Mosbolletjies | Must Rolls

It feels like a year ago that I was offered the opportunity of hosting FFTO, and I just want to thank Claire of Purely Food and Michelle of Utterly Scrummy Food For Families for the opportunity. In December I came up with a list of breads I would challenge you all to do, but I discarded one after the other as time ticked on. Finally I decided to bake mosbolletjies. This translates directly to small moss balls  but actually has nothing to do with anything green!

Today’s inspirational recipe from Lavender and Lime ♥ Mosbolletjies ♥ #LavenderAndLime Share on X

I live in wine farming country and during the harvest festival at Vergenoegd Wine Estate, Michael (the chef from Pomegranate Restaurant) started our meal off with mosbolletjies. The first week they were white, but the second time we went, they were pink from the grape must.  It was this that gave me the inspiration to set the challenge as I did.  Grape must is the first step of wine making. It refers to freshly pressed juice which includes the skins, stems and seeds.  However, inspiration was not friendly with time and I suddenly panicked that I had left it too late. But, the fact that I did not ‘borrow’ some must from the wine farm meant I had to create my own at home. These steps and stages might seem like quite a lot in order to make small must balls but I hope you will find it fun!

Mosbolletjies
mosbolletjies
Stage one: create the must

I have pressed grapes by foot before, but this is not practical. It takes a lot of pressure, so press as hard as you need to in order to break the skin. But, not too hard as you don’t need much juice and you want the best of  the juice you press. The darker the grapes, the darker your must will be.

creating the must
creating the must
Stage two: feed the yeast
add the yeast to the must
add the yeast to the must
Stage three: let’s make dough
all the ingredients ready for mixing
all the ingredients ready for mixing
Stage four: let’s make bread
small must rolls or in Afrikaans Mosbolletjies
small must rolls
Stage five: let’s bake bread

They are meant to be soft and sweet. These are often served at restaurants in the wine region before you get your meal, or with soup. But I think they make a great tea time snack if served with jam! They will feel a bit stale after a day or two, but 10 seconds in the microwave will make them all soft again.

Mosbolletjies all baked and nearly ready for eating
all baked and nearly ready for eating
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Mosbolletjies | Must Rolls

Recipe Category: Bread
Makes enough for: 1 batch mosbolletjies
All Rights Reserved: An original recipe from Lavender and Lime

Ingredients

for the must

  • 500 g grapes stems on

for the dough

  • 80 mls must
  • 20 g fresh yeast
  • 420 g flour
  • 5 mls salt
  • 60 fructose
  • 60 g butter, cubed
  • 125 mls milk
  • 1 egg

Method

for the must

  • Place the grapes into a deep bowl, and use a muddler to gently press the grapes
  • Leave to stand for 24 hours out of the fridge so that the must will take on the colour from the skin
  • Strain the must and discard the skins and the stems

for the dough

  • Gently heat the must to 40° Celsius
  • Measure out 80mls of the must and add the yeast
  • Reserve the rest of the must for glazing
  • Leave to stand for 20 minutes
  • Place the flour, salt, fructose and butter into a mixing bowl
  • Gently heat the milk to 40° Celsius
  • Whisk the egg into the milk
  • Stir the yeast and must mixture and add it to the milk
  • Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients
  • Pour in the wet ingredients
  • Mix the ingredients together
  • Knead until you have a soft dough
  • Turn the dough out, lightly oil the bowl and put the dough back in
  • Cover the bowl with some cling film and leave to prove for one hour
  • Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knock it back.
  • Shape small balls and place them onto a lined round baking tray
  • Lightly oil the cling film and cover the dough
  • Leave to prove for one hour
  • Preheat the oven to 180° Celsius
  • Glaze the rolls with the reserved must
  • Bake for 20 minutes and turn out onto a wire rack to cool

Notes

I used my stand mixer with a dough hook on a low speed to mix the ingredients. Once this was done I increased the speed slightly and let the mixer do the kneading for 10 minutes

Click on the links for conversions and notes.

If you are taking part in the challenge please note that Michelle will be doing the round up – take a look here for the requirements of the challenge.

for all South African Bloggers: please let me know if you are taking part in the challenge – I will be giving away a prize to one lucky blogger!

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57 thoughts on “Mosbolletjies | Must Rolls

  1. I’m on mobile so cannot see your new site my friend but I promise to get onto it soon 😀
    On another note, these buns look incredible!
    Small and adorable!

    Cheers
    CCU

  2. Hi Tandy. A very timely post as I have been searching around for a bread recipe that mirrors the soft, sweet rolls that I have had many times here in restaurants here in SA and this looks like exactly the sort of thing. I have never heard of must rolls so am not sure if this is what I have been eating but will definitely give this recipe a try. Thanks for sharing.

  3. Oh wow Tandy!! I’m kinda intimidated by this challenge! I’ve never made must before and only learned of it today!! Those rolls look exceptionally soft and delicious though!! Thanks for hosting this month’s challenge!! 🙂

  4. These sound and look wonderful, and it’s a completely new method for me so I’m definitely going to try to make time to give these a go. Bit worried I’ve got a holiday coming up soon, but if I get them done this weekend I’ll definitely post 🙂

  5. I didn’t think that was too many steps.. just a little advance prep so you could have that day to make the must. What sweet little buns, the flavor has me so curious…

  6. hi Tandy.
    Thanks for the mosbolletjies recipe.
    I’ll create one for sure, my dad are gonna like it 🙂
    If you don’t mind, can you submit your mosbolletjies photo in http://www.foodporn.net ?
    It’s a food photography site full of all DIY food pictures from members around the world. submit by yourself and let me know when you did, so I can share it.

    1. Hi there, I cannot access the site when I try to log in. Thanks for the visit, and hope your dad likes the mosbolletjies 🙂

  7. I’m traveling this month Tandy and the stages in this recipe mean there is no way I can make it – very sad because I didn’t want to miss your FFTO. Bookmarked to make once I’m back in Dubai – look forward to the round up.

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