Rotiboy is a delicious Malaysian mall-bakery coffee bun, that I believe were taken from a traditional Mexican treat. They are extremely unvegan, but extremely irresistible when you are at Simpang Lima Mall in Semarang Indonesia, half starved but determined to use the internet. The nice thing about Rotiboy, is you don't need to speak any language, just hold up fingers for however many buns you want, because the bun (with no variation) is the only thing Rotiboy sells. This morning I woke up thinking about Rotiboy. I am going to Haiti tomorrow to do some relief work, and so I made these for dessert after my going-away dinner. They are a work in progress, but it tastes like Rotiboy. The recipe is a 3-parter-- dough, filling, topping.
Dough:
4 c. flour
1/2 c. sugar
2 T. Earth Balance, softened
about 1 c. Plain Almond Milk
2 t. active yeast
1 t. salt
Ener-G egg replacer for 1 egg (1 heaping tsp + the recommended amount of water)
Proof yeast in a mug with some sugar and a little bit of the milk warmed, set aside to do it's thing. Sift 4c. flour into a bowl, add sugar and salt. Stir in the liquid ingredients. Knead in the butter. Dough should be smooth and stretchy, not sticky. Add more milk or flour accordingly. Knead for approximately 10 minutes. Separate dough into round balls a little bigger than a golf ball (I was able to make 17)... let them rest for about 10 minutes while you make the filling.
Filling:
1/3 c. loosely packed light brown sugar,
7 T. Earth Balance stick, softened (use all but 1 T... it makes sense when the recipe is complete)
1/2 t. vanilla
Mix the three ingredients with a hand mixer. The butter has to be quite soft, but NOT MELTY. I turn on the oven for 30 seconds and then turn it off and put the butter inside to facilitate butter softening in our frigid home. Set aside.
So by now, your dough has rested. Smoosh each ball down (about the size of a coaster?) and spoon a dollop (shooter marble sized?) of the butter filling into the middle. If you have leftover, add a little more to each one. Use it all up. You won't be sorry.
Next, close them up. I folded mine in the middle (like a taco) and then folded each side in and sealed the edges, then I manipulated the shape so they were rounded squares. Place them on a cookie sheet with tin foil underneath and let rest for 45 minutes somewhere toasty (again, I used the oven trick).
While they are resting, make the topping.
Topping:
The topping is THE most important, the original recipe called for 3 eggs, and this is certainly where there is the most room for improvement. Sam claims my only problem was that I didn't use enough topping per bun, I thought it was a little... dry. And less melty in your mouth...
2 T. instant coffee dissolved in 1 T. warm water
1.5 c. powdered sugar
3/4 c. flour, sifted
1/2 t. cinnamon
7 T. Earth Balance stick, softened
Almond Milk as needed (since I didn't put in eggs. Maybe a higher fat milk (coconut milk?) would help with the dryness)
Mix together the dry ingredients, stir in the wet ingredients, use a mixer to whip them up. The consistency should be like really thick frosting. Load this business into a pastry bag or a ziploc with the tip cut off and squeeze it onto the top of the buns right before you cook them. I thought the icing would spread out a little as it got warmer and cover the entire surface of the bun, but it didn't.
Bake at 400 degrees for 12-15 minutes, until the top is brown.
