These Raspberry Iced Buns are a New Zealand Bakery Classic. They have a super soft Tangzhong bread roll, filled with raspberry jam and finished with sweet pink icing. The dough for these soft bread rolls is super versatile and you can divide and use to make a whole range of soft bread roll recipes!
Table of contents
- Raspberry Jam Iced Buns
- How to make Frosted Buns
- Tangzhong Buns
- One soft bread roll dough, many uses
- Why did my bread rolls go wrinkly?
- Can this recipe be made without a mixer?
- How to freeze bread rolls or buns
- How to slow down rising at any time.
- How to tell when buns are baked
- FAQ for Iced Buns
- For more New Zealand Recipes, check out:
- Recipe For Iced Buns
Raspberry Jam Iced Buns
Hi hi! Just popping in here to share the recipe for these Raspberry Jam Iced Buns with you. I developed the recipe for my super soft burger buns a while back, and I am just fully obsessed with how perfect and soft the dough is that I had to turn it into a bunch of other recipes too.
These Raspberry Iced Buns go by many names. We called them 'pink buns' growing up and they are a NZ bakery / supermarket bakery classic. I guess they first originated as a way for bakeries to repurpose bread rolls by filling them with jam and finishing them with icing. Iced buns were the ultimate after school snack.
I of course had to recreate them with my super soft dough. I didn't stray too far from the original - perfect, super soft bun, raspberry jam filling, and a super sweet but very very nostalgic pink icing. They taste just right.
How to make Frosted Buns
These Raspberry Iced Buns follow the same format as my Super Soft Burger Bun recipe. The dough is exactly the same, they are just made smaller, baked together, then finished with a raspberry jam bun filling and a sweet pink icing.
- Make your Tangzhong - Tangzhong is made by cooking together bread flour and milk in a pan until a thick paste forms. This goes into the bowl of the stand mixer.
- Add cold milk - I borrowed this tip from King Arthur - they add cold milk to the hot Tangzhong to cool it down so it's cool enough that it doesn't kill the yeast.
- Mix in remaining ingredients - Pop everything else except for the butter into the bowl and throw it onto your mixer. Let it mix for about 10-15 mins until it is smooth and elastic and pulling away from the sides.
- Add butter - Room temperature butter goes in and you keep mixing until it is incorporated. This only takes a few minutes. Make sure your butter isn't too soft here or it will get all melty.
- First rise - Shape the dough into a ball and stick it into a bowl. Rise it at room temperature, or see further down the post for instructions on how to do the overnight rise
- Pre-shape your buns - Divide your dough into however many buns you like and give them a quick pre-shape, then rest them for 10 minutes, quickly shape again, and arrange on a pan.
- Do the second rise - This is another room temperature rise, where the dough will get super puffy. The buns will rise together.
- Egg wash and bake - The egg wash helps the buns to bake up beautifully golden. You can use milk here too if you want. I like egg wash. Bake until they are golden brown.
- Fill with Jam - These iced buns are filled with jam. I used raspberry, but you can use whatever you like. Poke a hole in the tops of the buns with a chopstick then pipe the jam into each bun.
- Finish with icing - I finished these iced buns with a super simple bun icing. I made mine pink, same as what I grew up eating, but you're welcome to leave it plain. You can also add some coconut on here too if you like.
Tangzhong Buns
The Tangzhong method used for these iced buns is an Asian Technique, and involves cooking part of the flour and water in a bread recipe to form a thick paste, or a roux. The process of making the Tangzhong gelatanises some of the starch in the flour. This means the flour is able to absorb a lot more water, and also holds onto it throughout the dough making process. This gives an incredibly soft bread which stays soft a lot longer than other bread does. Tangzhong (which is a Chinese word) is made by cooking the liquid and flour together, while the Yudane method (which is Japanese) involves adding boiling liquid to the flour and leaving it to set overnight.
The benefit of using a roux means that the bread dough can stay 'lean' - so very little added fat etc but still stay extremely tender and soft. The Tangzhong means the bread stays soft for a long time, which means these keep and freeze super well. It works perfectly in these iced buns!
One soft bread roll dough, many uses
The thing that I love the most about this Tangzhong based bread dough is how versatile it is. We all know how much I love a base recipe. I truly believe that it is such a great thing to have. You can take one base recipe and master it, then your options are endless. And this dough is such a good example of this (along with my base brioche dough). It can be used in all sorts of applications - savoury and sweet. It can be small batched like in these cheese buns.
The other thing that you can do is to make one batch (or a double), and make a few different shapes from the same dough. You could shape some into burger buns, then some into these iced buns. You could also use this dough for these baked cream buns and shape them into finger buns - I haven't tried this yet but I can't wait as I know they will taste just like how I remember.
Why did my bread rolls go wrinkly?
This dough is super soft and fluffy, so when the buns come out of the oven, they may deflate a little. They go a little wrinkly and get little folds in the edges.
This is totally normal - it just comes from the dough being really soft. Mine always collapse, so do not worry if yours do a little too!
Can this recipe be made without a mixer?
I haven't tried this iced buns recipe without a mixer, but I really do think that this particular recipe needs it. Because the dough needs to develop a lot of strength and is quite sticky, along with having a really long kneading time, it is best that you use the mixer for it.
You are welcome to try making this recipe by hand but I have no idea how it will go. Alternatively my small batch no mixer brioche would work quite well here if you wanted to make a small batch with a different dough. You could double it too to make more rolls!
How to freeze bread rolls or buns
The great thing about these super soft Tangzhong iced buns is that they are super easy to freeze. If you would like to freeze some of the rolls, do not fill them with jam or frost them. Instead, pop them into a ziploc bag or lightly wrap.
To defrost the rolls, leave to sit at room temperature. You can refresh them in the microwave or oven to freshen. Fill and frost as directed.
How to slow down rising at any time.
If at any time you're making bread and you find you need a little more time while it is rising / you're not ready to bake yet, pop it into the fridge. Putting dough into the fridge slows down the rising time. Just make sure the dough is nicely covered so that it doesn't dry out on the surface.
How to tell when buns are baked
You want to bake these until they are a nice golden brown. However there is another way to check too if you want - you can take their internal temperature using a probe thermometer. For a dough like this, 195°f -200°c (87°c - 93°c) is an indicator that they are done. I often do this just to double check but if you don't have a thermometer you don't need to do this step!
FAQ for Iced Buns
You can see a full list of all the tools I use here
Bread flour is a higher protein flour - high grade flour works if you are in NZ!
If you don't have it, you can just leave it out!
These cheese buns are a small batch version of this dough - this dough is also egg free.
Yes, that will work just fine. What you need to do is pop the tangzhong in your stand mixer bowl then add the cold milk. Stir around - this will warm the milk up a little. Add the sugar then add the yeast then leave to sit for 5-10 minutes until foamy. Then proceed with the rest of the recipe!
I haven't tried it, but it should be able to. These have quite a long rise time, so you will want to leave the dough standing out on the counter for 30 minutes or so before putting it into the fridge overnight, just to kick start the rise time. The second rise the next day will take a little longer too as you are starting with cold dough.
It should work just fine. Use something that is on the creamier side if you can and just do a 1:1 sub for the milk.
For more New Zealand Recipes, check out:
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Answers to your baking questions
Over the years, many of you have asked me questions about:
- baking in grams
- adjusting oven temperatures
- what kind of salt to use
- and many more!
I've curated and answered them all for your easy reference in this frequently asked questions post!
Recipe For Iced Buns
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Iced Buns
- Prep Time: 1 hour
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Total Time: 5 hours
- Yield: 12 servings 1x
- Category: Bread
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: New Zealand
Description
These Raspberry Iced Buns are a New Zealand Bakery Classic. They have a super soft Tangzhong bread roll, filled with raspberry jam and finished with sweet pink icing. The dough for these soft bread rolls is super versatile and you can divide and use to make a whole range of soft bread roll recipes!
Ingredients
Tangzhong
- 25g bread flour
- 120g whole milk
Buns
- All of the Tangzhong
- 200g cold milk
- 20g granulated sugar
- 7g (2 tsp) instant yeast - see FAQ for using active yeast.
- 30g milk powder
- 1 ½ tsp kosher salt
- 1 egg, at room temperature
- 360g bread flour
- 45g unsalted butter, at room temperature
- Egg wash - 1 egg whisked with 1 Tbsp water
- To fill - 200g Jam of your choice (I used raspberry)
Icing
- 260g powdered sugar
- 20g unsalted butter, at room temperature
- Pinch of salt (leave this out if using salted butter)
- ¼ tsp vanilla bean paste
- 20g boiling water
- A tiny bit of pink or red food colouring, to tint icing pink
Instructions
TANGZHONG
- Make the Tangzhong. Combine the milk and bread flour in a medium saucepan. Place over medium heat and cook, stirring continuously, until the mixture thickens into a paste. Remove from heat and transfer to the bowl of a stand mixer.
BUNS
- Add dough ingredients. Add the cold milk and mix to combine, checking with your finger that it is not hotter than lukewarm (the cold milk should cool the hot tangzhong enough). Add the sugar, yeast, milk powder, salt, egg, and flour. Transfer to the mixer and fit with the dough hook.
- Mix the dough. Mix the dough on medium speed until it is smooth and elastic and clearing the sides of the bowl, about 12-15 minutes. Don’t freak out, as it is sticky - if you have made it by weight you will be fine. Set a timer and walk away from the mixer if you need. If after that time it really isn’t coming together and you’re worried, add flour a teaspoon at a time just until the dough just comes together. Add the butter and mix for a further 5 minutes until incorporated. The dough should be smooth and elastic, and pass the windowpane test.
- Rise the dough. Turn the dough out onto a surface and flour very lightly if needed to bring into a tight ball with a bench scraper. Transfer to a greased bowl and cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Place the dough in a warm spot and rise until doubled in size, approximately 1 ½ hours.
- Divide the dough. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Grease and line a 9x13” (23x33cm) baking pan. Divide the dough into 12 equal portions, each weighing about 67g. Working with one piece of dough at a time, flatten out the piece of dough, then tuck up into a ball, then turn the ball seam side down and roll into a tight ball by cupping your hand to create a 'claw' shape, using the tension from the counter to roll the dough tightly. Place to the side and cover lightly with plastic wrap. Repeat with the remaining pieces of dough, grouping the balls together on your counter with a little space between them so they don't touch.
- Roll the buns. Leave the buns to rest for 10 minutes, then give them a quick roll to tighten them back up. Arrange them evenly in the pan. Alternatively you can space them out individually.
- Rise the buns. Cover the buns either with a lid, or some lightly greased plastic wrap, or place a second sheet pan upside down over the top to act as a lid. Leave the buns to rise again for about 45 minutes to an hour. You want them to puff up and double in size, and when you press lightly on one, it should leave a small indentation that doesn’t quite spring back. See images for how they look just after rolling and then risen. Remember that rising time depends on your environment so go by how the dough is looking, rather than a rising time.
- Egg wash and bake. When there is about 20 minutes to go in the rise, preheat the oven to 360°f / 185°c. Brush the buns with egg wash. Bake the buns for 15-20 minutes, until deep golden brown. Remove from the oven. Leave to cool in the pan. The buns will wrinkle slightly as they cool - this is due to them being very soft and is totally normal.
ASSEMBLY
- Fill the buns. Transfer the jam to a piping bag fitted with a round piping tip or with the tip snipped off. Alternatively you can use a ziploc bag. Poke a hole in the top of each of the buns using a chopstick. Wiggle it around to create space for the jam. Pipe jam into the tops of the buns. If you would like, to check that there is enough jam in the bun so you know how much to add, you can put a clean finger into the bun to check how much jam is in there. (this sounds weird but it's the only way to check haha)
- Make the icing. Combine all icing ingredients in a medium bowl until a thick, smooth icing forms. Adjust boiling water or powdered sugar until you get the right consistency - you want it to be thick enough to spread. Divide the icing between the buns. Smooth using an offset spatula or the back of a spoon. Leave to set until a slight crust forms on the icing or eat straight away.
Store leftovers in an airtight container at room temperature.
Keywords: Iced buns, pink iced buns, frosted buns
Comments
Hello, I am loving your recipies 🙂
Can you tell me if I can substitute the milk powder or leave it out? I gave everything else and with another lockdown I'm not keen to shop 🙂
Thanks
Hi! Thank you! I covered that in the FAQ of the post - you can just leave it out 🙂
So soft, fluffy & delicious! Enjoyed making these & learning about a tangzhong. They were such a hit in our house I’ve made them twice. Thanks so much!
★★★★★
I'm super excited about these! It's possible I'm blind, but I've gone through a couple times & can't see instructions for an overnight first rise. Do you just follow the same process as a brioche & cover & pop in the fridge? Thanks!
Hiii you're not blind I forgot to add in info about it! Just updated x it's in the FAQ part
These are so delicious and went down a treat in my family. Nice soft buns and better than brought!
★★★★★
So so happy you loved!
These are so good! I added raspberry essence to the icing and sprinkled with coconut for the extra 1980s kiwi nostalgia vibe
★★★★★
Yummm the best!
These are awesome!
I can’t have cows milk so I used soy milk for the tangzhong and then soy cream for the dough and it worked a treat! They’re super soft and fluffy
★★★★★
So happy to hear it works! Thanks for testing it for all of us haha x
these are so delicious! thanks so much!!
★★★★★
So good. Thank you. I make 6 for lunch buns and save 6 for iced buns.
★★★★★
So happy you loved!
Love what the tang zhong does 🙂
★★★★★
Hi Erin,
Bread flour is not available where I live, do you think I can use AP flour.
Thanks,
Mayanka
Hi! No it won't really work with AP sorry - the gluten is not strong enough.
So good! Soft and delicious. And relatively quick and easy for bread rolls😆 instructions all made sense once I was actually making them! icing was the perfect amount, so often I find recipes you have 3x what you need but this was just right. Hoping to make this again in different varieties - with wholemeal flour maybe!
★★★★★
These were an absolute hit! Super fluffy and soft. I added freeze dried raspberry powder to my icing - so good!
★★★★★
I adore your recipes! As an Australian expat living overseas, this one really got me nostalgic. It was really simple to make thanks to your articulate instructions! I was worried the dough would be too sticky but I followed your advice to walk away and once I returned it was pulling away from the sides and then after adding the butter if came together SO well. We happened to have family over that day and the kids loved them as much as the adults.
★★★★★
Ahhh so happy to hear this! we had the same reaction in my house when I made them the first time - my husband freaked out and was like THESE TASTE JUST RIGHT (I dunno why he doubted me? hahahahha) xx
Amazing! I love how soft and tender this dough is and bakes up beautifully. So versatile! It's a favorite at my house.
★★★★★
These iced buns have been a MASSIVE hit in our house! Thank you for the fantastic recipe 🙂
★★★★★
These are absolute perfection, thank you so much for the amazing recipe. I added thread coconut to the icing and it was just lush. Wholely recommend. We discovered that they freeze and defrost perfectly which saved us from eating 6 each .. it would've happened.
Will definitely be using this brioche recipe often, I think it's the best brioche dough I've found yet.
★★★★★
Yay so happy you loved!
Fabulous recipe!! Soo tasty and soo easy!!!! Loooove !
★★★★★
Beautifully light and fluffy buns. A perfect lockdown recipe to keep us busy, thank you.
★★★★★
I decided to make these on a lazy lockdown Sunday. With limited flour in the house due to the supermarket shelves being empty; I used the small batch cheese roll base as suggested. This was the perfect size recipe and made 9 x 68g gram buns. The instructions - both written and via the video, were easy to follow, every question answered (ie - I omitted milk powder and it was fine) and even encouraging online support from Erin throughout the day. How good is that! Long story short, my patience (lots of rising time) was rewarded with 9 delicious pink buns to share with the family. Miss 14 even declared "better than New World's". Thanks!
★★★★★
I made these using the small batch cheese buns recipe and made 9. I honestly can't believe that I have made such soft buns as usually my sweet buns are like bricks! Thanks for all of the tips to help with the recipe too - I had set the dough on the first prove but needed to go out so I put it in the fridge and pulled it out when I got back and all was good.
★★★★★
I made the dough by hand as I don't have a mixer. Yes it was sticky, but once it's on the bench I just dug in with my hands and pulled the dough the same way the hook would, for 15 minutes. The buns turned out good considering the hand kneading. Just make sure you have all the tools and ingredients ready, you cant touch anything once your hands are covered with dough lol
★★★★
Raspberry iced buns are a walk down memory lane for me, it's definitely a kiwi classic along with the raspberry cream buns. Very delicious!
★★★★★
So yummy! My whole family enjoyed them and my 2 year old nephew especially enjoyed the frosting. Really enjoyed making this recipe and I just have to say that you are one of my favorite bakers. Thank you for making such awesome and in-depth recipes that are easy to follow!
When I first saw these pink buns on instagram I knew I had to make them. Spoiler Alert: they didn't disappoint! The recipe is simple to follow and the end results is a fluffy vet velvety roll that you can slather in as much pink icing and butter as you desire.
★★★★★
Yay so happy you enjoyed!
Erin, these are great! Whole family loved them. Made the buns but actually did the dinner rolls version and brushed them with a mixture of melted butter, garlic and agave syrup as soon as they came out of the oven. They were so fun to make too. Great recipe!
★★★★★
Thank you! So happy you loved!
This was my first time using a tangzhong dough and the instructions were super easy to follow and the rolls turned out great. Super light and fluffy and stay nice and soft for a couple of days.
★★★★★
This recipe is absolutely amazing. My boyfriend has said that this might just be his favourite bake of mine yet! The buns were so soft and the best part is that they STAYED soft, we ate these over 3 days and they were just as good as freshly baked. I've used a slightly different tangzhong method before, but it didn't turn out as well as this, so I'm very pleased. Thank you Erin!
★★★★★
This was my first time baking bread and it turned out perfect. Thanks for the recipe!
★★★★★
I’ve made these twice now and they are a huge hit. Easy to follow recipe and such cute and delicious buns!
★★★★★
These are the best things ever. I've made these heaps and always forget to write reviews. Every time I've made them, my friends/workmates are always asking for more! Well worth the effort.
★★★★★