Honey Bean Flower Toast

Prepare the ingredients: Use refrigerated milk, make sure the fresh yeast is completely thawed before use, or you can substitute it with 1/3 the amount of high-sugar-tolerant dry yeast, that is, 3 grams for this recipe; the sweet red bean paste can also be replaced with other fillings.

Put all ingredients except butter and honey beans into the mixing bowl; the amount of red yeast rice powder determines the color of the final product; since factors such as the absorption rate of flour and the humidity of the working environment vary, reserve 30 grams of milk and add it as appropriate based on the dough's condition and acceptable consistency.

Mix at low speed until it forms a dough, then switch to medium-high speed to knead. Once the dough can stretch into a coarse membrane, add softened butter; mix at low speed to fully incorporate the butter into the dough, then switch to medium-high speed to knead until the dough is soft and glossy, not sticking to the bowl or hands, and can stretch into a transparent and elastic thin membrane;

Shape the dough into a ball and place it in a fermentation box at room temperature of 25 degrees; fresh yeast has strong rising power, and it will be ready in about an hour.

Let the dough rise until it doubles in size, then dip your fingers in flour and poke a hole on the top side; it should not collapse or shrink back.

Divide the dough into two portions. I used uniquely shaped loaf molds: the flower-shaped loaf mold holds 350 grams, and the heart-shaped loaf mold holds 300 grams. Because I wanted to wrap sweet red beans, I divided the dough into 320 grams and 280 grams. Roll into balls, place in a bowl, and let rest for 15-20 minutes.

Roll the dough into a rectangular sheet, slightly narrower than the width of the toast mold. You can spread the sweet beans fully or halfway; evenly sprinkle 90 grams of sweet red beans according to your preference, leaving a small blank space at the bottom.

Roll it from top to bottom, sealing the edge underneath;

After the two dough rolls are prepared, place them in the loaf pan one after the other.

Cover with the lid and ferment for about 1 hour for the second rise; I use an oven for fermentation, spraying a little mist of water, with a temperature of 33–35°C being fine;

When the dough reaches 90% full, nearly filling the mold, preheat the oven to 180 degrees; this irregular-shaped toast is hard to judge by height, so you can close the lid and gently poke with a toothpick through the ventilation hole downward, and if there is a 1 cm space, it is fine.

Place in the preheated oven on the middle-lower rack, bake with upper and lower heat at 180/170°C for 30 minutes;

After coming out of the oven, tap it a few times on the table, unmold it, let it cool, then slice and eat or store in a sealed box.

Pink honey bean toast, shaped like flowers and hearts, both beautiful and delicious!