Custard Bread Rolls

I have baked these soft and mildly sweet custard bread rolls quite a number of times in the past few weeks. Every time I bake these rolls, it gets over so soon and I get more inspired to bake more and more. I am really enjoying the experience of baking home made breads and buns. Though it needs your time and patience, no store bought bun or bread can beat a good home baked one.

It was my search for custard buns that finally ended up in these custard bread rolls. They are a wonderful twist to the custard bun transformed in to a beautiful roll. Trust me these rolls are not that hard to make as they might appear. These soft and mildly sweet custard rolls are a wonderful tea time snack. They are not very sweet. So even if you are not a very sweet loving person, you can enjoy it. It has all the flavors of a good homemade bun and the creamy custard filling makes these rolls taste delicious.

The dough for these bread rolls is very similar to that of the soft dinner rolls that I shared some time back. These are our favorite dinner rolls, so I had no doubts in using it here. You can use a food processor/mixer with dough hook attachment to knead the dough that makes your work easier. If not knead it on a clean countertop with your hands for about 15 to 20 minutes.

I remember the first experience of making custard that was not a very happy ending. Thanks to my impatience:) I cooked it on high flame and got a curdled mess. Though it tasted not bad, the curdled custard was not very appealing to see . I learned it the hard way that custard should be cooked on a low flame for a good amount of time to get a smooth and creamy texture. The next attempt I took my time and made it and the outcome was well worth all that time and patience.

I encourage you to try these delicious bread rolls and do let me know your feedback:). You can make these as custard buns too. Check the Notes section for more tips and details.

Ingredients: (Yields 12 rolls)

For custard filling:

1. Egg yolk 2
2. Milk 1cup
3. Corn starch 2 tbsp.
4. Sugar 6 tbsp.
5. Salt a pinch
6. Unsalted butter softened to room temperature 2 tbsp. (28 gm)
7. Vanilla extract 1 tsp.

For dough:

1. All-purpose flour/Bread flour 2¼ cup loosely packed (130*2¼=292.5 gm)
2. Warm milk     ½ cup (125ml)
3. Yeast  1 tsp.(I used active dry yeast. See Tip No:1)
4. Unsalted butter softened 3 tbsp.(43 g)
5. Sugar  2 tbsp.
6. Egg  at room temperature       1
7. Salt       1/2 tsp.        
8. Egg wash
   • Egg 1
   • Milk 1 tsp.                                     

Method:

For custard filling:

1. Heat milk in a saucepan, stirring in between to avoid forming a film, just until it comes to a boil. Switch off flame.

2. In a medium sized bowl, mix sugar, corn starch and salt.
   

3. Add beaten egg to the sugar-corn starch mixture and mix well using a whisk until it is creamy and lightened in color.

4. Gradually add 1/4 cup of hot milk to the egg-sugar-corn starch mixture stirring constantly to avoid cooking of eggs. Once it is mixed, add remaining milk to it and mix well.

5. Transfer the mixture to the saucepan and cook it on low flame for about 15 to 20 minutes until the mixture thickens and have a pudding like consistency. Switch off flame.

6. Add vanilla extract and softened butter and mix well.

7. Transfer it to a bowl and cover it with a plastic wrap lightly touching the surface to avoid forming a skin on top. Once lightly cooled, refrigerate it for about 30 minutes or until ready to use.

For dough:

1. Add yeast and sugar to warm milk. (Read tip no:1). Let it sit for 5 to 10 minutes until it is frothy to activate yeast(blooming).

2. Next add egg and salt to the milk yeast mixture and mix well.

3. Add the above wet mixture to all-purpose flour and mix well with a spatula to form a soft shaggy dough.

4. Pour the dough to a clean surface/countertop and add softened butter to it and knead well for around 15 to 20 mins until the dough is soft . When the dough is well kneaded, it forms a transparent thin membrane when stretched with hands, with no tear. While kneading if the dough is very sticky, add 1tbsp. more flour. (Read tip no:2)

5. Place the dough in a greased bowl covered with a clean kitchen towel/plastic wrap/aluminum foil in a warm environment. Let it double in size. This will take around 1 to 2 hrs.

6. Now punch down the dough. Divide the dough in to 12 equal pieces.

7. Roll each piece in to the shape of a round ball with a smooth top surface tucking the edges on the bottom.

8. Roll the round ball in to an oval shape with a thickness of about 1/4 inch(about 5 to 6 inch long) using a rolling pin.

9. Add 1tsp of custard cream filling on top portion not touching the edges.

10. Now stretch the top edge and fold it over the filling and pinch it well to seal the edges so that filling does not leak out.

11. Make thin strips on the lower side with a knife without disturbing the sealing on the top.

12. Fold it downwards to form a roll and bend it to form a curve.

13. Place it in a baking tray lined with parchment paper. Cover it with a plastic wrap, aluminum foil or a clean kitchen towel and let it sit for 20 to 30 minutes.

14. Preheat oven at 350-degree Fahrenheit/180 degree Celsius 10 minutes before baking.

15. Prepare egg wash by beating an egg and 1 tsp of milk. Apply egg wash on top of the rolls using a brush or back of the spoon.

16. Bake the rolls for 20-22 minutes or until golden brown on top.  
    

Notes:

1. I used Red Star Active dry yeast. If you are using instant dry yeast, just mix it with warm milk and sugar and continue with step 2 without waiting it to bloom.
2. Always use good quality fresh yeast for best results.
3. While kneading the dough, the dough will be sticky in the beginning. It takes about 5 to 7 minutes of kneading to get the dough non sticky. If the dough is still very sticky, add 1 tbsp. more of flour.
4. If your dough is very hard, you can add 1 tsp of milk.
5. There was some leftover custard filling with the above measurement which we just enjoyed like a pudding.
6. Cook custard filling on low flame to avoid curdling.
7. After adding the custard filling, seal the edges properly to avoid leakage of custard.
8. Do not add too much custard filling as it may leak out.
9. You can refrigerate the leftover custard bread rolls. Reheat it before use.
10. You can use the same dough to make custard buns too. In step 8, roll the round ball in to a circle of 4 to 5 inch diameter. Place about 2 tsp of the custard filling in the middle and tuck all the edges together. Now continue the steps from step 13.