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French Toast Cinnamon Buns

Cinnamon buns made with milk bread dough and dipped in vanilla custard
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Ingredients
  

Tangzhong

  • 50 g (3 Tbsp) water
  • 50 g (3 Tbsp) whole milk
  • 20 g (3 Tbsp) bread flour

Milk Bun Dough

  • 35 g (2 1/2 Tbsp) whole milk
  • 1 large egg
  • 245 g (1 3/4 cups + 2 Tbsp) bread flour
  • 4 g (1 1/2 tbsp) active dry yeast
  • 40 g (3 Tbsp) sugar
  • 5 g (1 tsp) salt
  • 70 g (5 Tbsp) unsalted butter softened
  • 1 large egg for egg wash

Spiced Butter

  • 120 g (1/2 cup) unsalted butter room temperature
  • 60 g (1/4 cup) demerara sugar or turbinado sugar
  • 60 g (1/4 g) light brown sugar
  • 2 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1 tsp ground cardamon
  • 1/2 tsp flaky sea salt

Cinnamon Bun Custard

  • 200 g (3/4 cup + 2 Tbsp) whole milk
  • 2 large eggs
  • 20 g (2 Tbsp) sugar
  • 4 tsp dark spiced rum
  • 1 vanilla pod, scraped or 1 tbsp vanilla bean paste

Instructions
 

For the tangzhong:

  • Whisk water, milk, and flour together in a small saucepan. Place over medium-low heat on the stove.
  • Cook, whisking constantly, until the mixture thickens into a pudding-like consistency and you can leave lines in the mixture, about 5 minutes. You might be tempted to walk away from the mixture at the beginning when it's taking a while to thicken, but don't - it will come together surprisingly quickly and you don't want it to overcook. If you want, you can check the temperature - it's finished when it reaches 65 degrees C (149 degrees F), but I don't find it necessary.
  • Place tangzhong in bowl of a stand mixer and let cool until you can comfortably touch it before continuing with the dough.

For the milk bun dough:

  • Add milk and egg on top of the tangzhong. Then add the flour, yeast, sugar, and salt without mixing yet.
  • With the dough hook attachment, mix all the ingredients together until it comes together into a soft, sticky dough, about 8-10 minutes. If you pull on the dough, it should stretch a bit before it breaks.
  • Add in the butter 1 teaspo0n at a time and mix to incorporate. Continue beating the dough for about 6-8 minutes until the dough is smooth and elastic. You should be able to stretch the dough out fairly thin without it breaking (the windowpane test). If it breaks right away when you try to stretch, mix it for a couple more minutes and try again.
  • Turn out the dough into an oiled tray and cover with plastic wrap. Place in refrigerator and let proof overnight. You can also place in the freezer instead and chill for 30 minutes, then in the refrigerator for 1 hour, if you don't want to wait overnight.

For the spiced butter:

  • Mix the softened butter with the sugars, salt, ground cardamon, and ground cinnamon in a medium bowl until well combined. Set aside.

To make the buns:

  • Take out the dough from the refrigerator. Roll out on a lightly floured surface to about 16"x10".
  • Spread 100g/7 tablespoons of the spiced butter over the dough.
  • Perform a single letter fold, folding one third of the dough over the center third, then folding the other third over the center. Wrap in plastic and place in the freezer for about 10 minutes or the refrigerator for about 30 minutes to firm up.
  • Rotate dough 90 degrees so the long side is closest to you. Roll out the dough to 16"x10" again.
  • Spread the remainder of the spiced butter over the dough. Perform another single letter fold. It will be about 10"x6". Roll out slightly so it is 12"x6".
  • Rotate dough 90 degrees, so the long side is closest to you, and slice into 1 1/4" wide strips.
  • Cut each strip into three lengths, leaving about 1 inch uncut at the end so the three strips will stay connected there.
  • Braid the three lengths of dough. Then roll the dough up into a bun, tucking the ends of the strips into the bun.
  • Place into a cupcake/muffin tin. Repeat the process again with the other strips of dough.
  • Lightly cover the tin and let proof in a warm corner of the kitchen for about an hour, until risen and puffy.
  • Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
  • Brush the proofed buns with egg wash and bake for 18-22 minutes, until buns are golden. Let the buns cool in the tin for 5-10 minutes while you make the cinnamon bun custard.
  • Whisk all the ingredients for the cinnamon bun custard together in a small bowl.
  • Dip each bun into the cinnamon bun custard, making sure to absorb as much of the custard as possible. Place each bun back into the tin.
  • Bake for another 10 minutes at 375 degrees F.
  • Remove the buns carefully from the tin and let cool on wire rack. They are best served warm. You can refrigerate them and reheat at 350 degrees F for 10 minutes.