Notes from Mooncakes and Milk Bread by Kristina Cho

4 stars I've cooked: 3/112
Cover of Mooncakes and Milk Bread
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Notes from this book

  • I've made this twice now and both times have been oh so delightful and moreish. The first time I left it to rise in the fridge overnight, but rise it didn't, so it stayed out on the counter for a few more hours.

    The second time I tried to rush the kneading and proving process, and you could tell because the flavour was lacking, the texture was slightly dense yet crumbly. Overall not as happy as I was first time round.

    A recipe I'm going to keep playing with and tinkering with timings, temp control, a mix of cold and warm proving.

    I think, though not certain, that I need to knead for longer and develop more gluten so it's not so crumbly. Maybe a slightly warm proof until nearly doubled then cold proof, to develop a deeper flavour.

    Mother of All Milk Bread 4/5 Link to Mother of All Milk Bread note

  • I had to stop myself eating too many of these. The bun is based on the Mother of All Milk Bread recipe, yet these rolls came out fluffier and lighter than had I just made plain milk bread.

    The only thought that springs to mind is the addition of the butter in the coconut filling seeping into the dough as the buns cooked.

    The recipe is straightforward enough - the only ammendment I'd make is to not form the coconut filling into a log. I just spooned it onto the rolled out dough and shaped it that way. It stopped my hands from getting too greasy, whilst making sure I could easily control the length of the filling.

    These were an absolute hit and I'll be making them again.

    Cocktail Buns (Gai Mei Bao) 5/5 Link to Cocktail Buns (Gai Mei Bao) note

  • I left the milk bread proving at room temp for around 3 hours (partly from forgetfulness and being busy), and then put it in the fridge overnight to bake the next day.

    I used ready-made red bean paste for ease.

    The shaping of the buns - making the slits, rolling into a coil was difficult. In part due to a blunt knife, partly due to the dough not rolling out into the full 5x7in size and partly due to my lack of finesse.

    Still though, they came out brilliantly - pillowy and light with just enough red bean in every bite - and I'm not even a red bean fan.

    Will definitely be making these again. And as a bonus, my milk bread has been getting a lot of practice!

    Red Bean Swirl Buns 5/5 Link to Red Bean Swirl Buns note