Easy Custard Buns
Sweet bun with vanilla custard in the middle. These are more like Norwegian cardamom-scented, vanilla custard-filled, coconut-dusted buns called Skoleboller, or “school buns” But not 100% like Skoleboller too. It is somewhere in between two recipes. I opted to tweak and turned it into what my kiddos would enjoy more. These buns are akin to sugar-dusted sweet buns that Bread Talk sells. What so ever would be the inspiration behind this bake, the end result is something to love and enjoy. I have shared all the possible perplexing points of the recipe with solutions below. The main idea is to make it easy to follow, so you can bake incredibly delicious buns in your home kitchen.
Equipment
- Stand mixer
- OTG
- Kitchen Bowls
- Baking Trays
Ingredients
- 35 gm All-purpose Flour
- 168 gm water
- 320 gm flour
- 7 gm instant yeast
- 43 gm sugar
- 16 gm milk powder
- 2 gm salt
- 33 gm butter
- 100 gm milk
- 1/2 cup prepared custard, pastry cream to fill in the centre
- 15 ml milk to brush before baking
- 10 gm melted butter to brush after baking
Instructions
How to make tangzhong:
In a saucepan, combine flour and water. Mix with whisk or spatula until no lumps.
Cook over medium-low heat, stirring consistently until the mixture becomes thicker.
Remove from heat and transfer to a clean bowl to let it cool. Tangzhong can be used straight away once it cools down to room temperature. It can be stored in the fridge up to a few days The chilled tangzhong should return to room temperature before using.
Bun:
Put all main dough ingredients (except butter) and all the tangzhong dough in a bowl of a stand mixer and knead for 3 - 5 minutes or till the dough comes together. Add in the butter and continue kneading for another 12 - 14 minutes or until achieve window pane stage (the dough at this stage should be able to be pulled and stretched into membrane). If the dough is too dry, add 1 tablespoon of milk at a time.
Let it rise in a warm place for 1 hour or until double in size in a large greased bowl, covered with cling film or a damp kitchen towel.
Shaping the dough
When the dough has doubled in size, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface.
Slightly flatten it with gentle hands. Use a bench scraper to divide the dough into 12 equal parts. I suggest don’t pull off the dough ball to make portions, rather cut it. Try your best to keep the smoothness alive. The less you fidget better it will be.
Divide the dough into 12 equal portions. Shape each portion into ball and place on the lined trays, leaving about 5 cm between each. Flatten each with the palm of your hand until about 2 cm thick and 8 cm in diameter.
Use back of a glass to make a large indent (about 4 cm wide) in the centre of the buns, leaving a 2 cm border.
Use a balloon whisk to whisk the chilled vanilla custard and then spoon into the indents to fill. Making sure not to overfill them as the custard might flow over the bun while baking. Brush the sides of each bun with some milk.
Let it rest for another 30 minutes on the kitchen counter to rise.
Bake at 180* C for 20 minutes.
As you take the buns out of the oven brush some melted butter on the top and transfer onto a wire rack to cool.
Note
Tip- The liquid measurement given in the recipe is a guide. It is advisable to always reserve some liquid and not add it all in one go. This would give you the opportunity to adjust if necessary. If the dough is too dry, add the reserved liquid one tablespoon at a time until the right consistency. This is because each flour absorbs water and hydrates differently.
Once you reach to a satisfactory smooth, elastic texture, you fold the dough to make a smooth surfaced dough ball. Place the dough in a large greased bowl, and cover loosely with plastic wrap or a damp kitchen cloth. Allow it to rise in a warm place until doubled in size (45 minutes to an hour).
Tip – Please note that the proofing timing may also vary depending on the climate and environment. The humidity and temperature at your place will influence how your dough rises.
