Horror 1st batch of Hotdogs

Better 2nd batch of Hotdogs

Ok, it has taken me a little while to post my answer to the International Incident Party theme of Hotdog, mostly because I am so annoyed with myself for my efforts on the topic.

I make these cute little hotdog rolls every few weeks for the children and they always work well.  This time, when I want to feature and photograph the little buggers they come out looking irregular shaped and boxey!  Rest assured I will remake and rephotograph them, but in the meantime I am posting less than beautiful examples.

1st Batch Hotdogs 

I will firstly explain what went wrong, so that no readers make the same mistakes.

1. I had the house airconditioning on 17 degrees because I had been dying in the summer heat.  I didn’t think it would matter because the bread dough was made in the controlled enviroment of the breadmaker.
2. It did matter because I couldn’t get to the dough when it finished.  So after proofing beautifully it deflated horribly.  I persisted with the dough as it is usually very resilliant in the face of my haphazardness, but having the air conditioning on freezing I was struggling to get the “puff” I usually do.
3. To add insult to injury, on my tortured dough I added frozen frankfurts.  Straight from the freezer!
4. Next I rolled them up as usual... but, I squeezed the hotdogs into a pan that was too small to allow any growth of the little snacks.
5.  I covered the buns with a tea towel for the second proofing.  Obviously nothing was going to happen in the cold environment and packed into a little tray.  But with the ultimate optimism I had the oven on warming 50 degrees, and left the buns to proof.  It usually only takes ½ hour to get the nice puff. After about 1 ½ hours I decided that I didn’t have time to wait and baked them off.
6. The result was less than spectacular! Then, because the hotdogs had taken so long it was nearly dinner time and I had a starving family.  Everyone wanted one!  This meant the family was breathing down my neck trying to “sneak” a taste while I was taking the images of the finished product.  EPIC FAIL MUM!  Oh the life of a foodie!

2nd Batch Hotdogs

So even though they are the ugliest Hotdogs, I have ever made they were well received by the family. They smelled divine cooking, and there are now none left, so obviously they tasted pretty good too.

2nd Batch Hotdogs

Bread Ingredients:

510gm Flour

7gm yeast

6gm salt

6gm sugar

20gm oil

310gm warm water

Filling Ingredients:

12 little frankies

4Tbs tomato paste

1 cup grated cheese

¾ cup diced fried bacon

Mustard to taste

1 Tbs sesame seeds

 Method:

Prepare a baking tray with baking paper.

Place all the bread ingredients into a bread maker with the setting on dough.

Once dough is complete, place it on an oiled bench and with your hands, gently shape into a rectangle.

Spread the dough with tomato paste then add the cheese and bacon ensuring the ingredients are evenly distributed.

First batch of Hotdogs

Place the frankies on the dough and roll into little buns. Cut the buns away from the dough and continue until the dough is all rolled into hotdogs, and the hotdogs are all on the baking tray.

2nd Batch Hotdogs

Sprinkle the hotdogs with sesame seeds and cover with a clean tea towel to proof. If the house is cold place in a warm area , or use a warm (50 degrees) oven.

2nd Batch Hotdogs

Once proofed preheat oven to 180 degrees and cook for 15-20mins or until golden and hollow to the tap.

2nd Batch Hotdogs

So the second batch of hotdogs is now complete.  They still aren't the most beautiful things I have made but at least they don't look mangled anymore. The bread is light and fluffly as it should be and they have a level of respectablity about them.