Cream pan

I think a 3 day work week hits the sweet spot. At the end of 3 days, you're sick of waking up early; tired of dealing with people; and craving to bake again.

I got this recipe from https://www.ruchikrandhap.com/cream-pan-japanese-custard-filled-crea/. Interesting seeing as these are Japanese buns but I got them from a Mangalorean living in Dubai! Global citizens eh. The bun is meant to be round but mine turned out oval because I was afraid of shaping the buns in case the custard leaked out. Appearances are secondary, right?

Cream pan by Shireen Sequeira

I halved the recipe to make 8 buns

Tangzhong:

2 tablespoons+2 teaspoon (25 grams) bread flour (or all purpose flour) 13g bread flour

1/2 cup (125ml) water 60ml

Dough:

2 1/2 cups (300 grams) bread flour (or all purpose flour) 150g bread flour

2 teaspoon instant yeast 1 tsp

4 tablespoons 60 grams caster sugar 30g

3 tablespoons 45 grams butter 20g

1/2 teaspoon salt a pinch

4 teaspoons (7 grams) milk powder omitted cos I didn't have it

1 egg, lightly beaten 1/2 egg, weighed

1/2 cup (125ml) milk 60ml

Custard filling:

1 3/4 cups milk 210g

4 tablespoons (60 grams) unsalted butter 30g

4 egg yolks 2

1/2 cup caster sugar 50g

5 tablespoons (40 grams) flour 20g all purpose flour

2 tablespoons (15 grams) cornstarch (cornflour) 8g cornflour

1/2 teaspoon salt a pinch

2 teaspoons vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste 1tsp extract

For the egg wash:

1 egg yolk beaten with 1 tablespoon water just used an egg

Custard - Make the custard first as you need to chill it till it turns firm and easy to scoop. This could take at least 3 hours. By the time your dough is ready to be shaped, your custard will be too.

I made the custard the day before and kept it in the fridge with the clingfilm touching the top of the custard so a film wouldn't form

1. Place the butter and the milk in a microwave safe bowl and heat it for 1-2 minutes or until the butter is melted completely.

2. In another bowl beat the egg yolk lightly and add the flour, cornstarch, sugar and salt to it and whisk till you get a thick crumbly mixture. Add the melted butter+milk mixture little by little and whisk till you get a smooth, thick paste.

Can be whisked by hand - great arm workout

3. Strain this egg+milk mixture into a saucepan (preferably non stick pan) to catch any lumps. Stir with a metal spoon until all the egg bits are smoothened and no lumps remain. Add the vanilla extract to the saucepan and cook it on a medium heat whisking continuously.

4. The mixture will thicken in a few minutes - do not stop whisking until you see swirl lines appearing over the mixture. Remove from heat and continue whisking for another half a minute.

Took a while to thicken for me but the moment it did then it thickened quickly. Started to get slightly difficult to whisk and that's when I removed from the heat

5. Allow to cool a bit and then place contents in a box and refrigerate until required.

I placed it in a bowl with the clingfilm touching the top of the custard to prevent a film from forming

Tangzhong

Gently heat the water for the tangzhong in a small saucepan and sprinkle the flour. On a moderate heat whisk the mixture till it thickens and swirl lines appear. Remove and cool completely. Keep aside until required. This recipe requires 1/2 cup of the tangzhong, refrigerate the excess (if any) for upto 3 days.

Be careful not to let it burn. I made tangzhong for my Bolo bao recipe previously. I halved the recipe for the tangzhong and used all of it. The recipe says the longer you let the tangzhong cool and thicken the better for the dough it will be.

Dough

The recipe says to add all the ingredients for the dough + tangzhong at one go and start the machine on medium speed for 10mins. I activated my yeast with a pinch of sugar and the milk at 40C first. Then, I added all the ingredients + tangzhong and kneaded (electronically and manually) until the windowpane effect. Check out the video on my Bolo Bao recipe for when the dough is ready to be proofed.

Then, place the dough in a warm spot, covered, till it doubles in volume. This could take about an hour and half. When the dough has doubled, punch it down and leave it to rise for another 30 mins.

Assemble & bake

1. Line two baking sheets with baking parchment.

I lined 1 baking tray

2. Use the dough scraper or a knife to divide the dough into 16 equal parts. Divide the chilled custard cream into 16 equal portions using an ice cream scoop.

I used my weighing scale to measure out 8 equal parts of the dough. I tried to do the same for the cream but it wasn't as solid as I'd like to loaded as much cream as I could (without the dough breaking) onto the bun. An ice cream scoop would help!

3. Now take a portion of the dough and roll it into a smooth ball and stretch and flatten it slightly, big enough to place the scoop of custard in the middle. You can place the flattened dough over your 1/4 cup measure to make things easy for you.

Will try to make it round next time!

4. Now place the custard scoop in the centre of the dough and carefully pull the edges together and seal them.

5. Place the buns seam side down on the baking sheets and cover with cling film/plastic wrap and allow to rise for another 30-40 mins.

I just covered with a tea towel

6. Preheat oven to 175 degrees C and brush the top of the buns with the egg wash.

7. Bake for approx 12-15 mins or till the buns turn golden on top.

Mine baked for about 14mins

8. Remove and cool thoroughly. Store in the refrigerator for up to 2 days. Do check for spoilage (as custard may go bad) after 2 days.

Not the prettiest buns but glad there was only slight leakage!

I've actually baked quite a bit recently so will try and upload recipes. In more exciting news - A and I are off to Italy in a couple of weeks!

Nic x