Pandan-mic Coconut Cocktail Buns. Someone requested a Coconut Bun recipe. Here it is! I dare you to find a better combo than Coconut x Pandan (Asia’s Vanilla). We crafted a hybrid brioche, combining Cocktail Buns (sweet white bread filled with a sweet coconut center) and Pandan-Coconut Milk Buns. These were soft, fragrant and the coconut center made these next-level! 🌴
(Photo credit: Mr. Will Wong)
Meatless Curry Buns. Delicious Brioche with mildly-spicy “meaty” filling. Perfect for breakfast, lunch or a snack. And they freeze well! By all means, use ground beef if you like instead.
Ingredients:
5 cups flour
2 1/2 tsps yeast
3 tbsps organic raw sugar
1/2 tbsp sea salt
3 tbsps cold unsalted butter
4 tbsps condensed milk
1 egg, beaten for egg wash
Sesame seeds, toasted
Filling:
1 cup Yves Ground Round
1/2 white potato, diced
1/4 white onion, minced
1/4 cup corn kernels
1/4 carrots, diced
1/4 cup green peas
6-8 mushrooms, sliced thinly
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup coconut milk
1/2 block Glico Medium Curry
Sea salt and pepper, to taste
Instructions:
1. Mix flour, salt and butter in mixing bowl. Use 2 forks criss-crossing to cut butter in.
2. In bowl, mix 1/2 cup lukewarm water (not warm or hot) with condensed milk, yeast and sugar till dissolved. Stand a few minutes.
3. Mix yeast water into flour bit by bit, using forks. Pour another 1 1/3 cup lukewarm water, forming dough.
4. Turn dough onto flat, floured surface. Sprinkle with flour till dough no longer is sticky. Knead 10 minutes till punchy.
5. Grease large bowl and transfer dough into it. Cover with damp cloth and place in oven on top rack with a pot of hot water on the rack below. Shut oven. Replace hot water again in 30 minutes.
6. Prep filling. Sautée garlic and onions till caramelized. Add potatoes and mushrooms. Cook till translucent. Add ground round, carrots, corn and peas. Cook about 5 minutes. Add Glico Curry, 2/3 cup water and coconut milk. Bring to boil. Simmer for 20 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Set aside.
6. Dough will double in size in 1 to 1.5 hours if proofed right. If it’s risen but not enough, proof a bit longer.
7. Grease baking sheet. Knead dough for 5 minutes. Cut dough in half, separating each half into 6 even pieces on lightly-floured surface. Flatten each piece with hands. Fill with tbsp of filling. Pinch and seal each bun tightly, sealed side facing bottom. Place on tray.
8. Proof again for 45 minutes covered, with pot of hot water underneath in oven.
9. Preheat oven at 400°F. Brush top of loaf with egg wash using fingers or a brush. Sprinkle with sesame seeds, pressing them in gently.
10. Bake for 17-20 minutes or till golden brown. Rotate pan once, half-way through. Cool 20 minutes and serve.
(Photo credit: Mr. Will Wong)
Pineapple-BBQ Pork Pastries. A hybrid of two classics, BBQ Pork Puff Pastry x Pineapple Buns. The latter is a staple at any Chinese bakery but surprisingly doesn’t have any pineapple in it. What a tragedy! Let’s fix that. 🍍
Think – a flaky, crumbly meat pie with a savoury-sweet pork filling… and a cookie topping!
Pastry:
2 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 tsps sea salt
1/2 cup butter, chilled
3/4 cup Crisco Golden All-Vegetable Shortening
1/2 cup cold water
Cookie Crust:
3/4 cup flour
4 tbsps unsalted butter, softened
1 egg yolk
2/3 cup organic raw sugar, pulsed in food processor till fine
1 tbsp whole milk
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp turmeric
Pineapple-BBQ Pork Filling:
2 cups Chinese BBQ Pork (Cha Siu), minced
1/2 white onion, minced
3/4 cup chicken or beef broth
3/4 cup pineapple chunks, sectioned
3 tbsps organic raw sugar
2 tbsps soy sauce
2 tbsps dark soy sauce
3 tbsps Oyster Sauce
2 tbsps Hoisin Sauce
5 tbsps flour
1 egg beaten, used as egg wash
Instructions:
1. Prepare pastry, combining ingredients, adding water 1 tbsp at a time, handling minimally. Knead dough gently on floured surface. Roll into ball. Chill minimum 2 hours, no more than 5 days.
2. Pineapple-BBQ Pork filling: Sautée onions in sesame oil. Add pork and pineapple. Cook 3 minutes medium-high heat. Add sugar, dark and regular soy sauce, Oyster Sauce, Hoisin Sauce and chicken/beef broth. Bring to boil. Taste to ensure flavour balance is right. In bowl, mix flour and equal parts water to form paste, stirring into pork mixture till thick like a pie filling. Chill.
4. Cut dough into halves. Roll each half onto floured surface. Use cup to cut circles, reforming and rolling again till used. Each half should yield 12 circles, a total 24.
5. Flatten each circle with hand. Scoop filling into center of dough circle, careful not to overfill. Place another circle on-top, pressing together to seal and crimp edges gently with fork. Use paper towel to tidy any filling that leaked-out. Prepare 12 pastries and place on greased baking sheet.
6. Prepare oven at 425°F.
7. Cookie crust: mix flour, baking powder and turmeric in one bowl. In separate bowl, cream milk, butter, vanilla, egg yolk and sugar. Combine butter mixture into flour and form dough. Form 12 even balls, rolling into a thin sheet between 2 Ziploc bags till large enough to cover each pastry. Apply to pastries gently.
8. Using fingers or brush, apply egg wash.
9. Bake 15-17 minutes till golden. Cool 15 minutes.
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Cinnamon Buns. An all-time favourite I’ve been looking to tackle! Pleased with the results! These buns are comparable to ones at the mall. Recipe adapted from Ambitious Kitchen.
Ingredients:
3 cups of pastry flour
1 packet of yeast
1/4 cups soft butter (not melted)
1 egg + 1 egg yolk, room temperature
1 1/4 cups warm milk (about 45°C)
1/4 cup organic granulated cane sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
Filling:
1/2 cup organic granulated cane sugar
1/4 cup butter, melted
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
Frosting:
1/2 block cream cheese, room temperature
3 tablespoons butter, softened
1/2 cup icing sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Or Betty Crocker makes a great fluffy Cream Cheese Frosting! Easy! No shame.
Instructions:
1. Stir yeast into warm milk (like a warm bath) in large mixing bowl.
2. Add-in sugar, mix.
3. Add butter and eggs. Beat two minutes. It’s okay if yeast doesn’t dissolve.
4. Combine flour and salt. Add half a cup at a time into milk mixture, forming dough.
5. Transfer dough onto floured surface. Knead 8-10 minutes till elastic and punchy.
6. Grease large bowl with oil. Roll dough ball till coated. Cover with damp cloth or two damp paper towels. Place somewhere warm (i.e. laundry room while drying or preheated oven that is warm, not hot). Allow dough to rise over 1.5-2 hours.
7. Dough will double in size. Transfer to floured surface. With rolling pin, roll dough to a rectangle (14″ w x 9″ l).
8. Brush dough with 1/4 cup melted butter. In bowl, mix sugar and cinnamon. Sprinkle over dough, pressing into the buttered dough.
9. Roll dough tightly into a log. Cover with plastic wrap to aid if you wish.
10. Remove wrap. Trim edges off dough log. Cut log into 1 inch-thick slices. Line into a greased baking pan. You should have about 9 rolls.
11. Cover pan with plastic wrap and damp cloth/paper towels. Keep somewhere warm for 45 minutes. Rolls will rise.
12. Preheat oven to 350°F. Bake rolls for 25-28 minutes till slightly golden.
13. Remove from oven. Cool 30 minutes.
14. Prepare frosting in bowl, creaming Cream Cheese with butter and vanilla. Fold-in icing sugar and beat till fluffy.
15. Spread frosting onto rolls. Store in container in fridge for a week.
Gallery:
(Photo credit: Mr. Will Wong)
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