Sweet Potato And Cherry Buns
Who wouldn’t want to try these small, golden glazed, rich, sweet potato and cherry filled buns? These flavourful buns are easy to make, perfect for family dinners and a great option to gift. Can be made vegan too!
These buns can be stuffed with a whole lot of other fruits or veggies too. For example, you can use apple, pear, carrot, beetroot or strawberry to make the filling, instead of sweet potato. However, try to use a flavour that is most suited to the fruit or vegetable you are using. I prefer cinnamon/nutmeg with apple/pear and cardamom with carrot/beetroot. Needless to say, you can experiment according to your choice.
Perfectly sweetened, sweet potato and cherry buns are a must try for this festive season!
Ingredients
BUN:
Warm milk – 1 1/4 cup (see note 1 for alternatives)
Sugar – 2 tbsp
Dry yeast – 1/2 tbsp
All purpose flour – 3 cups
Salt – a pinch
Butter/vegan butter (at room temperature) – 3 tbsp
Nutmeg powder – 1/8 tsp
Cinnamon powder – 1/8 tsp
Water – as required
SWEET POTATO AND CHERRY FILLING:
Butter/vegan butter – 1 1/2 tbsp
Sweet potato (grated) – 1 1/2 cup (tightly packed)
Brown sugar – 3 tbsp
Roughly chopped glazed cherries – 1/2 cup (see note 4 for a healthier alternative)
Almond meal – 1/4 cup
Nutmeg powder – 1/4 tsp
Yield
12 to 14 medium sized buns
Prep time
2.5 hrs
Cook time
40 mins
Method
1) In a large bowl take 1 cup warm milk. Add sugar. Mix. Then add dry yeast and mix again. Cover and set aside for 5 mins.
2) After 5 mins, the yeast-milk mixture will be frothy meaning the yeast is activated. Now add salt, nutmeg and cinnamon powder and 2 tbsp butter to this and mix well.
3) Now add the flour and start mixing gently. Add the remaining milk little by little to form a dough (if required, add some water). Once the dough comes together reasonably well (the dough will be sticky at this point), transfer it to a counter top dusted with flour.
4) Start kneading the dough with your greased palm. Don’t add more flour to reduce the stickiness. Continue stretching and kneading the dough to activate the gluten. After 5 to 7 mins of kneading, the dough will become very soft, smooth and non-sticky.
5) Lift the dough from your counter top, gently stretch from the sides and tuck it at the back and form a smooth ball. Keep it in a reasonably large greased bowl (the dough will rise to double its size) and apply 1 tbsp of butter on the surface. Cover the bowl with a cling wrap/damp cloth or a firm lid. Place this bowl with the dough in a warm, dry place. Let it rest for 2 hours for the first proofing.
6) While the dough is kept for first proofing, you can make the sweet potato and cherry filling. Heat a pan, add butter, let it melt. When butter starts melting, add grated sweet potato and saute for 5 mins. Stir frequently to avoid the sweet potato sticking to the bottom of the pan.
7) After 5 mins, add brown sugar and saute for a further 2 to 3 mins. Then add chopped glazed cherries and nutmeg powder and mix. Now add almond meal and mix completely. The filling will come together and hold shape at this point. If it is slightly sticky, add a tsp or more of almond meal to bring it to the desired consistency. Remove from heat and let it come to room temperature. Divide the filling into 12 to 14 portions and make it into small balls. Set aside.
8) After 2 hours the dough ball should have doubled in size. Grease your hands and gently punch it to remove the excess air. Now transfer the dough onto your counter top again. Gently knead for a minute. Roll the dough into a cylindrical shape and divide it into 12 to 14 portions (as many sweet potato balls as you have).
9) Grease and line a round 30 cm baking tray with parchment/baking paper. Now take one portion of the dough, make a dent in the middle. Place one portion of the sweet potato filling in this dent. Bring the edges together in pleats and pinch them together in the middle to seal the filling completely like a dumpling. Gently roll the stuffed dough balls in your palm and smoothen them out. Continue the same process to make all the buns ready for the next process.
10) Gently place the stuffed buns in the prepared baking tray, leaving enough space between 2 buns to allow them to expand during the second proofing. Cover the tray with a clean kitchen cloth and place it in a warm place in the kitchen for the second proofing. Let it sit for 20 mins or so. Preheat the oven to 180˚.
11) After 20 mins the dough balls will double in size again. Now brush the top surface of the buns gently with a generous amount of milk (mix almond/soy/oat milk with maple syrup/agave – 2 portions milk and 1 portion maple syrup/agave for the vegan version). Place the tray in the middle rack of your oven along with a bowl of water on the side and bake at 180˚ for around 35-40 mins (or until the top surface of the buns turn golden).
12) After 35 mins remove the tray from the oven. Dab the top surface of the sweet potato and cherry buns with butter, and allow them to cool for 10 mins. Remove from the baking tray and carefully place on a wire rack to cool completely. After they cool, store in an airtight box. Warm up the sweet potato and cherry buns before serving.
Notes
- You can use any vegan milk in this recipe. Even coconut milk, with its strong taste, will go well with this recipe. Similarly, the vegan butter you choose should be suitable for baking purpose. Due to some amount of water content in vegan butter and the chemical composition, all brands may not be suited for baking. So choose a brand that is suitable for baking.
- The sweet potato filling should be reasonably firm and not runny. If it’s too wet, increase the amount of almond meal accordingly. On the other hand, if you feel that the stuffing is slightly dry, then add a couple of teaspoons of honey/maple syrup (don’t add water) to the filling to bring it to desired consistency.
- I’ve used glazed cherries in this recipe, which is processed cherries in sugar syrup. For a healthier option you can use fresh cherries in this recipe. Choose fully ripe cherries and add 2 or 3 more tbsp of sugar while making the filling. (Add 2tbsp of chopped raisins to increase the sweetness but want to reduce the added sugar content).
- If you are a fan of stuffed buns (which you will be after making this recipe), check out my Mango Crater Bun recipe too!
Beginners’ tips
- Always use a fresh stock of yeast while baking any kind of bread/bun. Old or stale yeast may not activate properly and will make your bread flat, dense and hard.
- Use lukewarm milk to activate the yeast. Cold milk will not activate the yeast and hot milk will kill the yeast.
- If you don’t have store bought almond meal, just grind room temperature almonds to a fine powder. Don’t run the mixer continuously. Just pulse a few times and grind in intervals. This is because continuous grinding of nuts might release the oil from them and make it stick to the sides of the mixer jar. To get smooth powdered nuts, always use room temperature nuts and pulse/grind in intervals until powdered fully.
- Correct measurements and proper proofing are very important for baking bread. So follow both without compromising even a bit. Choose a warm, dry place in your house to proof the dough.
