Coffee Buns

Roti boy craze started in KL many years back. I can remember the super super long queue at KLCC and One Utama. Slowly, the fad dies off (just like how bubble tea was as well).

I introduced coffee bun to Zach last year and he is HOOKED! I know.. a 5 year old boy hooked to coffee be it buns, sweets or ice coffee drink from Starbucks and Coffee Bean *guilty*

He saw me baked many different type of buns every week and each time he will asked "Mummy, are you making coffee buns for me?" My reply "Next time okay Zach? Coffee buns need many hours and is very difficult. Mummy promise." The day finally came! I woke up earlier than usual yesterday (being a Sunday) because the Husband was working overnight and we would not be going out for breakfast. I am thankful I have all the ingredients on hand, so no rushing out to stock up. :) I Googled for coffee bun and picked Grace's Kitchen Corner recipe. Feeling excited, I felt it will be nice to include the filling as well. No regrets because it gives the bread some moist to it so it is not very dry.

Second proofing - still unsure why I can never get a nice round-shaped buns

Coffee Buns (recipe from Grace's Kitchen Corner)

Dough
250g bread flour
38g caster sugar
3g salt
4g yeast
1/2 beaten egg
135g fresh milk* (I replaced this with coffee flavored milk)

Bun filling
100g butter*(softened to room temperature)
35g brown sugar
1/4 tsp vanilla extract

* I felt using salted butter for the filling will be the best combination

Topping
50g butter
40g* icing sugar(I reduced this to 30g icing sugar)
38g beaten eggs (approx. 2 medium sized eggs)
50g plain flour
1 tsp granulated coffee powder

How?
- Prepare the bun filling & topping first.
- Filling:

• Using an electric mixer, cream butter and brown sugar until light and pale in color
• Add in vanilla extract and mix well
• Place the butter mixture into fridge for it to set.
• Divide it to 10 equal portions (I use a small ice cream scoop)

- Topping:

• Whisk softened butter with icing sugar until combined.
• Gradually add in beaten eggs and coffee mixture. The batter will look curdled but don't worry. It will be fine after adding plain flour.
• Mix until well incorporated. Pour into piping bag and keep in fridge until ready to use.

- Dough

• Using breadmaker (Function 8), add in all the wet ingredients followed by dry ingredients (do note that do not add in butter at this point.
• When the dough is smooth, add in butter and let the machine knead the dough until it is ready to proof.
• At this juncture I stopped the machine and remove the dough.
• Divide the dough into 10 equal portion (approximately 50g each) and shape them into round balls.
• Let it rest for 15 minutes.
• Roll-out each dough and add the filling. Seal tightly else the filling will ooze out during baking.
• Place each doughs on baking tray about 2 inches apart from each other.
• Cover dough with cling wrap and proof for 60 minutes.
• Pre-heat oven to 200C 10 minutes before the final proof is done.
• Pipe the topping to the dough in spiral form.
• Bake for 12 minutes.

Preparing the topping

The result of this bun? Soft coffee-flavored bread with crispy crust! Love it..