Bo Lo Baau (Pineapple Buns Straight Dough Method)

Ingredients

Dough:
250 g Bread flour
20 g Milk powder
120 ml 3.5% Milk, warm
30 g Honey
3-4 g Active dry yeast
1/2 Egg
Pinch of salt
15 g Butter
150 g Poppy paste (optional)
Topping:
3 tbsp Castor sugar
0.5 g Powdered baking ammonia
0.5 g Baking soda
80 g All-purpose flour
2 tsp Milk powder
55 g Shortening
2 tsp Egg, beaten
A few drops of pale lemon colouring

Method

1.Dissolve sugar with warm milk in a mixing bowl. Sprinkle dry yeast over and let proof for about 10 minutes. Add in bread flour and egg. Stir at low speed until a rough dough ball formed. Stir in salt and butter until evenly dispersed. Increase the speed to medium and knead the dough until a soft and elastic dough has formed. The dough should pass the windowpane test. (stretching the dough to see if it thins out).
2.Turn onto floured surface and knead briefly, then form into a dough ball. Place it in lightly greased bowl. Cover with a plastic wrap and place the whole container in a warm bath (35C/95F) 45 minutes, until nearly double in size. Coat one of your fingers with flour, then press it gently into the center of risen dough to the bottom. If the indentation remains, the dough is ready. Punch down the dough and divide into 9 equal pieces, roll each piece into a ball. Cover with a plastic wrap and let rest for 10 minutes. Flatten each dough, with the seam side down. Turn and wrap in poppy fillings. Place them on a baking tray lined with parchment paper. Cover and let rise for about 35 minutes. Preheat the oven to 200C/400F.
3.At the meantime, combine together sugar, baking ammonia and baking soda in a bowl. Sift in the flour and milk powder. Add in the rest of ingredients and mix till all incorporated. On a plastic wrap, flatten each pineapple topping to round, about the size of each dough bun. Place them on the dough bun and lightly score with a toothpick to create checked surface, which resembles a pineapple. Brush on egg wash and bake at 200C/400F for about 16 minutes on middle rack.