When I was browsing Chapters the other day, I saw a really interesting new cookbook titled ‘Mooncakes and Milk Bread’ by Kristina Cho that specialized in Chinese baked goods. I have not had the greatest luck with milk bread in the past, so I was excited to give it another try.

Recipe by Kristina at Eat Cho Food

In general, I’m more of a sweet than savoury person, so cocktail buns have always ranked in my top three choices at Chinese bakeries. My TangZhong (湯種) definitely worked better this time than my previous attempt during HK Sausage Buns, and I finally feel like I know what a roux should look like. Kristina’s recipe recommends low heat, but I found that I couldn’t get a roux to form until I cranked it up a little to medium. The egg wash also came out better this time, so I actually managed to check off both of my goals from the last blog post! It feels good to be making baby steps in my baking. The next goal I would love to tackle is getting more consistent when I proof my yeast, as I feel like I often kill my yeast when the milk is too hot.

I also struggled with the decoration for the top of the bun, but that was my own fault because I thought room-temperature softened butter could compensate for melted butter. I was wrong, and it came out too clumpy to spread easily. I feel like that should be an easy fix for the future.

As a whole, my favourite part was the coconut filling! It tasted so close to my memories, I think it just needed a touch more coconut and slightly less butter to make it perfect. Funnily enough, I’m not sure how I feel about the dough itself, as it didn’t really have its own flavour, but it did seem to have a nice texture to it? I’m hoping to continue to refine my milk bread technique though until I can nail it for real. If you have any tips, I would love to hear them.

Until next time, happy crafting!