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1
Gently rinse the salt off the cherry blossoms, and pat them dry with paper towels.
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2
Divide the anko into 8 portions and form them into balls.
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3
Cover with plastic wrap.
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4
Each portion weighs about 30 g.
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5
Put all the bread dough ingredients in the main bread machine compartment except for the yeast, and put the dry yeast in the yeast container.
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6
Press Start.
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7
The program to use will vary depending on your bread machine.
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8
Choose the one that will allow you to take the dough out after the 1st rising to form as you please.
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9
After the program is done (after the 1st rising), take the dough out.
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10
Weigh the dough and divide into 8 equal portions.
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11
Round each portion of into a smooth ball.
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12
For reference: The entire amount of dough weighs about 400 g, and 1 portion is about 50 g for a total of 8 portions.
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13
Cover the balls of dough with a tightly wrung out moistened kitchen towel so that they don't dry out.
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14
Leave to rest for 10 minutes.
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15
Press the dough balls evenly to deflate them and to make then about 10 cm in diamater.
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16
Put a ball of anko in the center.
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17
Make sure the thickness of the dough is even all over!
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18
Bring the top and bottom edges of the dough over the filling first.
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19
Then bring the left and right sides over the filling in the same way.
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20
Pinch the dough tightly sealed.
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21
Put the buns on a kitchen parchment paper lined baking tray with the seam sides down.
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22
Repeat for all 8 buns.
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23
Keep the dough covered with the moist kitchen towel as you work.
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24
Cover the dough on the tray with a piece of canvas.
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25
When all the buns are formed, press lightly down on each bun.
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26
If you do this with the canvas covering the buns, the surface will be nice and smooth.
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27
Put some bread flour (not listed in the ingredients) on your finger, and make a dent in the middle of each bun.
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28
Press down to about 1/3 of the depth of the bun.
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29
If you press straight down with your finger the dough may tear, so go in a bit diagonally to make the dent.
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30
Put a cherry blossom in the dent.
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31
Repeat for all 8 buns.
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32
Cover the buns with the piece of canvas cloth and then a tightly wrung out moistened kitchen towel.
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33
Leave to rise (2nd rising) for 15 minutes at 40C Preheat the oven to 40C beforehand.
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34
After letting the buns rise in the oven for 15 minutes, leave to rise for 10 to 15 minutes at room temperature.
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35
You need to take the buns out before they are done rising since the oven needs to be preheated for baking.
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36
Preheat the oven to 200C.
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37
Start preheating it once you have taken the tray of buns out of the oven.
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38
The buns should rise enough that they are about doubled in volume.
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39
This is the same even if you let them rise at room temperature for the whole 2nd rising.
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40
Brush the surface of the buns with egg wash. Brush them down to the bottom for a nice looking finish after baking.
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41
Bake in a 200C oven for about 12 minutes, or 12 to 14 minutes.
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42
Check the buns after 12 minutes.
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43
Take them out once they are as browned as you want them to be.
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44
Cool the baked buns on a cooling rack.
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45
When they have cooled down, they're done!
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46
The buns look like this when you cut into them.
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47
The dough is pressed out in Step 8 in order to ensure the anko filling is distributed nicely, so be sure to press the dough out evenly.
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48
When adding the dry yeast and flour etc.
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49
to the bread machine, make sure the yeast and salt are not touching each other.
