notes

(Called tangzhong).

It’s a technique that gelatinizes the starches in flour allowing it to absorb more moisture, hence the final baked product will have more moisture making it softer and stay softer for longer.

The tangzhong takes just a minute and is well worth it.

Where many homemade breads can be starting to stale before days end, these stay softer for up to 2 days.

It’s a very easy dough to make and there is the standard rising times required for the first proof and then for proofing the individual buns.

You can make them the day before serving and know they’ll still be good the next day.

Make the tangzhong starter: In a small saucepan, whisk together the flour and water.

Heat over medium heat, whisking constantly for a minute or two until it turns into a thick paste.

Set that aside.

Activate the yeast: In the bowl of a stand-mixer (best) combine the milk, yeast and 1 tablespoon of the sugar.

Give it a mix then let it sit for 5 minutes until you see it getting puffy. While instant yeast doesn’t technically need activating, active dry yeast does.

By using this method, no matter what yeast you’re using, you know the yeast is alive and ready to use.

Combine dough: Now add all the other dough ingredients, finishing by adding the tangzhong starter.

Start the mixer on the lowest setting just until the ingredients are combined, then turn it up to level 2 for 8 minutes.

Cover the dough in a large bowl with plastic wrap ad let it rise until about doubled in size.

Roll 12 small balls of dough by turning it in you palm as you continually pinch the sides in toward the bottom, until the tops are smooth.

lace the balls of dough on a baking sheet and let them rise again. Brush them with egg wash, then bake.

Make the cream filling

Cream filling for these maritozzi buns is essentially a Chantilly cream – a combination of cream, sugar and vanilla.

Just combine the cream, sugar and vanilla in a large bowl then beat with an electric mixer to stiff peaks.

Be very careful not to overwhip the cream or it will become grainy.

Take 50% of the whipped cream and fold in vanilla or chocolate pastry cream for the 2nd variety