Baked pineapple buns
For good reason, pineapple buns (bo lo bao) are a very popular dessert. These buns get their name from the fact that the crunchy, sweet top crust closely resembles a crisscross pineapple pattern. Beneath the cookie-like top crust, the soft wheat bun holds a sweet, thick custard filling.
Sweet custard filling in a pineapple bun
Pineapple buns are a big hit with kids (and almost everyone else I know). I remember how my youngest daughter in her preschool days would first lick and nibble the cookie crust from the very top of the bun. Once she was temporarily satiated with the cookie crust layer, she would proceed to “drill down” directly to the sweet creamy custard filling, lapping it up as she went along. The sides of the bun, mostly bread, would be the last to be devoured.
Pineapple buns are often found in Chinese bakeries as well as dim sum restaurants. Some bakeries offer as good, if not better, buns than restaurants.
Where is the recipe for the Pineapple Buns?
I haven’t tried making these myself yet. I don’t know of a good recipe for the pineapple buns version with the custard filling inside (which I highly prefer). But this is a recipe for the version without the filling which should be a lot easier to make – http://www.homemadechinese.com/2009/10/pineapple-buns.html. If you try it, please let me know how it turned out.