Burger Bombe

Introduction & method

OK, it's a first-world problem, for sure, but don't you get fed up when bits of sauce-coated lettuce, tomato and gherkin fall out of your burger? I know I do! Anyway, I have the solution, and it'll only take you a couple of hours - wrap your burger in bread dough, seal it up, and bake it. Oh yeah.

Make the Dough

Mix all the dry ingredients together, then stir in the egg, milk, water and oil. Mix as well as you can in the bowl, then tip the dough out on to a floured worktop and knead it for about 10 minutes, until it is smooth and elastic. Form the dough into a ball, cover with plastic film and leave in a warm place to rise until it has doubled in volume. This will probably take 1-2 hours.

Make the Burger

Your burger needs to be pre-cooked and cool before you put it in the bread. Finely chop your onion (into what chefs call 'brunoise' - little cubes about 2-3mm). Mix well with the minced beef and salt. Form into 2 patties. Fry in oil on medium heat for 3 minutes each side. Cool them in the fridge.

Make the Omelettes

We use these little crepes as a kind of lining between the burger and the bottom bread - it stops the dough from becoming soggy. Beat your eggs with a splash of milk and a tiny pinch of salt. You need your crepes to be the same size or slighly bigger than your burger. If you have a small (single-egg) frying pan, this is ideal - otherwise you can cook the crepes inside a cooking ring of the right diameter. Melt a little butter in the pan on medium heat. Pour in a bit less than half of the egg mix - you need to save a little to glaze the bombes with before baking. Cook the crepe for a few minutes until the bottom is set. Flip it over and cook for a few seconds more, then slide the crepe out onto a plate. Put them in the fridge to cool.

Prove the Dough

When the dough has risen, take it out of the bowl and press all the air out of it. Divide it into 4 equal portions and roll each portion into a ball. Flatten the balls until you have discs that are slightly larger than the burger patties. Put them on a baking sheet lined with a silicon cooking liner or greaseproof paper. Cover them with a clean tea-towel and leave them in a warm place to rise again.

Assemble and Cook the Burgers

Preheat your oven to 180°C (356°F) if it's a fan/convection oven, 200°C (396°F) for a conventional one. Decide which 2 discs of dough are going to be your bottoms. Moisten the rims with cold water. Place on omelette on each one and add a generous squirt of mustard. Add the burger, a generous squirt of ketchup, and one or two slices of cheese. Place the top piece of dough over everything, and gently pull the edge down to meet the bottom. Pinch the top and bottom together, and work the dough from the bottom piece upwards to form a smooth joint.

Paint each bombe with the remaining omelette mixture, and sprinkle on some sesame seeds. Put in the oven and bake for 15-20 minutes - turning halfway through if necessary. Serve with lettuce, tomato, dill pickle and anything else that takes your fancy.