Japanese Coconut Custard Buns

Bread making is almost a weekly routine after picking up the know how.  Bread is such a convenient breakfast provided the family doesn't get bored of them.  I made these yesterday after discovering Christine's blog.   She has quite a few variations made from a tangzhong method base recipe which by far is my favourite break making method too.  I  love that it almost always guarantee soft and fluffy bread, the type of bread that we are more accustomed to.  

I used my breadmaker to knead, tang zhong doughs are quite sticky (confession again; I never knead  them manually, tang zhong or not :)).  I was very pleased with the outcome.  The buns turned out very well.   They were really soft and the crust was very thin too.

The recipe instruction was to divide them into 6 portions, which I find that is quite big for individual consumption.  The dough was approximately 720g which would mean 120g per bun.  I moulded them into 12 50g ones and 2 60g ones.  As mine was smaller, I didn't follow the steps of spreading the fillings and rolling them twice to spread out the fillings  (probably this was the reason a big portion was needed).  I took the lazy way and just wrap it in the centre :))

Here's how it look from the inside.   The fillings in the centre is not quite obvious.   The yellowish tint came from the butter and eggs.   Although not prominent, the taste is evident.  Love the thin crust!

The only thing that I would change is to make a bigger portion of the fillings (maybe add half a portion).



Recipe
Source : Christine's Recipes

Note: Please hop over to Christine's blog for a clearer step by step instruction with photos.

Ingredients of tangzhong

• 25gm  bread flour
• 125ml water (could be replaced by milk, or 50/50 water and milk)

Ingredients for buns

• 350 gm bread flour
• 55 gm caster sugar
• 5 gm salt
• 56 gm egg
• 7 gm milk powder (to increase fragrance, optional)
• 125 ml milk
• 120 gm tangzhong (all of everything made)
• 5 gm instant yeast
• 30 gm butter (cut into small pieces, softened at room temperature)

Ingredients for fillings

• 15 gm butter, softened
• 15 gm caster sugar
• 15 gm egg, whisked
• 30 gm desiccated coconut

Method of making fillings

1. Combine softened butter with sugar.
2. Add egg, stir well, followed by desiccated coconut. Combine all ingredients well. You can make the fillings while waiting for the 2nd round of proofing to complete or you might like to prepare it in advance, cut into equal portions, place it in fridge until needed. If they are chilled too long, place them in room temperature for a while before use. That would be much easier to handle.

Methods of making tangzhong

1. Mix flour in water and stir until smooth and without lumps. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring consistently with a wooden spoon, whisk or spatula to prevent burning and sticking.
2. The mixture becomes thicker and thicker. Once you notice some “lines” appear in the mixture for every stir you make with the spoon, it’s done.  Remove from heat.
3. Transfer into a clean bowl. Cover with a cling wrap sticking onto the surface of tangzhong to prevent from drying up. Let it cool. (Note : Christine recommends chilling the tang zhong for several hours and let it come to room temperature before use.  I did not take this step, I am not sure of the difference that it will make.)

Method of making buns

1. Combine all dry ingredients: flour, salt, sugar and instant yeast in a bowl. Make a well in the center. Whisk and combine all wet ingredients: milk, egg and tangzhong, then add into the well of the dry ingredients. Knead until you get a dough shape and gluten has developed, then knead in the butter. Keep kneading until the dough is smooth, not sticky and elastic.  If  using a bread maker add all wet ingredients into bread maker first followed by dry ingredients. Add yeast the last.
2. Knead the dough into a ball shape. Place in a greased bowl and cover with a wet towel or cling wrap. Let it proof till it's doubled in size.
3. Transfer to a clean floured surface. Deflate and divide the dough into equal portions of preferred size. Knead into ball shapes. Cover with cling wrap, let rest for 15 minutes.
4. Roll out each part with a rolling pin into an oval shape. Place custard filling evenly onto the surface of dough. Roll from top to bottom to enclose the filling. Flatten dough with pin. Again, roll from top to bottom. Knead into a ball shape. Repeat this step of rolling and wrapping fillings with the rest of your dough. With seals facing down, place the six balls into a greased baking tray or lined with baking paper, covered with cling wrap or a wet towel. Leave it for the 2nd round of proofing, about 45 to 60 minutes, until double in size (I wrapped the fillings into a flatten piece of round dough).
5. Brush whisked egg on surface of buns. Sprinkle sesame seeds if you like. Bake in a pre-heated 180C (356F) oven for 35 minutes, or until golden brown. At about 5 minutes before removing from oven, brush syrup on the surface of buns(optional, I did not do it). Transfer onto a wire rack and let cool completely.

Variations:

Step 1 - Used bread maker
Step 3 - Divided into smaller portions of 50-60g.

Step 4 - Filled buns with fillings, wrapped and seal at bottom.

Posted in: Buns