It's so soft when you pinch it. It looks a lot smoother now. We can stretch the dough so far it becomes transparent like a window, but it won't tear. That means the dough is very elastic. Hello!
Welcome back to my channel, Devina Hermawan. Today, we'll be making Japanese Milk Buns. They're small, sweet, and fragrant. Today's theme is quite feminine. I'm using lots of pink, and the buns will have pink mixed in.
We'll be using baking paper from Le'Bakers. It's also pink, so it matches well.
Okay, then. Here are the ingredients. We'll use the direct kneading method.
It's the most practical and simple. We've got bread flour, milk, water, sugar, powdered milk, salt, yeast, butter, and condensed milk. Different to the regular sweet bread, I added more sugar and condensed milk. The texture will be softer as we added more fat. I still use some water as if we only use milk, the gluten won't be as strong as if we use water.
I need the combination of the two. The flavor comes more from the powdered milk. That's what will make the buns fragrant. You can fill the buns or not. I've made standard pastry cream for the filling.
There's no problem if you want to skip it. You can enjoy a plain bun, too.
Let's make the bread now. As usual, combine the dry ingredients first. First, the flour.
Then, the powdered milk and yeast. Sugar. Milk. And water. We'll knead this until it's well-incorporated and all the flour absorbs the water.
Later, we'll add the butter, salt, and condensed milk. We add them later because dry flour will absorb water and form gluten when rested or kneaded. Fats will cut the gluten formation and make it weak. As for the salt, it will hinder the yeast's process. I've tried it, and the bread will have a stunted rise.
So, it's better to separate them like this. After reaching this stage, we can add the rest of the ingredients. This is quite elastic, but it still tears easily. So, we need to knead it further. If you won't be using a mixer for this type of sweet bread or those with high hydration or a lot of liquid.
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I recommend the autolysis method where you rest the liquid and flour without the yeast for 5 - 10 hours. It's so the gluten is formed well. Make sure to cover it so it doesn't dry out. You'll see that the dough will become elastic. Then, add the yeast in.
Rest it for 10 - 15 minutes before adding butter, salt, and the ingredients I mentioned. The difference is the addition of the yeast. The autolysis method is easier. If you're kneading by hand, it'll be sticky and so frustrating. Let's check.
It looks a lot smoother now. Some people like to use flour, but I prefer using oil when handling dough like this. Rub your hands and the cutting board with oil so the dough doesn't stick.
Don't use too much oil as it might get absorbed by the dough. Get the dough out.
Window pane is a stage when we can stretch the dough so far it's transparent like a window, but it won't tear. That means the dough is very elastic. If you want your buns to be white in color, you can proof the dough now. But I want to give them colors so they become colorful and attractive. Divide the dough by four.
Each bun will be about 40 g. So, each color should be at least 160 g (4 x 40 g). We'll do four colors in gradation. Don't forget to always cover the dough with a cloth.
I'm using Acai Berry powder, a natural coloring, but it won't give you that bright pink.
So first, we'll be using this one. You can also use regular food coloring. You can mix this with a mixer. It's actually easier to mix this from the beginning, but we can't possibly knead four different dough. So, this is what we have to do.
I'm adding some food coloring, too. Here it is. We need four colors. The color is up to your creativity. You can Google Pantone colors for inspirations.
There are so many mood colors available there. For the pink ones, I added some red coloring. For the purple one, it's a mix of red and blue. It's time to proof. I'll proof it in the oven as it's faster.
The oven should be warm, not hot. Line the pan with baking paper. I'm using Le'Bakers baking paper. It includes a serrated edge. We'll proof this.
Don't place them too closely as they'll stick together. Cover with a damp or regular cloth.
I'll proof it for about 30 minutes. I'll add a bowl of hot water underneath to add humidity as it's kind of cold here. Now, we'll make the filling and prepare the baking pan.
I'll line the pan with baking paper. Le'Bakers baking paper is available in two sizes. Measure according to the pan's width. This is an 8x8" pan (21 cm). Measure it according to the width.
Now, place one in this direction so you can lift it easily later. For the pastry cream, we need milk, egg yolks, sugar, vanilla extract, butter, and a bit of salt. First, heat up the liquid. I use milk, but you can mix some cream in. The result will be creamier, but I think using milk is enough.
As we wait for the milk to boil, combine the yolks and the other ingredients in a bowl. After the milk boils, temper the yolk. Add a bit of the hot milk to the yolk mix. It's so the yolks don't curdle. Then, transfer the mix to the pan and cook it again.
Cook until it thickens like so. Then, add the butter in. If the cream clumps or isn't smooth enough, use a hand blender or blend it until smooth. So easy. It's done!
This tastes savory as we used two yolks. You can use one whole egg, but the texture and fragrance will be a bit different. I've shared many different kinds of pastry cream recipes as basically, you can make any cream you want. You can make chocolate or matcha flavor by adding flavor to this basic pastry cream. Let's get the filling ready.
Add the pastry cream in. Stir it to make it smooth again. So creamy. It's good. It's not too sweet, too.
The filling is ready. The dough have expanded to twice their size. That means we can shape it now. Add a bit of oil..
. ...so it doesn't stick.
First, let's portion them to 40 g each. Punch the dough first. Okay, then. We'll shape the dough into balls. It's so the buns are robust with a smooth surface.
Round the dough to the center so it rises evenly. We'll do a final proofing before baking and sprinkling it with flour. Cover them with a cloth so they don't dry out. Don't let the baking paper fall onto the buns as it'll leave a mark when we pick it up. So, be extra careful.
Let's do the final proofing for 30 - 45 minutes.
Don't touch it yet, okay? They're not cooked. They'll get smashed. The dough have risen.
They look so pretty. Now, sprinkle the top with flour. We'll bake it at 150°C for about 30 minutes. We bake it at a low temperature so the color stays pretty. Let's bake it now!
The buns have been baked halfway, about 20 minutes. The exterior is quite firm now. I'm removing it from the pan so the bottom gets a bit dry. Doubling the baking paper like this makes the bottom a bit soggy and that won't be good. We'll bake it for 10 - 15 minutes more.
This is done! The color still looks good as we baked it at a low temperature.
Don't put it on the upper rack as it'll brown quickly. We'll give it a try now. We'll tear the bun.
I'm very curious. It's so soft when you pinch it. It's soft, fluffy, and so fragrant. Let's tear one off. See that?
The color is pretty. Look at the fibers. Imagine how soft this is. I'll fill the rest. It's so easy.
Place the buns upside down. Make a hole and fill it with the pastry cream. You can also fill them with chocolate spread, etc. You can also eat them with butter or plain. They're already sweet and tasty.
I don't bake them with the fillings as filling them one by one is quite troublesome. A custard filling like this prevents any leakage. We can fill the buns after it's baked like donuts. I like it if the food's color symbolizes its flavor. The purple one has a Taro aroma even if it's not strong.
These ones used berries like Acai Berry and strawberry so there's some aroma to the buns. The Plain ones smell really milky. You can use unflavored food coloring, too. I'm going to try it now. It's a typical Japanese Custard Bread.
That's one of the best bread in Japanese bakeries. Sometimes they serve it cold. Cover the buns, put them in the fridge, and eat them cold. The buns are so soft, especially the pink one. My mouth waters just seeing it.
The color is really pretty. So soft. In conclusion, to make soft buns like this with a long shelf life...
...we have to knead it to the Window Pane stage. Otherwise, the gluten won't be strong enough.
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so air won't be trapped inside the bread. It'll be a bit dry. Since we didn't use any bread improver or chemicals, it's okay if they're a bit hard the next day. Just put the buns in the microwave about 10 - 20 seconds, steam it, or bake it again. The buns will be moist again.
I've tried it numerous times. Also, the measurement is important. You can't eyeball it when making bread.
If we used to much yolk or fat such as butter, the texture and fibers won't be good. Le'Bakers Baking Paper is available at local supermarket like Ranch Market, Food Hall, Grand Lucky, and others.
You can also find it online. Please check Le'Bakers' Instagram. Thank you for watching and leave a comment below. If you've recooked this dish, tag @devinahermawan and @devispantry. Don't forget to subscribe.
See you in the next video!.
