Melon Milk Butterscotch Bun

Soft milk buns in light melon flavour, and with butterscotch chips embedded within the soft crumb. 

My initial idea was to add white chocolate chips to the buns. However, the supermarket only sold button size white chocolate. So, I opted for the alternative butterscotch chips. The butterscotch chips which have a stronger flavour than the melon flavour, "drowned" the faint melon aroma of the crumb.

Yield: 9 buns in a 20cm square pan

Raw dough weight: 509g

Baking temperature: Preheat oven to 200℃ for 5 minutes, bake at lower rack, at 180℃ for 7 minutes, lower to 160℃ for 5 minutes, off oven and bake for about 3 minutes.

Ingredients

200g bread flour

20g superfine wholegrain flour

35g raw sugar

2g instant dry yeast

pinch of vanillin powder, optional

40g natural yeast/sourdough, 100% hydration*

28g yudane dough^

110g low fat melon flavoured milk, cold

1 drop green food dye, optional

10g evaporated milk, cold

20g condensed milk

20g water, cold to be added depending on dough condition

2g low sodium salt

30g unsalted butter, softened

Filling

45g butterscotch chips

some bread flour to sprinkle as topping

* 40g natural yeast can be replaced by 20g each of bread flour and water + 1/8 tsp instant dry yeast. Let the mixture stands for about 1 hour or till double in volume, before use. You can also keep the mixture in the fridge overnight and thaw it for 1 hour before use.

^ 28g yudane dough is prepared by combining 15g of bread flour with 14g of very hot or boiling water into a sticky dough. Wrap the yudane dough in cling wrap, cool down before chilling in the fridge overnight. Use a silicone spatula to scrape out the sticky yudane dough from the cling wrap.

Directions

1. Knead the dough following your preference method. 

For my method, you can refer to my recipe Yudane Milk Bread. After kneading the dough to window pane stage, 

shape the dough into a ball, and keep in a big mixing bowl. Spray some water over, cover with a lid, and let it proof for about 60 minutes, or till double in size.

End of 60-minute proofing 👇

2. Invert the dough onto a floured work top, deflate the dough, and divide into 9 equal portions.

Shape the dough into 9 balls, cover with an inverted bowl, and let them rest for 15 minutes. 

3. Take a dough ball, flatten it using the palm. Scatter about 5g of butterscotch chips over the surface.

Wrap up the dough and shape into a ball.

Place in a 20 cm square pan lined with parchment paper, spray some water over, cover with a piece of cloth, and let the shaped dough proof for about 45 minutes, or till the shaped dough double in size.

After 45-minute proofing 👇

4. Start to preheat the oven to 200℃ for about 10 minutes. While waiting for the oven, cut "MEELLOON" paper stencils and place the characters over the dough surface. This step is optional.

 If you are not doing the stenciling, just dust a thin layer of bread flour over the dough surface.

6. Dust some bread flour over the paper stencils.

Remove the paper stencils, and dust another light layer of bread flour over.

5. Bake the shaped dough at lower rack of a preheated oven at 200℃ for 5 minutes, lower the temperature to 180℃ and bake for 7 minutes. Further reduce the temperature to 160℃ for 5 minutes. Turn off the oven, and let the buns bake for 3 further minutes.

Remove the tray of buns from the oven.

Lift out the hot buns from the pan, and cool down over a wire rack.

Enjoy the buns warm or cool 😋