A seeded mosbolletjies loaf on a wooden board beside two cups of milky tea and a block of butter

Breads, Buns & Donuts

Mosbolletjies

Delicious, buttery morsels of bread with hints of aniseed.

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A golden mosbolletjies loaf on a wooden board with butter and blue plates A torn-open mosbolletjie with a buttered piece on a blue plate

Mosbolletjies are another South African classic which are best served with thick lashings of butter and a warm cup of tea. Mosbolletjies were initially introduced to South Africa by the French Huguenots who settled in Franschhoek in the mid-1600s.

When I first had mosbolletjies, they actually reminded me a bit of naan. Not the naan which is a flatbread, but instead the warm, pillowy loaves which are found in most Durban Indian bakeries. I think it is the flavour of the aniseed within the mosbolletjies which smacks of similarities to the naan loaves.

Mosbolletjies, however, have a light and airy, more brioche-like texture. Traditionally, the leavening comes from the use of grape must, which was harvested during wine-making season. I really struggled to get a hold of grape must and have found many recipes which now use grape juice to speed up the fermentation of the yeast.

A glossy mosbolletjies loaf on a wooden board next to butter, from above

Not meaning to disrespect the flavours of the traditional mosbolletjie, I wanted to put my own spin on things. Leveraging off from the nuanced flavours of the naan bread, I decided to add a sprinkling of poppy and sesame seeds before baking.

This loaf is best eaten on the same day, but given that I gobbled half of it in one go, that really does not seem problematic 🙂

A mosbolletjies loaf topped with poppy and sesame seeds, beside butter and tea Close-up of the soft, fluffy crumb inside a seeded mosbolletjies loaf

The recipe

Mosbolletjies

adventureswithsugar.com/mosbolletjies/

Method

Method: mosbolletjies

  1. Combine the dry ingredients: Place the cake flour, bread flour, aniseed, fennel, sugar, salt and yeast in a bowl of an electric stand mixer, fitted with a dough attachment.
  2. Warm the liquids: Mix the grape juice, water and milk together. Heat in the microwave until lukewarm but not boiling, as it will kill the yeast.
  3. Start the dough: Begin to mix the dry ingredients and slowly add the milk and juice mixture to it to begin to form a dough.
  4. Add the eggs: Add one egg at a time and let it fully incorporate before adding the next one.
  5. Knead: Knead for five minutes until you have a smooth and elastic dough. The dough will not be too soft at this point.
  6. Add the butter: Add the butter, about a tablespoon at a time and knead into the dough before adding the next tablespoon. Make sure that your butter is soft, else it will not easily knead into the dough.
  7. Knead until elastic: Knead for about three to five minutes more until the dough is soft and elastic. If you take a piece of dough and stretch it, it should not tear about, but should allow light to shine through like a window pane (hence called the window pane test).
  8. Prove overnight: Place in a bowl, cover the bowl with cling wrap and let it prove in the fridge overnight.
  9. Bring to room temperature: The next day, bring to room temperature before continuing. It should sit out for about an hour and a half.
  10. Shape the rolls: Line a 900g loaf tin with baking paper, allowing any excess to hang off the sides. Divide the dough into about 95g pieces and roll into balls. Place about 5 balls, in two rows into the lined tin. It is ok if they slightly squeeze together.
  11. Let rise: Let the dough rise for anywhere between 45 minutes to an hour, until doubled in size. I usually pop it into my oven, with the light on and the door slightly ajar. My oven heats to 40˚ Celsius which allows the dough to prove in 45 minutes.
  12. Brush and sprinkle: Brush the top of the dough with a bit of milk, and sprinkle some sesame and poppyseeds on top.
  13. Bake: Preheat the oven to 170˚ Celsius and bake for 35 to 45 minutes, until fully baked. This is quite an enriched dough, so the top turns brown very quickly whilst the inside is not baked yet. After 15 minutes, cover the top with a piece of foil, the shiny side down and continue to bake. If you insert a skewer in between the balls of dough, it should come out clean. If there is still dough sticking to the skewer, then you need to bake it for longer.

Method: syrup

  1. Make the syrup: Whilst the bread is baking, heat the sugar, butter and water together until the honey melts slightly and turns into a loose syrup.
  2. Glaze and sprinkle: When the bread comes out of the oven, brush with the syrup and sprinkle with the poppy and sesame seeds.
  3. Let cool: Let cool for at least 30 minutes before serving.
Seeded mosbolletjies with one end torn open and spread with butter, mugs of tea behind The end of a glossy mosbolletjies loaf with butter alongside

Recipe by adventureswithsugar.com

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