Ingredients
- 300 g all-purpose flour
- 160 g whole milk
- 30 g fine sugar
- 6 g canola oil
- 3 g instant yeast
- Cocoa powder as needed
Instructions
Prepare the bun dough
- In a mixing bowl, pour in milk, sugar, oil, yeast and flour. #Tip: Shake yeast in to prevent it from clumping. You do not need to sieve the flour.
- Gently stir the ingredients together.
- Beat the mixture for about 5 minutes at low speed, adding a little more milk if the dough is too dry. Then beat the mixture for another 5 minutes at medium speed until the dough is soft, smooth and mildly tacky. #Tip: Do not overmix the dough as it will cause the temperature to increase, resulting in bubbles which may affect the appearance of the bun.
- Knead the dough into a long roll and divide it into eight equal portions of 60g each. #Tip: Cover seven of the dough balls with cling wrap to prevent them from becoming dry, while rolling one of the dough ball in the next step.
Roll the dough ball
- Knead the dough ball into a long roll, fold the two ends and continue rolling. Repeat another two times.
- Roll in the edges of the dough while gently forming an oval shape.
- Slice the dough to desired shape or design. Cover with cling wrap and set aside.
Make the details
- Mix a bit of leftover dough, cocoa powder and milk until the colour is consistent throughout the dough.
- Spread a little milk over the surface of the bun to adhere the details onto it. #Tip: Use toothpick to help with small details.
- Place the completed bun on a piece of steaming paper. #Tip: You can use baking paper too if you can't find steaming paper.
Proof and steam
- Place dough into the steamer and cover with lid.
- Put about 3cm of water into the pot and heat the water to about 45°C. Let the dough proof for about an hour. #Tip: If you do not have a thermometer, just heat the water till it is warm to touch. #Tip: After an hour of proofing, the bun should have grown to about 150% of original size (ie 4 cm diameter to 6 cm diameter). Lightly press the dough and it should slowly bounce back.
- Turn on medium fire and steam the buns for about 15-20 minutes. #Tip: Leave a small gap in the lid to allow steam to escape.
- After steaming, leave the buns to cool in the steamer for about 3-5 minutes before carefully removing them. #Tip: Do not keep the buns in the steamer as they will absorb the moisture from the steamer and become soggy.
- Serve and enjoy!