Sunday 19 July 2015

Pandan Milk Bun with Gula Melaka Ermine Frosting


A soft moist sweet buns flavoured by fresh pandan leaves which also gave the bread its characteristic chlorophyll green.
The gula melaka* ermine frosting, which is half buttercream and half water roux, reduces the fat content but not compromising the buttery taste. 

* Gula melaka is also known as palm sugar or coconut nectar sugar is low in glycemic index (GI).

Yield: 8 buns in a 20 cm square pan or 25Lx8Wx9H cm tin
Raw dough weight : ~516g
Appliances: Whirlpool breadmaker BM1000

Using fridge-cold ingredients if possible
Ingredient A
10g pandan leaves
140g cold fresh milk 
20g condensed milk

Ingredient B
25g beaten egg
40g raw sugar
1/4 tsp salt 
30g cold unsalted butter

Ingredient C
225g bread flour
25g cake/top flour

Ingredient D
3/4 tsp instant dry yeast

Direction
1. Blend ingredient A in a food processor. 



2. Pour ingredient A and B into the bread pan.



3. Mix ingredient C before adding on top of ingredient A and B.


4. Dig a hole in the centre of the flour, and pour ingredient D in.

5. Select "kneading" function and press start. The process will take about 1:30 hour to complete.


6. After the program ends, let the dough sits in the bread pan for about 15 to 20 minutes.
As cold ingredients have been used in this recipe, they slowdown the proofing process. Therefore, it needs the extra time for the dough to rise taller.


After 20 minutes,


7. Invert the dough out of the bread pan and onto a floured work top. 
Press down the dough to release the trapped air. 
Wear a pair of disposable gloves to handle the rather sticky dough.



8. Divide the dough into 8 equal portions, about 65g each. 


9. Roll the dough up, pull down the sides, and seal at the bottom, into a small dough ball.




Cover and let the dough balls rest for 15 minutes.


10. Take a dough ball and roll it into an elongated dough.


Fold in the two wings




Fold into half and pinch to seal the joining edges.




Coat the bottom of the dough with some flour and arrange the doughs in a 20cm square pan, or a 20cm long baking tin.


Or,


11. Give the doughs a few pumps of water and transfer to a closed and warm oven to undergo second proofing for about 30 to 40 minutes, or till the doughs almost double in size.






12. Remove the tray of doughs from the oven and start pre-heating the oven to 170 degree Celsius.
Apply beaten egg over the top of the dough.


Or,

13. Bake the dough in the oven at 170 degree Celsius for about 17 to 20 minutes or till the top becomes golden.
At lower rack of the oven.



Or,




14. After the baking cycle, lift out the bread and transfer it to a cooling rack immediately.

15. Allow the bread to cool down before making a shallow slit in the middle.



Or,






16. Pipe the gula meleka ermine frosting into the slit.

Using a Wilton 1M nozzle

Using a Wilton 6B nozzle




Gula Melaka Ermine Frosting 
Ingredients
10g granulated gula melaka* 
40g water
5g all purpose flour 

40g salted butter, slightly softened 
5g icing sugar 

* can be substituted by dark brown sugar 

Directions
1. Mix granulated gula melaka with all purpose flour.



2. Pour 40g of water and mix well.

3. Heat over low heat till the mixture thickens. Stirring constantly.


4. After the mixture has cooled down to room temperature, store it in the fridge till needed.

5. After whipping the softened butter till creamy, add in the icing sugar and whip till it is light and pale.


6. Add in the cold gula melaka mixture, spoon by spoon. Mix well before adding the next spoon.



7. Transfer the gula melaka ermine frosting to a piping bag fix with a Wilton 1M or 6B nozzle.



14 comments:

  1. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Gosh, I couldn't stop making bread now since you keep sharing your delicious bread! Right now I don't have a mixer or bread maker to help me knead so I have to knead by hand, but its fun! I loved watching the bread rise and also the beautiful aroma that wafted through the kitchen ... Thanks again NgaiLeng for sharing. Oh by the way, I love the green from the pandan and also the frosting. First time I came across this ermine frosting. I think I will love it.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Veronica, thank you for your feedback. I'm glad my posts have inspired you to start baking more breads :) I like handkneaded breads, they have better texture than machine kneaded ones. Agreed with you, I like the aroma of the bread when it is about done.
      I find the ermine frosting a less sinful buttercream. Try it, to love it. Many happy bakings to you ><

      Delete
  3. Hi, If I want to use pandan essence instead, how many tsp or tbsp should I use?

    Love your website as the steps by steps are very clear.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Rachel, thank you for liking my blog :)
      Sorry I'm not familiar with the use of pandan essence. To be on the safe side, you can add 1/4 tsp for your first try, and adjust if necessary. Happy baking :)

      Delete
  4. Wow, your food processor is very powerful to produce such fine Pandan leaves and save the step to strain. I will start trying your recipes now that I've finally gotten my BM, I guess taste won't as yummy as yours since I'll be BM all the way.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Gillian:)
      I think partly because of the small capacity, the food processor is able to chop up food more efficiently.
      Hope you'll like the recipe. Happy baking with your new BM :)

      Delete
  5. Hi Leng, i just tried out your gula meleka ermine frosting. I think it failed because after whipping the butter, its abit watery not as light and fluffy as yours. May i know what went wrong? Your kind assistance and prompt reply are greatly appreciated because i hope to master it and use it on the pandan cake for the coming mother's day. Thanks

    ReplyDelete
  6. Hi Leng, i just tried out your gula meleka ermine frosting. I think it failed because after whipping the butter, its abit watery not as light and fluffy as yours. May i know what went wrong? Your kind assistance and prompt reply are greatly appreciated because i hope to master it and use it on the pandan cake for the coming mother's day. Thanks

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Shannon, I think it's because of the hot weather recently. I usually would encounter this problem when whipping on a hot weather. Once you see the butter becomes a bit glossy on the surface, or the butter is a bit too soft to whip, return the bowl of butter and the whisk to the fridge for about 2 to 5 minutes to lower then temperature. When the butter becomes firmer, it is easier to whip up. You may have to return the butter to the fridge more than once on a very hot day.
      Hope you'll get your ermine cream right soon. Good luck :)

      Delete
    2. Thank u for your prompt reply. So can I use cold hard butter instead of soften butter? By the way, u hand whisked the butter or using mixer? And do the butter increase in volume when it is whisk till creamy like egg whites? How long did u whisk your butter from soften to creamy? Thanks

      Delete
    3. You cannot use cold hard butter to whip because the butter would stick to the hand whisk. Since its a small quantity, so I only need to hand whisk the butter. I think I took about 5 to 8 minutes to whip up the butter. The butter won't increase volume as much as egg white. The colour of the butter will change from yellow to pale :)

      Delete
    4. I personally find it too sweet. Will it works if I were to totally omit or reduce the icing sugar? How long can I store the whipped ermine cream in fridge or can I freeze it? Thanks

      Delete
    5. Hi Shanna, maybe you can reduce the icing sugar to 3g. The icing sugar helps to hold the soft butter in shape, so it can trap air. Hence, it is not advisable to totally remove it.
      I think the ermine cream can be kept in the fridge for a few days, but not freezing it :)

      Delete

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