Jeff and I have finished our first playthrough of the game and I can easily say Baldur’s Gate 3 is in my top three games of all time now. After finishing, we started our tactician run the next day. When we were playing our first campaign, we both felt like we should have been playing on tactician instead of balanced. The beginning has been a lot more challenging and exactly what we wanted. I’m also in love with my character for this playthrough, she is currently a vengeance paladin with a bit of a dark urge. It is very likely that she’ll be falling hard for those urges but we shall see how it goes. Even after finishing the game, I still feel like I have a lot of game to see and don’t see myself putting it down anytime soon. Thank you Larian for creating such a wonderful game!
I typically try to avoid putting spoilers on these posts because I want to make sure no one is ever in fear of me revealing anything from a game. I’ve been wanting to write about a pretty late encounter in the game since we finished our playthrough. I have hidden the text in the next paragraph which has Act 3 spoilers! You’ve been warned!
Act 3 Spoilers (Click to reveal)
When Jeff and I first hit Act 3, we were surprised how even more open the game felt at this point. There were the major tasks in order to get to the end of the game and a few ways to approach them. When we first ran into Raphael at the beginning of the game, I adored his character. Not in the sense of falling for his charm, but he was such a well written villain. It all comes together in the House of Hope. We decided right away we weren’t making a deal with Raphael but we wanted to free Orpheus from his prison.
As we made our way through the act, we decided that the House of Hope would be one of the last pieces we would do. It felt right to leave dealing with a devil until the very end. The scene was set and our roles prepared. It was hell for sure, all the doomed souls trapped and panicked. We just wanted to get our treasures and creep away as quickly as possible. I loved when you first walked into the main area of the House of Hope, you see the table where you first spoke with Raphael and everything is just decayed. Showing the true results of what happens when you make a deal with a devil.
Once we finally got everything we wanted, it was time to fight our way back to the portal that brought us there. Queue in the most epic moment of the game. Raphael was ready for us and wanted to make sure we didn’t get out. Then the boss music started and my jaw dropped. When we finished that whole section, I stood up and clapped. I was so impressed. I feel like it has been years since I’ve been so impressed by a fight’s setup. Since finishing the game, I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve listened to “Raphael’s Final Act.”
This week we are taking a moment to enjoy one of the items you can find pretty early in the game, butter buns. A friend of mine actually requested that I make these and figured it was about time for a new bread recipe. The first time I found these, we had just gotten to Waukeen’s Rest and there was a building on fire. Jeff immediately goes and starts to help the group breakdown the door and follows the group to save anyone trapped. In all the chaos, there I was in the kitchen looking at the bread piled on top of a table. These buns are nice small dinner buns that also work really well as sliders. After making these, I will never buy store bought sliders, I will put in the effort instead. The process for these isn’t too bad and a stand mixer makes it a little easier.
Dough
1 ⅓ cup milk, heated to 100°F
1 ½ tbsp instant yeast
3 ½ cups bread flour
1 tbsp kosher salt
2 tbsp granulated sugar
1 egg
½ cup unsalted butter, softened
Topping
1 egg
2 tbsp milk
2 tbsp white sesame seeds
Combine ⅓ cup milk and ¼ cup bread flour in a small pan. Heat over medium-high heat and whisk until it comes together, about 1 minute. Set aside and allow to cool down.
Combine the yeast and milk and let it rest for 5 minutes, allowing the yeast to become active. Combine the bread flour, salt, and sugar in a large bowl of a stand mixer. Add the mixture in the pan, the yeast milk mixture, and egg. Mix until it just comes together.
Add 1 tablespoon of butter to the bowl. Mix until it is well incorporated, about 2 to 3 minutes. Continue adding the butter this way until all of it has been added. It is extremely important to do this very slowly. If you add the butter too quickly, the dough will never come together and will never gain the strength it needs to form.
Increase the speed to medium and knead the dough until it comes together into a ball, about 10 minutes. The dough is worked enough if it doesn’t rip when you tug it slightly. Transfer to a lightly floured work surface and shape into a rough ball
Transfer to an oiled bowl, cover, and let rest for 1 hour or until it has doubled in size. Once doubled, punch down and knead. Prepare a baking sheet by placing parchment paper down.
Divide the dough into 12 equal portions (roughly 88 grams each). Shape into round balls and place on the baking sheet.
Cover with a kitchen towel and let rest for 30 minutes, or until doubled in size.
Preheat an oven to 350°F. In a small bowl, whisk an egg and 2 tablespoons of milk. Remove the plastic wrap from the baking sheet and brush each of the buns with egg wash. Sprinkle generously with sesame seeds. Place in the oven and bake for 23 to 25 minutes or until golden brown.
Butter Buns
Ingredients
Dough
- 1 ⅓ cup milk heated to 100°F
- 1 ½ tbsp instant yeast
- 3 ½ cups bread flour
- 1 tbsp kosher salt
- 2 tbsp granulated sugar
- 1 egg
- ½ cup unsalted butter softened
Topping
- 1 egg
- 2 tbsp milk
- 2 tbsp white sesame seeds
Instructions
- Combine ⅓ cup milk and ¼ cup bread flour in a small pan. Heat over medium-high heat and whisk until it comes together, about 1 minute. Set aside and allow to cool down.
- Combine the yeast and milk and let it rest for 5 minutes, allowing the yeast to become active. Combine the bread flour, salt, and sugar in a large bowl of a stand mixer. Add the mixture in the pan, the yeast milk mixture, and egg. Mix until it just comes together.
- Add 1 tablespoon of butter to the bowl. Mix until it is well incorporated, about 2 to 3 minutes. Continue adding the butter this way until all of it has been added. It is extremely important to do this very slowly. If you add the butter too quickly, the dough will never come together and will never gain the strength it needs to form.
- Increase the speed to medium and knead the dough until it comes together into a ball, about 10 minutes. The dough is worked enough if it doesn’t rip when you tug it slightly. Transfer to a lightly floured work surface and shape into a rough ball.
- Transfer to an oiled bowl, cover, and let rest for 1 hour or until it has doubled in size. Once doubled, punch down and knead. Prepare a baking sheet by placing parchment paper down.
- Divide the dough into 12 equal portions (roughly 88 grams each). Shape into round balls and place on the baking sheet. Cover with a kitchen towel and let rest for 30 minutes, or until doubled in size.
- Preheat an oven to 350°F. In a small bowl, whisk an egg and 2 tablespoons of milk. Remove the plastic wrap from the baking sheet and brush each of the buns with egg wash. Sprinkle generously with sesame seeds. Place in the oven and bake for 23 to 25 minutes or until golden brown.