Coconut Buns (Chinese or Cocktail Buns)

 

This month challenge at we knead to bake #38 was to bake bun called Coconut Buns (Chinese or Cocktail Buns). The specialty of this bun is the filling. Yes, it’s a sweet bun, filled with a buttery, milky sweet coconut paste. The recipe adapted from here.

The Coconut Buns are tuned out very soft, sponge, tasty and appealing texture. I just loved it. I am sure you will also.

Ingredients (for the Bun Dough) :    2/3 cup of warm milk    ;     1 egg     ;   ¼ cup of sugar        ;       2 cup of all purpose flour      ;       1 ½ tbsp. of corn –starch    ;      1 tsp of instant yeast        ;         3/4 tsp of salt

Ingredients (for filling) :  50 gm butter (soft)        ;        1 ½ tbsp. of sugar       ;         1 ½ tbsp. of all purpose flour          ;           1/8 cup of milk powder          ;       1/3 cup of fresh coconut 

Ingredients (for Topping) :  2 tbsp of all purpose flour        ;         25 gm butter (soft)        ;       2 tsp of sugar     ;       5 – 10 tsp of  milk         ;         1 tbsp toasted sesame seeds for sprinkling

Lets begin with bun dough, add all the dough ingredients in to the kitchen processor bowl (or knead by hand) and knead together until you have soft and smooth dough that is just short of sticky. If required add little more flour if the dough is very sticky.

Shape the dough it into a ball shape and coat with oil.  Place the dough in an oiled bowl and cover with damp cloth and allow it to rise till double in volume. This may take about an hour or longer. (Depends on your room temperature)

Meanwhile, let’s prepare the filling and the topping. For the filling, mix all the filling ingredients together all the ingredients into a paste and keep aside. Similarly, mix all the topping ingredients (except sesame seeds) together into smooth paste. Transfer into to a piping bag.

Once the dough ready, Place it on the work surface and lightly sprinkle with flour. Knead the dough a few times to deflate it and then divide it into 6 equal portions.  Take the first portion of dough and flatten the dough out into a rough oval about 4” by 3”. Put about a tablespoon of the filling (1/6th portion) in the middle and then pinch together the two long edges of the oval over the filling and seal well, tucking the ends in to make a smooth oval shaped bun with rounded ends. 

Make sure the buns have been sealed well or the filling will leak out during baking. Similarly do the same with other portions of the dough as well.

Place the buns on a greased baking tray and cover loosely with a damp cloth for second rise. (may take about 40 minutes) Brush the buns with milk or egg wash.

Finally the topping the buns, using the piping bag with small hole nozzle pipe two lines of the topping across the length of the buns and sprinkle some of the sesame seeds on top of each bun.

Transfer the baking tray into 180°C pre heated oven and bake them for about 20 to 25 minutes or until it become golden brown. Allow them cool on racks. Serve warm or at room temperature with coffee or tea.

Baked Stuffed Naan

After the super duper hit of Avocado Naan, I want to try the stuffed naan with same technique but, here I replaced the avocado with yogurt and slightly altered the flour combination to hold the stuffing better. Otherwise, there are no changes in the preparation process. 

Ingredients’ for Naan :  1 ¼ cup of all purpose flour    ;       ¾  cup of whole wheat flour       ;     1 ¼ tsp of instant yeast       ;     1 tsp of salt     ;     2 tsp of sugar      ;     1/2 tsp of baking powder     ;    2 tbsp of olive oil    ;      3 -4 tbsp of yogurt      ;      3/4 cup of warm water      ;        1/4 cup of sesame seeds       ;        butter for brushing (for butter naan!!!!)

 

Ingredients’ for stuffing: ½ cup of chopped capsicum (yellow and Green)     ;    ½ tsp of chilly flakes      ;    salt to taste ;       2 tbsp of chopped onion    ;     oil for sauté

In pan add oil and sauté the onion then add capsicum, chilly flakes & salt, keep aside.

Follow the same procedure of Avocado Naan till rolling the dough into an oval shape approximately 1/4″ thick. Now, palace stuffing on one side and fold it together and seal the sides and then slightly press it with hand.  

That’s it. Transfer to the preheated (with cast iron in) oven and bake the same way of Avocado Naan.

Avocado Naan (Oven Version)

My earlier Naan (also,Sheermal or Shirmal) was not up to the mark in terms of the texture. Naan is my son’s favorite and he always insists to make at home with the restaurant finish. Imm……In restaurants’ it’s done with tandoor. At home, I tried my level best to recreate the restaurant texture, but in vain.

Lately, I realized that in tandoor, the heat applied on the Nann sides are not the same. (as one side stick at the clay wall of the tandoor and the other side exposed to the dry heat. this is the reason for the texture) where as in the (electrical) Oven, the heat distributed all around the chamber uniformly. 

So, if we could create the two different temperatures on the sides of the Naan, probably the texture can be like the tandoor version. How to do this ? 

Just by keeping the cast iron plate / tava / pan (used to make dosa or chapatthi) on the oven! The plate absorbs the heat and transfer to the one side of the naan. which is more than the oven's chamber heat. this is good enough to create the texture as well to cook / bake the naan.

Usually, Naan is made with 100% Maida (A P flour). But, I go with 50-50 combination with Avocado pulp to reduce the oil / butter. 

Ingredients’ :  1cup of all purpose flour    ;       1 cup of whole wheat flour       ;     1 ¼ tsp of instant yeast       ;     1 tsp of salt     ;     2 tsp of sugar      ;     1/2 tsp of baking powder     ;    2 tbsp of olive oil    ;      Half avocado scooped mashed & add 1 tsp of lime juice (lime juice to prevents the colour change)      ;      3/4 cup of warm water      ;        1/4 cup of sesame seeds       ;        butter for brushing (for butter naan!!!!)

In a bowl, add warm water, sugar, oil and then sprinkle yeast over the top and whisk and keep aside.

In separate bowl, mix together the flour, salt and baking powder and keep aside.

Now add the yeast mixture to the flour bowl and mix well until a ball of dough forms.

Add the mashed avocado into the dough and Knead with floured hands until to form smooth, elastic dough.  Cover the bowl with damp cloth and leave at room temperature for about 3 to 4 hours.

Start to preheat oven to 250° C with cast iron plate in.  Meanwhile, transfer the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead for a few minutes and divide into 6 - 7 small balls.

Roll into an oval shape with 1/4″ thickness. (Once the oven and stone are preheated) dip hands in water and wet each piece of dough slightly and sprinkle the sesame seeds and transfer the naan to the preheated plate, placing the wet side on the plate. 

Bake at 250°C for 4- 5 minutes until top is golden brown and bubbly. Remove from the pan and brush with melted butter.