Yema Pastel Buns

 Soft Dinner Rolls with Dulce de Leche

(Yema Pastel Buns)

I remember back in the days when my Tita from Cagayan would visit us here in Zamboanga and she would always bring the famous Pastels Buns from her hometown. The first time we tried it, we became obsessed. But time passed and it’s been a long time since I had one. 

I have decided to recreate my own Pastel Buns using a super soft dinner roll and a dulce de leche filling made with a homemade dulce de leche. My family loved it the first time I made it. Although this is not completely the same as the original Pastel Buns, this one is sure worth a try to make and I promise you, you will love it especially the filling because it has a creamy consistency. 

If you found a dulce de leche in a can, then you are in luck, but if you can’t find one in any local stores, don’t worry. You can make your own. You just need a can of condensed milk and boil it for 3 hours. In this recipe, I used the cheapest brand so I didn’t really get the right result. The condensed milk became darker but it did not turn out to have that dulce de leche consistency. I recommend you guys to use Alaska because it really works. 

Soft Dinner Rolls with Dulce de Leche

Prep time: 30 minutes 

Rise time: 1 hour first rise

      30 minutes second rise

Cook time: 22 minutes

Total time: 2 hours

Ingredients

Soft Dinner Rolls/Buns

• 3 1/2 cups Flour
• 1 cup or 240ml Fresh Milk
• 5 tbsp Sugar
• 2 1/4 tsp Instant Yeast
• 1 Egg
• 1 tsp Salt 
• 1/4 tsp Vanilla extract
• 1/3 cup Unsalted butter, softened

Dulce De Leche Filling

• 1 can Dulce De Leche 
• 1 cup cream
• 1/4 cup cornstarch

Egg Wash

• 1 egg
• 1 tbsp milk

Procedure:

1. Prepare the filling first to let it cool down. In a saucepan, combine the cream and cornstarch. Whisk this on medium heat until cream becomes thick. Add the dulce de leche and whisk again until fully combined, thick and creamy. Let it cool down completely and place in the fridge to let it harden a bit and easier to use later.
2. For the dough, sift the flour and salt together. In a separate bowl, combine warm milk, sugar, and yeast. If using active dry yeast, let the yeast activate for about 10 minutes first. Then, add the egg and unsalted butter. 
3. Slowly add the flour mixture and mix with a rubber spatula. Once the mixture forms into a ball and a bit hard to mix, transfer it to your work surface and knead the dough for about 8-10 minutes. Let the dough rest for 3-5 minutes in between the kneading time to not over knead the dough.
4. After kneading, let the dough rest in an oiled bowl for at least an hour or until doubled in size.
5. After proofing, punch the dough and fold it to remove air pockets. Divide the dough into 16 pieces. For each piece, roll or flatten each with a small rolling pin or even with just using the palm of your hand. Add a tablespoon of the dulce de leche filling in the middle and close the dough tight and shape into a ball.
6. Arrange the balls in a 8x8 square baking pan brushed with oil and placed with parchment paper. Cover with plastic wrap and let it double in size for about 30 minutes.
7. Preheat oven to 350F or 180C. Brush the each ball with the egg wash before baking. Bake these for 20-22 minutes until golden brown on top. 
8. After baking, brush the buns with butter to serve.