Kappa Buns
Japanese people have this talent to turn absolutely anything in the world, cuter. Kappa is a river monster from the Japanese mythology (google it, it’s quite terrifying looking), however these buns adaptation somehow made this monster look a lot more innocent and sweeter.
The green color is coming from adding matcha powder to the dough, and the body details are made from a simple butter cookie dough called “Craquelin”. You can fill these buns with white chocolate (which always pairs so great with matcha desserts), or any other filling of your choice.
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Kappa Buns:
Equipment:
- 6 holes Muffins Tin, greased with butter
- Sakura leaf cookie cutter, sized 4.5-5cm
- Round cookie cutter, 3cm (d)
Recipe: 6 Buns
Cookie dough (Craquelin):
| Ingredient | Amount (g / units) |
| Softened Unsalted Butter (Room Temperature) | 10g |
| White Granulated Sugar | 10g |
| Cake Flour | 23g |
| Milk | 1/2 tsp |
| Matcha Powder (* Please read the recipe all the way through) | 1/2 tsp |
Dough:
| Ingredient | Amount (g / units) |
| Bread Flour | 150g |
| Matcha Powder | 3/4 tsp |
| White Granulated Sugar | 15g |
| Salt | 1/4 tsp |
| Dry Yeasts | 1/2 tsp |
| Milk | 48g |
| Water | 52g |
| Cold Unsalted Butter | 15g |
Preparation instructions:
Cookie dough (Craquelin):
- In a small bowl, thoroughly mix the butter and sugar together.
- Add in the flour and mix to combine. The add in the milk and mix to a dough with a pasty consistency.
- Divide the dough into two parts: one third of the dough (about 14g) should remain white. To the remaining two-thirds (about 28g), add the matcha powder and knead it well into the dough. If the dough feels a bit dry, add a few drops of milk.
- Roll each dough separately, to a thin layer about 3mm thick, and freeze (30-60 minutes).
- Once the dough has sufficiently set:
From the green dough- using a Sakura leaf cookie cutter, cut out 6 pieces (which will be used as the bottom part of the head).
Using a straw or a small piping tip (about 1cm), cut out 12 small circles (which will be used as the hands). Carve the fingers shape using a toothpick.
- From the white dough- using a round cookie cutter (3cm [d]), cut out 6 circles (which will be used as the top part of the head).
- Keep all pieces refrigerated until use.
Dough:
- In a large mixing bowl, add the flours, yeast, sugar and salt. Whisk them well to combine.
- Add in the milk and water, and knead until a dough ball is formed.
- Add in the butter and knead it into the dough. Keep kneading until the dough becomes smooth and elastic, and pass the window pane test (manual kneading of about 15-20 minutes).
- Proof at room temperature for 30 minutes, cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for additional 30 minutes.
Assembly:
- Deflate the dough lightly, and divide it into 47g x 6 pieces. Round each piece into a smooth ball.
- Arrange the balls in the prepared muffin tin, and proof at room temperature for 40 minutes, until they are rising above the edge of the pan.
- Place the head dough pieces on top of each bun (first the Sakura leaf, then the white circle).
- Preheat your oven to 180C (fan mode off), with a baking rack placed at the lowest level inside the oven.
- Lower the temperature to 150C (fan mode off) and bake for 12 minutes (note that the dough should be barely browning, as we want to maintain the green color of the dough).
- The smaller green circles for the hands are baked separately- placed them evenly spaced apart on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, and bake at the same temperature (150C) for 4 minutes only.
- Cool down completely before decorating.
- The hands can be glued to the buns with a little bit of melted chocolate.
- The mouth is drawn with a little bit of melted white chocolate with a touch of yellow food coloring. The eyes are drawn with a little bit of melted dark chocolate.
