Summer Berry Pavlova & Custard Milk Buns With Whipped Mascarpone Icing
DIFFICULTY: Medium
PREP TIME: 4 hours / COOK TIME: 30 minutes
Ingredients
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Ingredients ✴
Tangzhong:
3 Tbsp each plain flour & cold water
⅓ cup whole cow’s milk
Milk Bun Dough + Filling:
¾ cup whole cow’s milk
1 large egg + 1 egg yolk, beaten
¼ cup warm water
1 Tbsp instant yeast
3 ⅓ cups plain flour
⅓ cup + 2 Tbsp caster sugar, divided
1 ¼ tsp fine table salt
75g salted butter, softened
1 cup store-bought thick & creamy custard (see tip), room temperature
100g good-quality white chocolate, melted
2 cups frozen or fresh raspberries
1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 beaten egg, for eggwash
Pavlova Topping:
100g good-quality white chocolate, melted
150g Traditional full-fat cream cheese, room temperature
½ cup mascarpone cheese
1 tsp vanilla bean paste
3-4 meringues, crumbled into small pieces
Fresh strawberries, raspberries & boysenberries, to decorate
Directions
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Directions ✴
Tangzhong: Add the flour, water and milk to a small pot and whisk together. Place over medium heat and cook for 3-4 minutes, stirring often with a rubber spatula, until the mixture is very thick and pasty. Remove from the heat and spread the tangzhong over a small plate. Cover the tangzhong directly with a piece of baking paper or cling film and place in the fridge to cool completely.
Milk Bun Dough: Add the milk, egg, egg yolk, water, yeast, flour, ⅓ cup of the sugar, salt and the cooled tangzhong to the bowl of the Panasonic bread maker, in the order of the ingredients listed. Set the bread maker to the basic dough function and press start (it has an initial rest period of roughly 30 minutes). Once the dough has rested and kneaded for 10 minutes, add the butter to the bowl. Close the lid of the bread maker and leave it to finish the basic dough cycle (including the rise/proofing period). Try to avoid opening the lid during the cycle, except for when adding the butter. While the dough is being made, prepare the fillings and toppings.
Fillings: Add the raspberries, remaining 2 Tbsp sugar and lemon juice to a small pot and place on medium-high heat. Once the raspberries are juicy and bubbling, reduce the heat to medium low and continue to simmer for a further 8 minutes, or until the raspberries are reduced slightly and glossy. Transfer to a bowl and set aside in the fridge to cool completely. Reserve 2 Tbsp of the raspberry coulis for the topping and set aside separately.
Combine the custard and melted white chocolate together in a small bowl. Set aside in the fridge for at least 30 minutes before using, so it has time to firm up. Make sure your custard is room temperature when you add the white chocolate, otherwise the chocolate will harden and it will be lumpy. You can warm your custard in the microwave on low power for about 40 seconds before adding the chocolate, if needed.
Pavlova Topping: Add the melted chocolate, cream cheese, mascarpone and vanilla to a large bowl. Using handheld electric beaters, beat on high speed for 1-2 minutes, until smooth and fluffy. Set aside until ready to use - keep it away from direct sunlight.
Assembly: Line a medium, lipped oven tray with baking paper (mine was 25 x 38 cm). Set aside. Once the dough has risen and finished its cycle, turn out onto a floured work surface. Gently knead the dough a few times, then roll the dough out into a rectangle roughly 50 cm x 35 cm. Trim the edges if needed to make a neat-ish rectangle.
Spread the custard mixture evenly over the dough using a palette knife, then dollop the raspberry coulis evenly over the top. Roll the dough up tightly into a cylinder, starting from the longest side of the rectangle. Using a sharp serrated knife warmed under running hot water, cut the cylinder into 8 (for large buns) or 12 (for small buns) even rolls - clean the knife with hot water between each cut, to make it easier to slice. Place the rolls onto the prepared baking tray in a two by four formation (or three by four formation if making 12 buns), spacing them about 2cm apart. Cover with a damp tea towel and set aside to prove again for about 45-60 minutes, or until risen and puffy. Meanwhile, preheat your oven to 180°C fan bake.
Brush the rolls all over with the egg wash, using a clean pastry brush. Bake on the lower-middle oven rack for 25-30 minutes, or until very golden brown and the buns spring back to the touch. Set aside to cool for about 20 minutes. Spread the mascarpone icing on top of the warm scrolls. Drizzle over the 2 Tbsp reserved raspberry coulis and swirl it into the icing. Sprinkle over the crushed meringues and decorate with fresh berries if desired.
Tip* I used Meadow Fresh Thick & Creamy custard. Make sure you buy the thick & creamy variety, not the standard one as this is too runny. I then mixed the custard with 1 tsp vanilla bean paste.