The pour-over is what makes these buns unusual. Instead of a streusel or a glaze, the topping goes on as a liquid after the second proof: melted butter, sugar, milk, coconut and sweet red beans. It sinks into the surface as the bun rises in the oven and sets into a soft, custard-like lid.
Chinese · Bread
Coconut and Red Bean Buns Baked in a Soaking Batter
Small milk buns proof in paper moulds, then a warm coconut and red bean mixture is poured over the tops before baking, so the crust sets into a soft, wet patch.
- Prep30 min
- Cook15 min
- Serves8
- LevelMedium
Ingredients
| 200 g | bread flour |
| 50 g | cake flour |
| 50 g | egg , beaten |
| 120 g | whole milk |
| 25 g | caster sugar |
| 3 g | instant yeast |
| 2 g | salt |
| 20 g | butter , softened |
| 30 g | butter , melted, for the soak |
| 30 g | caster sugar , for the soak |
| 30 g | sweet red beans |
| 30 g | desiccated coconut |
| 70 g | whole milk , for the soak |
Method
- Mix the two flours, sugar, salt and yeast, then add the egg and milk and knead to a shaggy dough.
- Add the softened butter and keep kneading until the dough stretches into a thin sheet you can see light through.
- Cover and proof until doubled.
- Knock the dough back, divide into eight pieces and roll each into a tight ball.
- Set them in paper moulds and proof again until they have roughly doubled and reach the rim.
- Stir the melted butter, sugar, milk, coconut and red beans together into a loose, lumpy soak.
- Spoon the soak over the buns, letting it pool around the tops rather than running straight off.
- Bake at 180 C for 15 minutes. Cover with foil as soon as the coconut turns an even gold.
- Cool on a rack and store sealed; the topping softens further overnight.
Notes
- The second proof matters more than the first. Buns that go in before they reach the mould rim collapse when the cold soak hits them.
- Melt the butter for the soak but let it cool to just warm. Poured hot, it starts setting the surface of the dough before the buns get to the oven.
- Swap the red beans for raisins or chopped candied peel; the soak itself only needs the coconut and milk.
Ratios and technique checked against wiwiwi on Douguo (椰蓉蜜豆泡浆面包). The method here is written by Stellaok; the photograph is the source kitchen's, credited on the image above and linked back to the page it came from. No recipe text is reproduced.