Sourdough Chocolate Marzipan Mantou
Naturally leavened mantou (steamed buns). Chocolatey, nutty, sweet & vegan friendly.
Servings: 8 buns
Ingredients
Dough
- 120 g sourdough starter or discard
- 80 g milk or water or milk of choice
- 15 g vegetable oil
- 30 g granulated sugar
- 10 g cacao powder
- 175 g all purpose flour
- 1/2 tsp baking powder*
Add ins
- 150 g marzipan see below on how to make your own marzipan
Instructions
- Add milk and sugar to a saucepan until the sugar is just dissolved. Transfer to a bowl and add in oil. The mixture should be warm but not too hot for the touch. If it is, let it sit for a few minutes to cool down. Add the sourdough starter to the mixture until evenly dispersed.
- Mix flour, cacao powder and baking soda in another bowl. Add it to the milk mixture until everything is well incorporated. A semi sticky dough should form. Let rest for 30 minutes.
- After resting, knead the dough until smooth. If the dough is too sticky and wet, mix in flour 1 tbsp at a time until it is manageable. Cover and let rise for 2-4 hours. The time depends on how active your starter is and the environment. Using discard from the fridge, with a room temp of around 75F, mine is typically ready to go in about 3 hours.
- It is now time to shape the dough. Divide the dough into 8 equal pieces, working one at a time while leaving the others covered to prevent drying. Slice marzipan into 8 equal pieces, roughly 1/3 the size of the dough balls.Roll out the dough into a long strip about 8 inches tall and 4 inches wide. Take a piece of marzipan and flatten it between your fingers and place it on half of the dough. It is okay if it is not even. Fold the plain side of the dough over, like an omelette, and seal the edges. Rotate the dough (so it looks like aD or backwards D) and using a rolling pin, roll the dough out again to a long strip.
- Cut strips in the dough, leaving the top and bottom connected. Brush with oil (optional). Holding the top and bottom edges, stretch and twist the dough into a rope. Hold one end between your thumb and pointer finger and twist the rope around your pointer finger, creating a gap in the middle. Tuck the end into the gap. Please on parchment in a steaming basket, cover and repeat with the rest of the dough. Let the dough prove for 1-2 hours in a warm place.
- Add water to a pot and turn your stove on high. Place the steam basket on top and steam for about 10-12 minutes. Turn off the heat and let the buns sit for about 5 minutes before serving.
- Storage: You can freeze the buns once they have cooled. To reheat, just pop it back into the steam basket and repeat the steaming step.
Notes
* baking powder: not necessary but it helps creates a more tender crumb and gives the dough a fluffiness and lightness that you don’t get with just yeast.