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Melon Pan Recipe | Disney's Big Hero 6

Laura - Flavour of the Film
Delightful melon pan recipe for 12 super soft and fluffy Japanese sweet buns, topped with biscuit that is decorated to look like Baymax, celebrating Disney's Big Hero 6.
Prep Time 25 minutes
Cook Time 25 minutes
Proving time 1 hour 45 minutes
Total Time 2 hours 35 minutes
Course Snack
Cuisine Japanese
Servings 12

Ingredients
  

Melon pan dough:

  • 600 g [3¾ cups] strong white bread flour
  • 40 g [3 tbsp + 1 tsp] caster sugar
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 14 g [4 ½ tsp or 2 sachets] fast action dried yeast
  • 60 g [2 oz] unsalted butter
  • 140 ml [5.25 oz] milk
  • 1 large egg
  • 140 ml [5 oz] water
  • Oil for greasing
  • 1 medium egg lightly beaten for brushing

Melon pan biscuit/cookie dough:

  • 100 g [3.5 oz] unsalted butter
  • 140 g [½ cup + 3 tbsp] caster sugar
  • 1 large egg
  • White liquid food colouring oil based
  • 320 g [2 cups] plain [all-purpose] flour
  • ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda [baking soda]
  • Black edible ink pen / black liquid food colouring / melted chocolate

Instructions
 

Melon pan dough:

  • Lightly grease a large mixing bowl with your oil. Set aside.
  • In a small heatproof bowl, melt the butter in the microwave for 30 seconds until completely melted. Set aside.
  • Sieve the flour into a large clean mixing bowl. Add the salt, sugar and yeast. Make sure the yeast and salt do NOT touch yet.
  • In a heatproof bowl or jug, warm the milk in the microwave for 20 - 30 seconds. You want it to be warm to the touch, but not hot.
  • Mix your dry ingredients in the bowl until evenly distributed. Add the melted butter, milk and water. Whisk the egg in a separate bowl and then add to the mix.
  • If using a standing mixer with a dough hook attached, knead the dough on a medium speed for around 10 minutes. Your dough will be ready when it is smooth, shiny, less tacky to touch and bouncy.
  • If kneading by hand, bring the mixture together into a shaggy ball of dough using a wooden spoon. Then, tip out onto a clean and lightly floured surface. Avoid adding too much flour as you knead - use a scraper or large knife to pull the dough away from the surface as needed.
  • Knead by hand for around 10 minutes. The gluten in your dough will be well developed once the dough is smooth, shiny and bouncy. If you press your finger into the dough lightly and it springs back half or most of the way back, it’s ready.
  • Place your ball of dough into your lightly oiled bowl. Cover with cling film/plastic wrap/beeswax paper and leave to prove for 1 hour, until well risen and doubled in size. This will depend on the temperature of your kitchen. If your kitchen feels quite cold, place the bowl of dough in an airing cupboard or in the oven (turned off) for more isolated heat.

Shaping:

  • When your dough has doubled in size, tip it out onto a clean and lightly floured surface. Knock the air out by kneading it very briefly.
  • Line 2 baking trays with greaseproof paper/baking parchment and set aside.
  • Begin dividing your dough equally into 12 pieces. Each should weigh around 84g.
  • Shape the dough into balls by smoothing over with your thumb and tucking the dough in underneath itself so that you have a smooth surface. This doesn’t have to be perfect!
  • Place 6 balls onto each tray. Cover with cling film/plastic wrap/beeswax paper and leave to rise again for around 45 minutes. Again, this depends on the temperature of your kitchen. Feel free to put them back in the airing cupboard/oven (turned off) if needed.

Melon pan biscuit/cookie dough:

  • While your buns are in their second prove, make your biscuit dough.
  • In a large mixing bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
  • Add the egg and beat in until fully incorporated.
  • Squeeze in some white food colouring and mix in. Add as much as you want - just be mindful that the colour will develop over time. I put around 2 tsp in.
  • Sieve in the flour. Add the bicarbonate of soda and mix in until a dough has formed.
  • Gather the dough and wrap it in cling film/plastic wrap/beeswax paper. Set aside. This dough does not need to be refrigerated.

Construction:

  • Nearing the end of the second prove, preheat your oven to 170°C [340°] or 150°C fan.
  • The buns should have doubled in size when ready and spring back halfway when pressed on lightly with your finger.
  • On a clean and lightly floured surface, roll out your cookie dough until around ¼ inch in thickness. Find a round cookie cutter that is the closest size you can match to the size of your buns. Don’t worry if it’s a little smaller, we can adapt. If it’s a little bigger, that works too!
  • Cut 12 circles out of your cookie dough. If they are a little small, very gently roll them out with a rolling pin until they are a little bigger. Don’t stress if they aren’t perfect circles anymore!
  • Remove the covering from your buns. Beat an egg in a small bowl lightly and then brush the egg over each bun. Try to keep the egg from running down the sides - start lightly with the egg, then add more if needed.
  • Very carefully lift the biscuit circles from your work surface and place each one onto a bun, pressing down onto the egg to secure the biscuit to the bread dough. If needed, use a knife angled down to the work surface under the biscuit to ease it from the surface.
  • Tuck the biscuit dough gently around the bun. Avoid pulling and pressing too hard here as you could easily rip the biscuit dough.
  • Using a very sharp knife, gently score a criss cross pattern across the biscuit dough on each bun. Start with stripes going down, then stripes going across.

Baking:

  • Sprinkle the buns with caster or granulated sugar if desired, then bake on the middle shelves of your preheated oven for 20 - 25 minutes. Make sure to cover the buns with a sheet of tin [aluminium] foil about 5 minutes into the baking process to prevent discolouration!
  • Your buns will be ready when the biscuit feels dry to the touch; the buns (underneath the biscuit) are a golden colour, and you hear a hollow sound when you tap the top and underneath sides of the buns.
  • Once baked, leave to cool for a couple of minutes on the trays before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. This won’t take long!
  • When your buns are completely cool, draw/paint/pipe Baymax’s features onto each bun. If piping, pour the melted chocolate into a piping bag or sandwich bag with a very small part of the end cut off for precision.

Notes

This delicious melon pan recipe yields 12 perfectly sized sweet buns. They are best enjoyed on the day of baking, but will last for around 3 more days. With each day that passes, the buns will lose their light texture and the biscuit will soften more so try to consume them within 2 days. Eat your melon pan buns as they are, friends. They are tasty in the traditional way of eating: nothing extra added. Enjoy!
Keyword baymax, big hero 6, disney, japanese melon pan, melon pan, melon pan recipe, sweet bread