bun on a parchment-lined sheet, keeping them about 3 inches apart.
- Cover the sheet pans with a clean towel and let rise in a warm (82-85°F), draft-free spot until the balls have almost doubled in volume, 1 to 2 hours**** (see Baker's Notes). They will be very large, delicate, and full of air when they are ready.
To bake:
- About 15 minutes before the buns have finished rising, preheat the oven to 450°F, with the racks positioned close to the center of the oven.
- Fill a clean, food-grade spray bottle with water (or prepare a small bowl of water and a brush).
- When the buns are ready to bake, spray or gently brush the tops of the buns with water.
- Bake for 7 minutes, then switch the pans between the racks, rotate them 180°, and continue to bake until the buns are golden brown, another 7 minutes.
- Let the buns cool completely on the pans on cooling racks.
- Store the buns in a bread box at room temperature for up to 3 days***** (see Baker's Notes).
Baker's Notes:
* The sweet potato will lose some weight when roasted, so pick one that weighs about 100-120g.
** This dough requires a young, fresh leaven (but not a booster leaven) for the right flavor and rise. The leaven is ready for bread-making when it looks bubbly and tastes slightly tangy but also slightly creamy (like yogurt). Unready leaven tastes like raw pancake batter. Overripe leaven tastes very sour or boozy.
If you are unsure if your leaven is ready, you can perform a float test. To do so, fill a small pitcher or cup with cold, clean water. Wet your hands to prevent the leaven from sticking to your fingers. Gently pinch off about 1 tablespoon of the leaven, handling it minimally so as not to deflate the air bubbles, and carefully place it in the water. It should bob or float on the surface, not sink to the bottom. If it hovers or rises slowly, you can still use it, but your bulk ferment may take a little longer than it would if using a riper leaven.
*** To shape the buns, working with one ball at a time, very gently cup your dominant hand over the dough and press it into the work surface while rotating your hand clockwise in a circular motion (if you're a lefty, counterclockwise might be handier). The bottom of the bun should stick to the surface a little, anchoring it. Continue the circular motion until you have a tight, cohesive ball.
**** The amount of time this takes depends on the proofing environment, thus the wide range.
***** To dress for sandwiches, using a bread knife, cut the buns in half horizontally. If using on the second or third day after baking, butter the cut sides and toast, cut-side down, in a cast iron skillet over medium heat until golden, 2 to 3 minutes. To store longer, once the buns are cooled and split, place them in an airtight freezer-proof container and freeze for up to 2 weeks. To refresh, toast directly from the freezer.