Sweet Potato Butter Bun 甜薯奶油面包

An aromatic sweet potato bun with tender soft crumb, topped up with sweet dessicated coconut soaked in melted butter. 

In order to make full use of the leftover steamed sweet potato chunks, I mashed them into paste and added cocoa powder, honey and whipped cream, to make them into a soft filling for the buns. Honestly, you won't know it is made of sweet potato if I didn't tell you 😆

This is the Indonesian honey sweet potato. After steaming, it is sweet but drier than the orangy sweet potato. Hence, you may need to adjust the water quantity according to the water content of the sweet potato used ☘

Yield: 9 small buns in a 20cm square pan

Breadmaker: Mayer MMBM12

Raw dough weight: about 488g

Sweet Potato Bun

Ingredients

80~95g cold water # 冷水

20g beaten egg 蛋液

20g raw sugar 黄砂糖

1/4 tsp fine salt 细盐

20g cold unsalted butter 冷无盐奶油

90g honey sweet potato paste* 甜薯泥

200g bread flour 高筋面粉

8g milk powder 奶粉

3/4 tsp instant dry yeast 速发干酵母

# if you are not used to handling sticky dough, you may want to reduce the water quantity to 85 or 90g. The amount of water also depends on the moisture level of the mashed sweet potato.

若不要面团太粘手，可将水量减至85或90g

* can use raw unpeeled sweet potato weighs between 180g to 260g

可用180至260g的甜薯取得所需的甜薯泥

Glazing & Toppings 表面装饰

Some beaten egg as egg wash 蛋液

10g cold butter 冷奶油

Some fine sugar 细砂糖

Some dessicated coconut 干椰丝

Directions

1. Line a 20cm square pan with parchment paper.

2. Place sweet potato chunks with pandan leaf (optional) in a heat resistant bowl. Steam at high heat for about 20 minutes, or till a thin skewer can poke through the sweet potato easily.

3. Remove the pandan leaves and drain away the excess liquid. While the sweet potato is still hot, mash it using a fork. Collect 90g of sweet potato paste.

Keep the remaining sweet potato chunks as filling later.

4. Add all ingredients, following the sequence listed in the ingredient list, into the bread pan.

5. Dig a hole and pour in the instant dry yeast.

6. Place the bread pan into the bread maker, select C-11 "ferment dough" function, and start the machine.

The mixing, kneading and first proofing will take 1h 30min to complete.

7. When the program stops, let the dough continues to proof in the bread pan for another 20 minutes.

20 minutes later.

8. Sprinkle some flour over the dough and work top before inverting out the dough.

Press down the dough to release the trapped air. 

9. Divide the dough into 9 equal portions, about 54g each. Shape them into 9 ball shape doughs, by rolling up and pulling down the sides of the dough, and seal at the bottom.

10. Cover the dough balls and let them rest for about 15 minutes.

11. After the 15-minute rest, wrap a cocoa sweet potato ball in the center of the dough, and seal tight.

The preparation of the cocoa sweet potato balls can be found at the end of this recipe.

12. Roll the dough into a smooth ball, and place it in the lined baking pan from (1).

13. Spray some water over the doughs. Place in a closed warm oven to proof for about 40 minutes, or till the doughs are almost 80% touching each other.

40 minutes later.

14. Remove the dough from the oven and preheat the oven to 170 degree Celsius.

15. Brush some beaten egg over the surface.

Snip a shallow slit over the top of the buns.

Cut the 10g cold butter into 9 small cubes and place on the slits.

Sprinkle some dessicated coconut over.

Sprinkle some fine sugar on top.

Ready to go into oven.

16. Bake at 170 degree Celsius for about 15 minutes at the middle rack. 

Then further reduce the temperature to 150 degree Celsius and bake for another  4 to 5 minutes, or till the bread turns golden.

End of baking

17. Allow the bread to rest in the pan for 5 minutes before unmoulding the bread by lifting up the parchment paper. Let the bread cool down slightly on a wire rack before serving. Enjoy it warm 😄

Cocoa Sweet Potato Filling

The cocoa sweet potato filling is based on the leftover sweet potato, therefore the final quantity of the filling will vary.

The quantity below is based on 50g of leftover sweet potato, so you will have to make adjustments based on the quantity you have.

50g sweet potato paste *

1/2 tsp cocoa powder 

1 tsp whipping cream 

1/2 tsp honey 

You may adjust the sweetness according to your taste. 

You may omit the whipping cream, or replace it by butter or milk. The purpose is to make the paste smoother and more moist.

* If the mashed sweet potato is too wet, you can add some roasted almond flour to it.