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HK Buns with HK Milk Tea

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Fresh, fluffy, and not too sweet. I've made this several times now for family. It's so much better than the store bought ones because it doesn't taste artificial, uses half the cream fat, uses quality hot dogs, and is loaded with as much coconut filling / pineapple bun topping as you want! Pair it with the easy homemade HK milk tea recipe below.

Duration: 3 hours
Serving size: 12 buns: 4 coconut, 4 hot dog, 4 pineapple


INGREDIENTS

Note: For best results, use exact weights.

For the bread dough:
  • 160 ml table (18%) cream, at room temp
  • 250 ml milk, warmed (125F; warm by microwaving milk for ~60sec)
  • 1 large egg, at room temp
  • 1/3 cup sugar (75g)
  • 1/2 cup cake flour (70g)
  • 3 1/2 cups AP flour (500g)
  • 1 tbsp active dry yeast (11g)
  • 1.5 tsp salt (7g)
For the coconut filling (4 buns):
  • 2 tbsp softened butter (28.3g)
  • 12.7g of superfine sugar*
  • 1 tbsp cake flour (6.3g)
  • ¼ cup shredded, unsweetened coconut flakes (20g)
For the coconut topping (4 buns):
  • 25.3g cake flour
  • 28.7g softened butter
  • 13.5g superfine sugar*
For the pineapple bun topping (4 buns):
  • 1.3 tbsp softened butter (18g)
  • 45g superfine sugar*
  • 1/3 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1/3 egg yolk
  • 1 tsp whole milk
  • 1/4 cup all-purpose flour (40g) 
  • 1/12 tsp baking powder
  • 1/24 tsp turmeric
Sugar coat for shine:
  • Egg wash: whisk together 1 egg with 1 tsp water
  • Simple syrup: 1 tbsp sugar dissolved in 1 tbsp hot water

DIRECTIONS
  1. In a large mixing bowl, add warm milk, a bit of sugar (for bread dough), and yeast in a bowl. Let it sit for 5 minutes in a warm spot until foamy.
  2. Add remaining sugar, egg, cream, and mix. Then add cake flour, AP flour, and salt.
  3. Knead dough for 20-25 mins; it should be heavy and wet.
  4. Cover kneaded dough with a damp towel. Let it rise in a warm spot for 1 hr; it should grow to 1.5x its original size.
  5. While waiting for the dough to proof:
    • Boil and lightly sear hot dogs
    • Make coconut filling: mix all the ingredients and set aside with plastic cover
    • Make coconut topping: mix all the ingredients together in a ziplock bag and set aside
    • Make pineapple bun topping: mix all the ingredients and set aside with plastic cover
    • Make egg wash and simple syrup
  6. After the bread dough has proofed for an hour, knead for another couple minutes to get rid of air bubbles. 
  7. (Mentally) Divide the dough into 12 equal pieces. On a lightly floured surface, shape each bun per instructions below. Keep the buns 2-3 inches apart.**
    1. Hot dog bun
      • Roll a piece of dough into an 8-10 inch rope, keeping the middle thicker than the ends.
      • Wrap the rope around a hot dog, tucking in the ends.
      • Transfer the buns to a parchment-lined baking sheet.
    2. Coconut bun
      • Flatten a piece of dough with your hands into a rough oval shape, about 4 inches long and 3 inches wide.
      • Spread about a tablespoon of filling onto the middle of the dough, and roll it into a cigar shape, tucking the ends under the bun to completely seal the filling in.
      • Transfer the buns to a parchment-lined baking sheet.
    3. Pineapple bun
      • Form a piece into a circular bun ball.
      • Transfer the buns to a parchment-lined baking sheet.
  8. Cover the buns with a damp towel and let it rise in a warm place for an hour.
  9. After 1 hour, preheat oven to 350F. Prepare the buns:
    • Hot dog bun
      • Brush with egg wash
      • Sprinkle with sesame seeds
    • Coconut bun
      • Brush with egg wash
      • Cut a small hole in the ziplock bag corner and pipe two stripes of your topping mixture onto each bun. 
      • Sprinkle with sesame seeds
    • Pineapple bun
      • Scoop the appropriate amount of pineapple topping onto a large plastic sheet wrap. Fold the wrap over the topping and flatten the topping into a circular shape.
      • Place the flattened topping on top of the bun
      • Brush with egg wash
  10. Place the buns in the oven and bake:***
    • Hot dog bun: 14 min
    • Coconut bun: 15-17 min
    • Pineapple bun: 12-13 min
  11. Remove from oven and immediately brush the hotdog bun and coconut bun with sugar syrup for shine.
  12. Transfer to a cooling rack and let it cool completely before eating
Notes:
* If you don't have superfine sugar, make it by blending granulated sugar in a food processor for ~1 min until it's a coarse powder (don't over-blend!)
** Suggest starting with hot dog bun first, then coconut, then what ever is leftover can be rolled into a pineapple bun.
*** If lazy, just bake the whole thing for 16 mins.

Pair with the following HK Milk Tea Recipe:
  • 1 teabag each of Lipton, Ceylon Orange Pekoe, and Earl Gray into a mug with boiling water. Let it steep for 5 minutes, and then add ⅓ cup of warmed evaporated milk and 2 tsp of sweetened condensed milk to taste.

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