Baked Custard Bun (Cream Pan)

In a heat-proof mixing bowl, whisk eggs, sugar, corn starch and cake flour together until well combined.

Heat milk in a sauce pan until it just begins to steam. Pour half into the egg mixture, whisking to combine before pouring in the rest and whisking it all together.

Pour the egg and milk mixture back into the sauce pan, cook with medium low heat and whisk slowly and constantly.

Once it starts to thicken (it starts to stick on the whisk), then whisk it quicker until it all thickens up.

Remove the pan from the heat and continue to whisk vigorously for another 30 seconds, this will ensure that you end up with a smooth custard.

Add vanilla extract and butter; stir to combine.

Transfer to a bowl, cover with plastic wrap and store it in the fridge.

Add flour, sugar, condensed milk, milk, water, 25 g of the egg (about half of the egg, store the rest in the fridge for brushing) and yeast into the stand mixer and knead on low speed until the dough is formed.

Cover the mixing bowl and let it rest for 30 minutes (Store it in the fridge if your room temperature is higher than 80°F). Meanwhile, bring the butter out from the fridge, cut it into 4-6 pieces and leave it on the counter to soften a little.

When the dough is done resting, add salt and continue to knead for 30 seconds.

Add butter cubes one piece at a time and knead until the dough is smooth and it passes the windowpane test. (This step takes me about 6-8 minutes, with 5-7 minutes on low speed and 1 minute on medium speed. The actual time it takes you depends on your mixer.)

Form the dough into a ball (it will be very sticky, but if it's too sticky to handle, then add a little bread flour and knead for another 1~2 minutes) and put it in a lightly greased bowl. cover, and let it rise for 1 to 1.5 hours in a warm place (between 80°F to 90°F) until it doubles in size.

Transfer the dough onto a working surface and cut it into 8 even pieces. Form each piece into a ball, cover with greased plastic wrap and let it rest for 10 minutes.

Roll the dough out to a 3"- 4" round, place 30- 40 g ( about 1 scoop / 2 tbsp) of custard in the center of the dough. Lift up two edges (3 and 9 o'clock directions), and quickly pinch them together, do the same thing at the 12 and 6 o'clock directions and then pinch everything else together tightly.

If you would like to make a semi-circle shaped bun, roll the dough put to a oval that's similar to the size of your hand.

Place the custard in the middle, lift up the top part of the dough, stretch and quickly (to prevent the custard from flowing to the edge) fold down before pinching the edge tightly. Make some decorative cuts at the edge if desired.

Put the leftover custard in a piping bag or a zip lock bag for later use.

Place the buns on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or a silicone mat, cover with greased plastic wrap and let it rise in a warm place until it almost doubles in side (about an hour).

In the last 10 minutes of proofing, preheat the oven to 375°F and brush the top of the buns with a thin layer of leftover egg mixture.

Pipe the custard on the surface in a swirl pattern or, optionally, sprinkle some pearl sugar. You can do some decorative cuts on the edge of the semi-circle buns, but don't cut too deep so that the custard won't come out.

When the temperature is reached, put the pan in the oven and bake for 12 minutes or until golden brown. For the ones with custard on top, I would bake for 2 minutes longer with a convection bake function, if available, to achieve a golden brown color.

Transfer the rolls onto a cooling rack. Let it cool for 10 minutes before enjoying.