Melon pan

Yield 10 buns · Scaling: source batch only

Method

1. For the hand-kneaded ten-bun version, whisk together 225 g bread flour, 25 g cake flour, 1 teaspoon Diamond Crystal kosher salt and 3 tablespoons sugar, then whisk in 1 1/4 teaspoons instant yeast. Add one beaten large egg and 50 mL whole milk plus 50 mL water, both at 86°F/30°C. Mix with a spatula or fingers for about 2 minutes until a sticky ball forms. Transfer it to a lightly dusted surface; knead by hand for about 5 minutes, rotating, folding and pressing the dough. Dust hands and surface with small amounts of extra bread flour only as needed; the source gives no quantity.
2. Stretch the dough into a log about 10 inches/25 cm long, spread 35 g room-temperature butter over it and roll it up to enclose the butter. Continue kneading by hand, using the scraper to gather sticky dough from the surface; then slam and fold the dough for about 10 minutes until smooth and elastic. Test a stretched piece for a thin windowpane, kneading another 2 minutes and retesting if it tears. Shape into a ball, cover and let it rise until doubled, about 1–2 hours in the author’s 100°F/38°C oven proof setting.
3. While the bread dough rises, mash 60 g room-temperature butter smooth with a silicone spatula, blend in 100 g sugar, then add the beaten egg a little at a time. Sift in 200 g cake flour and 1/2 teaspoon baking powder and mix only until incorporated. Form a ball, weigh the biscuit dough and divide it into ten pieces of about 40–41 g each. Round the pieces, cover and chill for 10 minutes.
4. Once the bread dough has doubled, dust a finger with the extra bread flour and use the source’s poke test; if the dent closes immediately, give the dough more time. Deflate it on a lightly floured surface, fold the sides and ends inward, turn seam-side down and round it. Weigh and divide the dough into ten portions of about 46–47 g; round them, cover and rest for 15 minutes. While they rest, roll the chilled biscuit portions into rounds about 4 inches/10–12 cm across. Flatten each bread portion, fold top and bottom inward and then left and right, pinch the ends together and round it. Wrap a biscuit round around each bun, leaving the base uncovered. Roll the tops in the 2 tablespoons sugar and score a shallow crosshatch about 3 mm deep.
5. Set the shaped buns on a lined tray and proof until they reach about one-and-a-half times their original size, around 50 minutes in the author's 100°F/38°C proof setting. When the buns are halfway through this rise, preheat the oven to 350°F/180°C with the rack in the middle position. If using the oven for proofing, move the tray to another warm place before preheating. Bake for 13–15 minutes, until the biscuit crust is light golden; rotate the tray once near the end if they are browning unevenly. Transfer to a wire rack and cool for 5 minutes before serving. Once fully cool, the source suggests wrapping each bun and refrigerating for up to 3 days or freezing for up to a month; these are the author's storage directions, not independently validated safety limits.

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