Custard Buns

As a child growing up, one of my favourite dishes to eat at Chinese restaurants and yumcha was custard buns, the other being custard tarts. As you can probably tell, I really loved custard.

But unfortunately, ever since Covid-19 began, I haven’t been able to purchase any fresh custard buns since none of my usual favourite restaurants sold them anymore… they were either sold out for said day, or the restaurant ceased to make them altogether. So, as a last resort, I purchased frozen ones from an Asian grocer, but as you probably guessed, they didn’t taste the same – they didn’t have the same airy and spongy texture of freshly steamed buns, and the custard filling didn’t melt in your mouth, it was clumpy and very sugary.

So, I was left with no choice but to make my own, and what better occassion to make some than for my own birthday? Normally I would write to you about the history of custard or custard buns, but today, I just wanted to keep this blog post short and simple…

That’s right, we’re delving right into the recipe – the following recipe makes 8 buns:
Make sure you have plenty of time to make these as the custard requires at least 4 hours to fully set before they can be added to the buns for steaming; the buns themselves need at least 30 mins to proof.

INGREDIENTS

CUSTARD

• 160ml full-cream milk
• 20g butter
• 30g sugar
• 20g plain flour
• 2 egg yolks
• 3 drops vanilla essence

DOUGH

• 260g plain flour
• 26g sugar
• 2g salt
• 160ml full-cream milk (warm)
• 3g yeast
• 4g baking powder
• 10g cooking oil

OPTIONAL

• Icing pen – colour food gel will work too (you will just need a toothpick to draw finer details)
• baking paper



METHOD / RECIPE

MAKING THE CUSTARD

1. Separate egg yolks from egg whites (discard egg whites) and mix with sugar until well combined.
2. Milk Mixture: Melt butter over lowheat and add milk, stir until combined.
3. Pour milk mixture into the egg yolks, mix well.
4. Add starch and mix well, then pour the mixture back into the saucepan and mix over low heart until it forms a thick custard consistency — make sure to keep mixing so it doesn’t stick to the pot and form clumps; also make sure the heat is on low otherwise your custard will burn!!
5. As you are stirring, add in the vanilla essence and mix well.
6. Pour the custard into a large flat container, the thinner the custard is spread, the better; and place it into the freezer for 20 mins.
7. Take the custard out and divide it into 8 equal parts, roll each part into a ball and place them back into the freezer again; leave for at least 4 hours – I like to leave mine overnight — this part tends to be a little sticky, putting some water on your hands before rolling them helps prevent sticking.

MAKING THE DOUGH

1. Combine flour, sugar and salt – mix well before adding baking powder and yeast.
2. Heat milk over the stove – it will be warm enough when you see small bubbles begin to form; alternatively you could heat for 45secs in a 1000w microwave.
3. Add milk to flour mixture, mix well.
4. Knead with your hands to incorporate the milk and flour properly.
5. Place the dough on a flat, unfloured surface and add cooking oil to the surface to help make the dough smooth – it also helps prevent the dough from sticking to your hands – knead for 3-5 minutes — it is CRUCIAL that you add the oil and knead for at least 3 minutes, this will help the dough proof properly later, and ensure you have soft and fluffy buns!
6. Roll the dough into a large ball (OPTIONAL: pull off a small piece of dough – the size of the circle tht aorms when you pinch your pointer finger and thumb together) flatten it and then cut a + shape into it, then cut a x shape over it – this divides the dough into 8 equal parts, alternatively you could weigh each ball (56g).
7. Set the small piece of dough aside, and roll the 8 parts of dough into smaller spheres.
8. Rest the balls of dough under clingwrap for 5 mins.

MAKING THE CUSTARD BUNS

1. Take a ball of dough and flatten it with your palm until it is roughly 10cm in diametre
2. Take a frozen ball of custard and place it in the centre of the dough, pinch the dough around the base to enclose the custard, roll the bun in your hand to make it nice and round.
3. Repeat step 1-2 for the remaining 7 balls of dough.
4. (OPTIONAL: Using the small piece of dough you set aside earlier, make little ears and snouts of the animals)

STEAMING THE BUNS

1. In the steamer, add hot water from the tap; place the buns on top and let them proof for 30 minutes.
2. Take the buns out; bring the water in the steamer to boil, then place buns back on top, steam for 12 minutes. Turn off the heat, but do NOT open the lid for 5 minutes – this helps prevent wrinkling and collapsing of the buns.
3. (OPTIONAL: allow buns to cool, then draw on the facial features with the icing pen).
4. Take pictures and enjoy!