Cream Cheese Strawberry Milk Bun

Sweet smelling strawberry milk bun filled with cream cheese and dried cranberries - sweet and tangy 😋I was happy that the soft cream cheese filling did not ooze out of the bun during baking 🤞

Yield: 10 small buns

Raw dough weight: 526g

Baking temperature:  Preheat oven to 190℃, middle rack, bake at 180℃ for 8 minutes, lower to 160℃ for 10 minutes, turn off oven and continue to bake for 3 minutes, or till the crust turns lightly golden brown.

Ingredients

205g bread flour

15g superfine wholegrain flour/all purpose flour

5g purple sweet potato powder

30g raw sugar

1g instant dry yeast

50g natural yeast/sourdough, 100% hydration*

30g yudane dough^

120g sweet strawberry milk, cold 

20g whipping cream

25g cold water, to be added depending on dough condition

3g low sodium salt

20g unsalted butter, softened

Filling

30g dried cranberries

200g cream cheese spread

35g icing sugar

5g corn starch

1g vanilla extract

Toppings

sprinkle with bread flour

* 50g natural yeast can be replaced by 25g each of bread flour and water + 1/8 tsp instant dry yeast. Let the mixture stand for about 1 hour or more till it doubles in volume, before use. You can also keep the mixture in the fridge overnight and thaw it for 1 hour before use.

^ 30g yudane dough is prepared by combining 16g of bread flour with 16g of very hot or boiling water into a sticky dough. Wrap the yudane dough in cling wrap, and cool down before use. Use a silicone spatula to scrape out the sticky yudane dough from the cling wrap.

Directions:

1. Knead the dough following your preferred method. 

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

2. After kneading the milk dough to window pane, shape the milk dough into a ball, and keep in a plastic bag coated with a little cooking oil. Keep the dough in the fridge overnight.

3. Soak dried cranberries in hot water for about 60 seconds. Drain away the water, and cut the cranberries into smaller pieces using a pair of kitchen scissors. Seal with cling wrap and keep overnight in the fridge. 

4. In the next day, remove the outer plastic bag, and let the dough thaw at room temperature for about 90 to 100 minutes. Thaw the soaked cranberries, too.

5. Divide the dough into 10 portions, shape into balls and let them rest for about 15 minutes.

6. While waiting for the dough, prepare the cream cheese filling.

Loosen the cream cheese, mix with icing sugar and corn starch into a smooth paste. Keep in the fridge till needed.

7. Roll out a dough into a flat dough with the edge thinner than the center. Add dried cranberries and cream cheese paste to the center.

Wrap up the dough, and shape into a ball. Place the shaped dough in a paper casing, and arrange them on a baking tray. The paper casing is optional.

Let the shaped dough rest in a cold oven for about 25 minutes.

8. Remove the shaped dough from the oven, and start to preheat the oven to 190℃ for about 10 minutes.

While waiting, cut 10 heart shape stencils using parchment paper. Place the stencils onto the top of each shaped dough, and sprinkle some bread flour over them. Remove the stencils, and sprinkle another thin coat of bread flour over.

9. Bake at middle rack, at 180℃ for 8 minutes, lower to 160℃ for 10 minutes, turn off oven and continue to bake for 3 minutes, or till the crust turns lightly golden brown.

10. Remove the hot buns from the oven, and cool down a while before serving them warm 😋