Custard buns are soft milk bread filled with a creamy custard filling in the centers. They are delightful soft buns that make perfect snacks or breakfasts.
Bread, bread on the blog again.
It may seem to you that I am slathering the blog with bread recipes lately, and I have no argument with that. From last week’s recipe, the Ube bread rolls, we now have these custard buns that filled our house once more with the wonderful aroma of fresh bread baking in the oven.
These buns are soft and slightly sweet, and they are actually the same buns from the milk bread recipe that I posted weeks back.
I find the recipe so versatile and easy to make that I have been experimenting with incorporating delicious elements to it. This time, the addition of custard filling makes them even more special.
The sight of golden bread and light brown pastries make my heart jump and these custard buns are no exception. Seeing them bake beautifully inside the oven fills me with glee that I find myself wanting to bake bread over and over again.
I am hooked on it. The process, the smell, the sight and yes, the carbs.
Custard Buns: The Process
You start off by heating the milk and heavy cream mixture to a temperature of 115 F. Then you add the ingredients in a specific order stated in the recipe.
You are going to knead the dough on the stand mixer here. A good 15 minutes of kneading time ensures you have a dough with properly developed structure.
Kneading the Dough
- The dough will start off as a sticky and shaggy mass. After 15 minutes of kneading, the dough should be smooth and has lost its stickiness, but when you touch it, it should still feel a little bit tacky.
- It will also gather itself in the center of the mixing bowl, cleaning the sides of the bowl as the mixer runs and attaching itself to the dough hook.
The Custard Filling
Dissolve flour and cornstarch into beaten eggs, then cook it in a saucepan over medium heat together with the milk, salt and sugar.
As you cook this, it is important to keep stirring until the mixture turns into a thick, creamy paste. Then for a final, delicious touch, stir in butter to the custard.
The custard filling blends beautifully with the bread each time you bite. It adds notes of sweetness and creaminess to the bread. I always grab one of this buns for a quick fill me up during the day, and of course, they are perfect with a mug of your hot drink for breakfast.
Additional Notes
- The filling recipe is enough for half the dough in the recipe to yield about ten buns. You can store the other half of dough in the fridge and use it within three days, or you can store it in the freezer for later use.
- You can bake them without filling, like in this recipe, or you can make another batch of the custard filling to elevate things up.
- Either way, bake the bread and make your house smell good, then enjoy soft, warm and fresh bread out of the oven.
- These buns are best enjoyed within two days of baking, and you can also warm them up for 12 seconds or so in the microwave if you desire.
I hope you enjoy these as much as I did. And if you think you still don’t have enough bread in your life, or if you enjoy baking bread, stay tuned for I have more bread lined up here in the blog for the coming weeks.
See you around!
Custard Buns
Ingredients
FOR THE MILK BREAD
- 2/3 cup heavy cream
- 1 cup plus 1 tbsp milk
- 1 large egg
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tbsp active dry yeast
- 1 and 1/2 tsp salt
FOR THE CUSTARD FILLING
- 2 large eggs lightly beaten
- 1/8 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/8 cup cornstarch
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1 cup milk
- pinch of salt
- 3 tbsp butter
FOR THE EGG WASH
- 1 tbsp milk
- 1 large egg
Instructions
MAKE THE CUSTARD FILLING
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Sift together cornstarch and flour. Using a whisk, combine the beaten eggs and the flour mixture until the powders are dissolved. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, stir together milk, sugar and the salt. Once the sugar and salt are dissolved, add in the egg mixture and keep stirring everything until the mixture thickened up into a paste consistency. This should take about 12-15 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in butter.
MAKE THE MILK BREAD
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Combine milk and cream in a large microwaveable bowl and heat in the microwave for 30 seconds at a time until it reaches 115 F. In the bowl of a stand mixer, add the ingredients in the following order : cream and milk mixture, egg, sugar, flour, yeast and salt. Attach the dough hook and run the mixer, starting on low just to initially wet the dry ingredients.
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Turn speed to medium and run the mixer for 15 more minutes. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl occasionally. In about 7-10 minutes into the mixing, you will see the dough starting to gather into the center and attaching itself into the dough hook. If your dough looks like it is not coming together at this point, sprinkle a little amount of flour (about half a teaspoon at a time) into the bowl and continue mixing. You can add up to two tablespoon of flour and you should soon see the dough starting to gather in the center of the bowl. As you approach the 15 minutes mark, you should hear the dough slapping the sides of the bowl as it clings to the dough hook. This is a good sign that your dough is ready for proofing.
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Gather the dough into a ball, sprinkle a little bit of flour into a bowl and place the ball of dough inside it. Cover the bowl with kitchen towel and set it on a warm place for one hour to one hour and a half, until size of the dough is doubled. Meanwhile, Grease a baking pan with butter. After the dough has risen, return it into the mixer with the dough hook and mix on medium for 5 more minutes.
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Divide the dough in half. Wrap the other half with plastic and store in the fridge for use within three days or store in the freezer. Divide the remaining half of dough into ten equal portions. Using your palms, shape each portion into a ball then flatten it into a disc with a diameter of 4-5 inches. Spoon 1 tablespoon of filling into the center of the disc and wrap the dough around it. Reserve about 1/4 cup of the filling for piping the top of the buns. Seal the edges of the dough underneath and place each assembled dough in the greased baking pan. Leave about an inch of space in between the dough to allow room for their rising. Cover the pan with a kitchen towel and let rise for another hour until doubled in size. After the rolls have risen, pour the remaining filling in a piping bag with a small circular tip. Pipe the custard filling in circular patterns on top of the buns.
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Preheat oven to 375 F. Make the egg wash by beating together 1 tbsp of milk and 1 egg. Brush the surface of the assembled dough with the egg wash. Bake the rolls in the 375 F oven for 10-12 minutes. The surface should be golden and a thermometer should register 200 F. Store leftovers in a covered container at room temperature and re-heat in the microwave for 10-12 seconds, if desired.
Recipe Notes
These came together well (I hand-kneaded) and quite tasty. However, am I the only one where timing was way way way off?? At 12 minutes at 375 they looked practically raw and internal temp was not hot enough. I cooked for an additional 15 minutes!! (Yes 27 minutes total at 375) and then broiled on low (very closely monitored) for 2 minutes to brown the tops.