Recipe: Melon Tapioca Sweet Bread Buns

This is quite an unusual bread which draws inspiration from the famous Melon Pan in Japan. What sets this apart from other filled breads is the addition of tapioca pearls to the melon filling ... quite unusual indeed. The sweet bread is a basic Chinese baked bun recipe from Martin Yan.

For Bread:
1/4 c water (105 F)
1 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp active dry yeast
2 c all purpose flour
2 c bread flour
1 c + 1 tbsp warm milk
1/3 c warm water
1/2 c + 2 tbsp sugar
4 tbsp unsalted butter, softened
1 egg
eggwash

For Cookie dough:
1 + 1/4 c. flour
1 pinch baking powder
2/3 c. butter , softened
10 Tbs. sugar
1 egg (can use just the white)

For Filling:
Melon Pulp
Cream
Milk
1 egg yolk
Sugar
Corn Syrup
Vanilla
Flour slurry
Tapioca pearls (the mini variety)


Procedure:

Mix all bread ingredients and knead. Let rise 2 hours. Mix all Cookie Dough ingredients. Spread into a thin square on plastic wrap and freeze. To make filling, add cream and milk in a sauce pan and bring to a simmer. Beat egg yolk with sugar. Temper with heated liquid and add to the rest of the cream and milk. Add corn syrup and vanilla. Add tapioca pearls. Cook stirring constantly until tapioca pearls are soft. Thicken with flour slurry then mix in melon pulp. Let cool until filling is fairly stiff.

Roll out bread dough. Cut out circles then fill each with filling. Form into balls and let rise at least 1 hour. Take out cookie dough and cut into thin strips. Brush risen dough balls with egg wash and place cookie dough strips on each in a criss cross pattern. Brush again with egg wash then sprinkle lightly with sugar. Bake at 350 degreees F until lightly brown. Do not overbake! Done!