Bolo bao
One of Hong Kong's most famous buns, eaten in cha chaan teng cafés with milk tea. The name means “pineapple bun”, though there is no pineapple in it — a crisp crust of buttery cookie dough cracks in the oven into a checkerboard, resembling pineapple skin. Beneath it is a soft, fluffy milk bun. In Hong Kong it is served warm, split, with a thick slab of cold butter inside — that is bolo yau. The contrast of crackly crust and soft centre is what matters most.
Your own work in that: 50 min.
- Kneading 20 min
- Rising 60 min
- Cookie topping 10 min
- Shaping 20 min
- Proving 45 min
- Baking 15 min
- Cooling 10 min
Step by step
0 / 8 doneMake the bun dough
Mix the flour with the sugar, yeast and salt. Add the milk and egg, knead 5 minutes, then add the butter and knead another 10–12 minutes, until smooth, elastic and no longer sticky.
Ingredients: 300 g strong white bread flour · 150 ml lukewarm milk · 1 pcs egg · 45 g sugar · 5 g dried yeast · 4 g salt · 30 g butter, softened
Smooth and elastic — the buns will be fluffy.Leave to rise
Cover the dough and leave somewhere warm an hour, until doubled.
Ingredients: 300 g strong white bread flour · 150 ml lukewarm milk · 1 pcs egg · 45 g sugar · 5 g dried yeast · 4 g salt · 30 g butter, softened
Make the cookie topping
Cream the soft butter with the icing sugar, add the yolk, then the flour with the baking powder, and bring together into a smooth, soft dough. Wrap in film and refrigerate; take it out about 10 minutes before using.
Ingredients: 100 g plain flour · 50 g butter, softened · 60 g icing sugar · 1 pcs egg yolk · ½ tsp baking powder · 1 pcs egg yolk for glazing
Shape the buns
Divide the yeast dough into 8 pieces of about 72 g (ideally weigh them) and shape into smooth, tight balls. Set them on a lined tray about 6 cm apart.
Ingredients: 300 g strong white bread flour · 150 ml lukewarm milk · 1 pcs egg · 45 g sugar · 5 g dried yeast · 4 g salt · 30 g butter, softened
Prove
Cover the buns loosely with film and leave 45 minutes, until clearly risen. Towards the end heat the oven to 190°C.
Ingredients: 300 g strong white bread flour · 150 ml lukewarm milk · 1 pcs egg · 45 g sugar · 5 g dried yeast · 4 g salt · 30 g butter, softened
Cover with the topping
Divide the topping into 8 (about 28 g each). Flatten each between two sheets of film into a disc about 9 cm across and about 4 mm thick, then lay it gently on a risen bun and press lightly so it covers the top.
Ingredients: 100 g plain flour · 50 g butter, softened · 60 g icing sugar · 1 pcs egg yolk · ½ tsp baking powder · 1 pcs egg yolk for glazing
A disc on top — it spreads by itself in the oven.Score a crosshatch
Score the topping in a crosshatch with a knife, shallowly, without cutting into the bun. Brush with beaten yolk and put the buns straight into the oven.
Ingredients: 100 g plain flour · 50 g butter, softened · 60 g icing sugar · 1 pcs egg yolk · ½ tsp baking powder · 1 pcs egg yolk for glazing
A shallow crosshatch — the crust cracks like a pineapple.Bake and serve warm
Bake 15 minutes, until the crust is golden and cracked. Cool 10 minutes and serve warm — ideally split, with a slab of cold butter inside.
Ingredients: 80 g cold butter, for bolo yau (optional)
Before you start
Bolo yau
Traditionally the warm bun is slit at the side and a thick, cold slab of butter pushed in — it melts at the edges and stays cool in the middle. A Hong Kong café classic.
A crackly crust
Bakeries add milk powder and a pinch of baker's ammonia to the topping for an even crisper, more cracked crust. At home you can swap a tablespoon of the flour for milk powder — the crust gets a milky flavour and better colour.
Storage
Bolo bao is best on the day it is baked — the crust softens over time. The next day warm it 5 minutes in the oven to crisp it up again.
