B-b-b-baking: Chinese Cocktail Buns

Sooo...I gave "Chinese baking" a shot last night. I originally wanted to make the Chinese red bean buns, because red bean is amaaazing, but a) I didn't have red beans, and b) you'd have to soak them overnight and whatnot before using them. Then I thought, "wait a minute...I have coconut!!" Up until last year, I legitimately disliked coconut, but somehow, the flavour grew on me. P (who happens to also have a food blog~) said he wanted to try my baking, and I had time, so there you have it!

Things I have learned yesterday about Chinese cocktail buns:

- You only need a maximum of 3 hours to make these things, and only half of that time is actually doing stuff. 1 hour is just rising, and you can do laundry and homework. Then, about 20 minutes is baking, and you can do more laundry and homework.

- The weird sugar paste stuff the bakeries put on top of these buns is only made of flour, sugar, and butter. I'd always wondered what the heck it was.

- You can make buns into whatever shape you want! (I made them kind of dinner roll sized. I wonder what it'd look like if you just made one ginormous bun...)

- If you mess up rolling a bun, just twist it. Then it magically becomes a coconut twisty bun thing... :D

- How do bakeries get their buns all nicely browned and shiny? Egg wash!

- Sesame seeds make buns look even more Asian.

- As always, they taste the best when just freshly out of the oven...

They look kind of weird before being baked. My screwups also look more screwed up before being baked >.>;; Also, notice how I tried to make little spirals with the topping stuff. It did not look like that anymore after done baking...

My lovelies rising and baking in the oven :3 The little white dot things on the door's window are there to make sure that people like me who sit and study in front of the oven don't get cancer.

Should have put a bit more egg wash, but they turned out pretty well, don't you think? :)

Bun #13 got to have the taste test. Since it was nighttime already, I split it between my mom, brother, and I. Sorry for not taking a picture of the inside...I blame the coconut filling.

Chinese Cocktail Buns (adapted from Jun's Blog)

*Makes ~15 dinner roll sized cocktail buns if you don't screw up the rolling and sealing like I did...*

Yeast Mixture

1 package Fleischmann's instant yeast (it says it's something like 2 1/4 tsp)

1/4 cup lukewarm water

1 tsp white granulated sugar

Bun Dough

3 cups all-purpose flour

1/3 cup white granulated sugar

1 tsp table salt

1/2 cup unsweetened soy milk

1/2 cup olive oil

2 eggs

1 yeast mixture (see above)

Filling

1 cup shredded coconut (I bought Safeway brand medium unsweetened shredded. Smaller shreds are good for the paste.)

6 tbsp unprocessed honey

6 tbsp olive oil

1 egg yolk (I saved the egg white and used it in something else.)

Topping

2 tbsp all-purpose flour

1 tbsp white granulated sugar

2 tbsp shortening/softened butter

1 tbsp water

1 egg

2 tsp toasted sesame seeds

1. Prepare the yeast mixture by dissolving the instant yeast in a small bowl with the lukewarm water. (I use a bamboo chopstick to stir so that the temperature won't decrease as quickly.) Add the tsp of sugar, stir, and set aside for 10 minutes at room temperature to activate. The air is colder and drier here, so I put it in the microwave TURNED OFF to sit, but DO NOT turn on the microwave, or it will kill the yeast. (The yeast mixture will expand and become foamy.)

2. Add 2 1/2 cups flour, sugar, and salt into a large bowl, and stir to distribute evenly.

3. In a medium bowl, add milk, oil, eggs, and yeast mixture. Stir to combine.

4. Add the wet ingredients into the flour mixture, and use a spatula to incorporate. Knead with your hands for at least 10 minutes. (The mixture will be very sticky, but then becomes elastic and comes off easily from your hands.)

5. Briefly remove the dough from the large bowl, and lightly oil the inside of the bowl. Place the dough back into the bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and let rise for about 1 hour or until doubled in size. I put it in the microwave TURNED OFF with a mug of hot water.

6. While the dough is rising, prepare a deep dish baking pan by lightly greasing it with oil or butter. You can also use this time to make your filling, egg wash, and topping.

7. Add all "filling" ingredients into a bowl and mix until evenly distributed. Wrap with plastic wrap and set aside. (Note: You may not need to use as much oil or honey. I may have added more than 1 cup of shredded coconut, and like I said before, it's drier here.)

8. Add "topping" flour, sugar, and shortening into a small bowl, and combine into a pale paste. Place mixture into one corner of a ziploc bag, seal, and set aside.

9. Add 1 tbsp water and 1 egg into a small bowl, and beat lightly with a pastry brush. Wrap with plastic wrap and set aside.

10. Remove the bowl from the microwave, and remove the plastic wrap. Slowly punch down the dough for about a minute to release some of the air.

11. Preheat the oven to 375 F.

12. Using the remaining 1/2 cup, flour the back of a cookie sheet, unless you have a countertop or suitable surface for rolling and stuff.

13. Split the dough into desired bun portions. I just divided it into 15 equal blobs.

14. For each dough blob, flatten into a circle a bit less than 1 mm thick.

15. Add about 1 tbsp of filling on the center of the dough circle. Fold one side of the circle to just overlap the filling, and do the same to the opposite side. Take the other two ends, pinch together, and twist. This is the bottom of the bun, so flip it over, and place it into the pan. Repeat for all 15 buns. If you mess up the rolling/folding thing, just twist it lightly until you can see some of the filling on the outside, and some of the bun.

16. Using a pastry brush or teaspoon, add egg wash on the surface of each bun.  

17. Lightly squeeze the topping mixture closer to the corner of the ziploc bag, and cut a small hole in the corner. Pipe whatever design you want on the top of the buns. I tried doing spirals. Keep in mind that it spreads out a lot, and might not look like what you drew.

18. Finish by sprinkling sesame seeds over the tops.

19. Bake for 20-25 minutes.

20. Remove from oven and pan, and enjoy right away, or set on a sheet of parchment paper on top of a cooling rack, and store for up to a few days.

I brought them to badminton with me this morning for my friends :) Since P was the one who first requested them, I separately wrapped one in my snazzy craftsy wrapping stuff from the Daiso (I really want more Q_Q...I'm so addicted to that place...). Here are some photos that P (who also has a photography blog~) took of his!

I regret not buying more of these little wrapping bags :( They came in packages of 10, and I only bought 2...

Yay! I didn't take a picture of the inside, but P was smart and did! Thank you, P! :D

I know this one is a long post, but it was super fun, and I haven't posted for over a week! Look forward to more baking this term :)

-M