“[Alvin Kerr’s Zephyr Buns] have beautiful texture, shape, and color, perfect for an elegant dinner or luncheon.”
-James Beard, Beard on Bread
Mike and I don’t do much in the way of elegant dinners or luncheons. However, today was a rainy, gloomy spring afternoon, so I decided to make a pork loin and Alvin Kerr’s Zephyr Buns for dinner.
Here are the ingredients:
I had to add an extra teaspoon of water to the dough to get it to hold together. The rising took what seemed like forever—the recipe calls for a rising time of 1 ½ hours, but the dough still didn’t look like it had doubled after 2 ½ hours. However, by this point I was getting tired of sitting on the couch reading a book and eating Froot Loops, so I divided the dough into 16 nearly-equal pieces and shaped them into rolls. Beard says to divide the dough into 18 pieces, but it’s so much easier to divide dough in half versus dividing it into thirds.
I let the rolls rise for 30 minutes, and then brushed them with a beaten egg.
Since today seemed to be a slow day for everything, I had to bake them in the oven for the entire time recommended, 10 minutes at 375 degrees.
These are tiny rolls, only about the size of a half-dollar coin. I envision them on little china plates with cups of tea, being eaten by ladies in hats and gloves who use British phrases like “Fancy that!” But mental image aside, Alvin Kerr’s Zephyr Buns are delicious, slightly sweet and buttery-tasting, with a fine, fluffy texture. I froze half of the rolls to serve to my in-laws for dinner next weekend. I don’t have any elegant china, but I may have to break out the place mats—fancy that!
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