Ingredients

For the Tangzhong (water roux):

• 20g flour
• 75g water

For the dough:

• Oil for greasing bowl
• 145g full-fat milk
• 18g granulated sugar
• 7g fresh yeast
• 490g 00 flour
• 80G desiccated coconut
• 3g salt
• 80g condensed milk
• 1 large egg
• 55g butter, melted

For the topping:

• 55g soft butter
• 135g caster sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 Egg yolk
• 1 tablespoon milk
• 120g flour
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/8 teaspoon turmeric

For the egg wash:

• 1 large egg
• 1 tablespoon milk

Tools

• Titanium Chef Patissier XL

Method

For the Tangzhong (water roux):

1. Whisk the flour and water inside a saucepan until the flour dissolves.
2. Place the saucepan over medium heat and stir the mixture frequently. In about a minute, the flour will start to thicken. Don’t walk away during this process as you can quickly burn the water roux ! Once the flour develops into a light paste, turn off the heat.
3. Transfer the water roux to a bowl to cool. It will thicken as it cools

For the dough for buns:

1. Grease a large mixing bowl with oil. Set it aside.
2. Heat the milk in the setting on your Kenwood Titanium Chef Patissier XL for about 40 to 45 seconds Add the sugar to the milk. check the temperature of the milk. It should be around 110ºF to 120ºF. It’s okay if you are just several degrees off.
3. Add the yeast and stir Let it sit for 5 to 8 minutes while you prepare the other ingredients. After 5 to 8 minutes, the milk/yeast mixture will foam up
4. In the bowl, combine the flour, salt, desiccated coconut, condensed milk, egg, melted butter, water roux and the foamy milk/yeast mixture.
5. Fit the mixer with the dough hook. Mix the dough on low for 8 minutes, If the dough completely spins away from the dough hook after a few minutes, turn off the mixer. Readjust the dough right into the centre of the bowl and position the dough hook in the centre of the dough. Run the mixer on “stir” for 15 seconds or so before you increase the speed to low.
6. After 10 minutes, scrape the dough out of the bowl onto a surface and knead it several times. The dough shouldn’t be sticky, so you do not need to flour the surface.
7. Shape the dough into a ball and place inside the greased bowl. Cover the bowl with cling film, Let the dough rise in a warm area for about 1 hour to 1 hour 30 minutes, until the dough doubles in size.

Prepare the dough for topping:

1. Add the butter to the bowl of a stand mixer. Fit the mixer with the flat beater attachment. Cream the butter on medium-low until it is light and fluffy, about 1 to 2 minutes. Add the caster sugar in two batches. The mixture will look very crumbly at this point, and that’s okay
2. Next, add the egg yolk, milk, and vanilla, and mix on low until just combined.
3. In a small bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, and turmeric. Add half of the flour to the bowl with the wet ingredients, and mix on low until the flour is combined. Then, add the remaining flour and mix again. Once all the loose flour has been incorporated, increase the speed to medium-low, and keep mixing until the dough starts to come together into large chunks.
4. Scrape the dough out of the bowl onto a surface. Gather it up into one large ball of dough. Transfer this to another bowl and cover it with a towel until the buns are done proofing.

Shape the buns:

1. Line 2 large baking trays with parchment paper.
2. Once doubled, punch down the dough to release excess air. Turn the dough onto a work surface. Divide the dough into 2 equal portions (450 grams each). Place 1 portion of dough back into the bowl, cover it, and refrigerate while you shape the first batch of buns.
3. Next, divide the remaining dough into 6 equal pieces (roughly 74 grams each). Take one of the pieces of dough and knead it several times to get rid of any air bubbles. Then, shape this dough into a ball and transfer it to the lined baking sheet, seam side down. The dough should be about 2 inches in diameter. Repeat with the remaining 5 pieces of dough.
4. Cover the balls of dough with a clingfilm and let them rise in a warm place for 30 to 45 minutes, until they increase to 1.5 times its size
5. Preheat the oven to 185c. If you want more golden looking pineapple buns, preheat the oven to 195c. Position an oven rack to the centre of the oven.

Add the topping and bake:

1. While the buns are proofing, divide the dough for the topping into 12 pieces (about 27 grams each). Roll each piece into a ball.
2. Take a plastic freezer bag, and cut off the zipper. Continue cutting the bag along the edges so that you have 2 large sheets of plastic. You’ll be rolling the topping in between these plastic sheets.
3. In a small bowl, prepare the egg wash by whisking an egg yolk with 1 tablespoon of milk.
4. After the buns are done proofing, start rolling out the topping.
5. Take a ball of the topping dough and place it on the centre of a plastic sheet. Lightly flatten the dough out with the palm of your hand. Then, cover the flattened disc with the other sheet of plastic. Roll out the dough until you get a circle that is 3.5 inches wide.
6. Peel off the top sheet of plastic, turn the topping onto your hand and carefully peel off the other sheet of plastic.
7. Drape the topping over one of the buns. The topping shouldn’t cover the bun completely. The topping can burn if it touches the bottom of the baking sheet. Continue rolling out the topping and draping it over the buns.
8. Brush the tops of the buns with egg wash.
9. Bake the buns for 14 to 16 minutes, until the tops are lightly golden.
10. Once the first batch of buns is in the oven, prepare the second batch of buns and bake.
11. Let the buns cool on the baking sheet for several minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack.
12. Enjoy the buns while they’re still warm! That’s when they are the tastiest.