a traditional bake ~ cocktail bun (gai mei bao) ~ highly recommended 传统鸡尾包 ~强力推荐

been having lots of fun in the kitchen for the past few weeks with creative shaping and designs and i thought i should be serious this time.. I mean, not that I’m not serious with baking..

I miss this bread a lot… plus the hubby loves it alot.. i was thinking if i should re-shape this.. as the name says.. gai mei boa (which actually literally translated, means cock-tail bun).. I was so tempted to shape it into a chicken’s butt…. anyways… of course not… some things, we should just keep it traditional.

So, why is it called the cocktail bun? According to wikipedia, quote “The cocktail bun is said to have been created in the 1950s in Hong Kong, when the proprietors of a bakery resisted the wasteful disposal of unsold but perfectly edible buns. The solution was to incorporate these buns into a new product to be sold fresh. The day-old buns were ground up, with sugar and coconut added in, to create a tasty filling mixture; fresh bread dough was wrapped around this mixture to make the first filled “cocktail bun”.” unquote (source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cocktail_bun)

I first started making cocktail buns few years back and having tried a few recipes, I’d settled down with the one from Corner Cafe… I love the sweet bun dough (tangzhong method) and the filling is incredibly easy to prepare and yummy!

Cocktail buns

Japanese-Style Sweet Bun Dough (recipe adapted from Corner Cafe)

Makes 16 buns

Ingredients
375g bread flour
100g plain flour
35g milk powder
75g caster sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 sachet (7g or 2 1/2 tsp) instant dry yeast
1 egg, lightly beaten
150ml (approx.) lukewarm water, adjust as necessary
40g butter, cubed

Water-Roux Paste
25g (just under 2 tbsp) bread flour
125ml (1/2 cup) water

* Water-Roux is basically 1 part bread flour to 5 parts water

汤种甜面团食材（可做16个餐包）

面包粉 375克
面粉 100克
奶粉 35克
绵白糖 75克
盐 3/4 小匙
即溶干酵母 1包（7克或2 1/2 小匙）
鸡蛋 1克，略打散
温水 150毫升 ～适量调整
黄油 40克，切丁

汤种
面包粉 25克（约2 大匙）
水 125毫升（约半杯水）
＊汤种面粉与水比列为 1 : 5

Directions/做法

Water-Roux/汤种
Mix flour and water in a small saucepan. Cook over low to medium heat, stirring continuously until it reaches 65ºC. It should have thickened to a paste at this stage, that is when you stir you can see the bottom of the pan. Remove from heat, place a cling film over the paste and leave until lukewarm, or room temperature, before using. This water roux can be kept in an airtight container after cooling in the refrigerator for 1 day if not used immediately. However DO NOT USE if it turns grey in colour, that means it has gone bad
面粉和水放入奶锅以中小火加热至65摄氏度。中间不停搅拌。此时的面糊偏浓稠，并离锅底。离火，盖上保鲜膜、冷却至室温才可用。没用完的汤种可在汤种冷藏 1 日后用密封盒收藏。如汤种开始变灰色，也表示不能用了

For the Bun Dough／面团
1. Sift bread flour, plain flour, milk powder, caster sugar and salt onto the working surface. Add instant dry yeast and mix well. Form the flour mixture into a well. Add lightly beaten egg and lukewarm water roux and mix in. Gradually add just enough lukewarm water to form into a slightly sticky, soft dough. Knead for 10 minutes until smooth and elastic. During hand kneading, the dough also needs to be thrown onto the working surface once every few minutes between kneading to improve the dough structure
面包粉、面粉、奶粉、糖和盐过筛。加入酵母，拌匀。面粉中间压出坑，加入鸡蛋和汤种。加入温水，搓揉约10分钟直到有弹性。如手动和面，中间需不停地将面团摔在案板上以让面团更有弹性

1. Knead in butter until incorporated. Form the dough into a round ball and let it rise until double in size in a large greased bowl, cover with cling film (should take about 1 hour in warm weather, longer in winter months). Optimum room temperature for this first prove is 28°C with a humidity of 75%. To test if the dough has risen properly, dip a finger into bread or plain flour and poke down into the centre of the dough as far as your finger will go and pull out again – the hole should remain if it is ready. If the dough springs back, then it is not ready, continue to prove further
   加入黄油，揉匀。盖上保鲜膜，进行一次发酵直到面团双倍大 （夏天约1小时，冬天需长点时间）。最佳温度为28摄氏度，湿度75%。如想知道面团是否发酵完毕，可将沾上面粉的手指插入面团。如果插入后的孔没有回缩即表示发酵过程已完成。如果此孔回缩，就让其继续发酵

2. Punch down, knead briefly and form into a ball shape. Then divide into 16 equal portions. The easiest way is to first divide equally into 4 larger portions first, then divide each of these again into quarters each. Form each into balls and let rest for 10 minutes
   面团排气，分割成16等份。最容易的方式是将面团搓成圆球，分成4分，再将个份分割。分割出的面团搓成小圆形，静置10分钟

3. Shape and fill the buns according to recipe. Place all finished buns on a greased baking sheet, lightly cover with cling film, and let rise until double in size (about 1 hour in warm weather, longer in winter months). Optimum room temperature for this final prove is 38°C with a humidity of 85%
   面团整形，摆放在涂抹油的烤盘并盖上保鲜膜，发酵至双倍大。最佳室温38摄氏度，湿度 85%

4. Bake in preheated 190°C oven for about 12 to 15 minutes, or until golden brown
   送入至如热值190摄氏度烤箱烤 12-15 分钟或金黄色即可

Cocktail Buns / Kai Mei Pau (recipe adapted from Corner Cafe ) makes 8 buns

Ingredients
1/2 portion Japanese-Style Sweet Bun Dough

finishing
1/2 egg, lightly beaten for eggwash
White sesame seeds

Cocktail Bun Filling:
100g softened butter
45g plain flour, sifted
50g milk powder, sifted
45g caster sugar, sifted
20g desiccated coconut

Mexican Topping:
30g softened butter
10g caster sugar, sifted
20g plain flour, sifted

鸡尾包食材 （可做8个餐包）

日式汤种甜面团 1/2份

收尾
鸡蛋蛋液 1/2克
白芝麻

内陷
软化黄油 100克
面粉 45克，过筛
奶粉 50克，过筛
绵白糖 45克，过筛
椰丝 20克

墨西哥饼皮
软化黄油 30克
绵白糖 10克，过筛
面粉20克，过筛

Directions/做法
1. To prepare the Cocktail Bun Filling: Mix everything together. Divide into 8 equal portions
内陷做法：将所有食材混合均匀后分割成8等份

1. To prepare the Mexican Topping: Cream softened butter and sugar until pale. Fold in flour. Transfer into a small freezer/snack bag with a tiny cut at one corner for piping (or use a piping bag fixed with a 1/2cm or smaller round nozzle)
   墨西哥饼皮做法：黄油和糖打发后，拌入面粉。勺入裱花袋，安上1/2厘米裱花嘴

2. Prepare the Japanese-Style Sweet Bun Dough (please refer above)
   准备日式汤种面团（见上）

3. Take one of the 8 small divided balls and roll out with a rolling pin into a flat circle. Place one portion of the Cocktail Bun Filling in the centre of dough circle
   取一份面团，将其擀平，裹入一份内陷

4. Gather the outer edges of the dough circle and wrap up the filling. Pinch the edges together to seal in the filling. Roll the sealed dough with your palm on the work surface lightly up and down to shape the dough into a cylindrical shape. Repeat with the other 7 dough balls
   封口捏紧后，用手掌将面团在案板上轻轻搓揉成椭圆形。此步骤重复至全部面团用完

5. Let rise, lightly covered, until double in size on a lightly greased tray. When ready, brush with eggwash. Then sprinkle a little sesame seeds onto the buns and pipe 2 lines of the Mexican Topping on top of each bun
   面团盖上保鲜膜，发酵至双倍大。刷上蛋液，撒上白芝麻后，并在面包两侧裱上两行墨西哥饼皮馅

6. Bake in preheated 190°C oven for about 12-15 minutes, or until golden brown
   送入预热至190摄氏度烤箱烤 12-15分钟获知金黄色即可

Personal notes/温馨小贴士:
– as we prefer small bite size buns, I divided my dough into 14 equal portions (according to weight)
咋们家喜欢袖珍形餐包，所以我将面团依重量分割成14等份

• i baked my buns in 180 degrees C preheated oven for 14 mins
  我的餐包用了180摄氏度烤箱烤了14分钟

This is definitely a to-keep recipe…. so well loved by family members and friends they even say it can challenge the one you find in Hong Kong’s Qxxxx’s Cafe 😉

Happy Weekend

Pollution index: 147 (unhealthy)