Banoffee Malted Milk Splits

I think milk bun dough is my new favourite dough to make. They’re so soft and light as well as being very easy to work with. I’ve used it for multiple recipes including my Gooey Hazelnut Praline Buns, and now these. I’ve filled them with a milk chocolate salted caramel, fresh banana slices and a soft whipped malt cream. Heaven! I like to keep the malt cream just about whipped enough to hold its shape so it just melts in your mouth.

As with all dough products, these are best eaten on the day they’re baked. It’s a two day process to get the caramel, cream and dough all made so that they can rest overnight before being finished.

Ingredients: Makes 8
Milk Bun Dough:
Tangzhong:
25g strong flour
55ml whole milk
55ml water
Dough:
340g strong flour
7g active dried yeast
25g caster sugar
5g salt
1 egg (plus 1 egg for egg wash)
100ml whole milk
55g unsalted butter, room temp

Milk chocolate salted caramel:
100ml double cream
100ml single cream
20g unsalted butter
40g honey
190g caster sugar
40ml water
40g good-quality milk chocolate
6g flaky salt

Malt cream:
200ml double cream (1)
200ml single cream
70g ovaltine
Pinch of flaky salt
75g good-quality white chocolate
200ml double cream (2)

To finish:
chocolate shavings
2-3 ripe bananas
icing sugar

Method
The day before
For the milk bun dough, you’re going to start with the Tangzhong. Place all the Tangzhong ingredients into a saucepan over low heat. Stir everything together and continue to cook until a paste has formed. Remove from the heat and set aside.

Into the bowl of a stand mixer, fitted with a dough hook, place all of the milk bun dough ingredients apart from the butter. Add in the cooled Tangzhong. Mix on medium speed until the dough has come together. Continue to knead on medium-high for 5 minutes. The dough should be smooth and elastic. On low speed, gradually add in the butter a few small pieces at a time. Once all the butter has been added, scrape down the bowl if needed and knead on medium-high for 5-10 minutes, until the dough is smooth and slapping the sides of the bowl.

Transfer the dough to a lightly oiled bowl, cover and leave to prove for 1 hour at room temperature or until doubled in size. Knock back the dough, recover and refrigerate overnight.

For the milk chocolate salted caramel:
Break up the milk chocolate into a heatproof bowl and add in the salt. Melt the double cream and single cream with the butter. Set aside until needed. Stir together the honey, sugar and water in a medium saucepan. Place over medium heat and cook until you have a golden caramel, gently moving every so often to ensure an even colour. Carefully add in the melted cream and butter, a little at a time. Be careful doing this as the caramel will bubble up. Continue to boil the caramel until it reaches 105°C, whisking often. Remove the pan from the heat and leave it to cool until it reaches 80°C. Pour the cooled caramel over the milk chocolate and leave for 5 minutes to melt the chocolate. Mix the milk chocolate caramel to combine, before blending it with a hand blender to emulsify. Place clingfilm touching the surface of the caramel and leave at room temperature until needed.

For the malt cream:
Whisk together the double cream (1), single cream and Ovaltine in a saucepan. Heat over low heat until just about to simmer. In a bowl, melt the chocolate before adding in the salt. Once hot, pour the cream over the chocolate and whisk to combine. Using a hand blender, emulsify the cream before pouring in the cold double cream (2) and emulsifying again. Place clingfilm on the surface and refrigerate overnight.

The day of assembly
Line two baking trays with baking paper and set aside. Take the milk bun dough from the fridge and knock it back on a lightly floured worktop. Portion the dough into 8 pieces, each should weigh approx. 85g. Roll each piece into a ball, cover and rest for 10 minutes. Once rested, using the palm of your hand, roll the balls into logs by rolling them back and forth on the counter. They should be approx. 12cm. Very lightly dust the baking paper with flour and arrange your buns on the trays, leaving plenty of room for them to prove. Cover and leave to rise for 30 minutes-1 hour, until doubled in size. Meanwhile pre-heat your oven to 175°C.

When your buns are ready to bake, whisk an egg together and gently brush the buns surface. Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until golden brown. Leave to cool completely.

When you’re ready to assemble; pour the malt cream into a bowl and whisk until you have medium soft peaks. It should be able to hold a shape but still be soft. Place the cream into a piping bag fitted with your desired nozzle (I used a St.Honore nozzle). Spoon the milk chocolate salted caramel into a piping bag and snip approx. a cm off the end.

Slice each bun down the middle, about 2/3 of the way down. Pipe in some of the milk chocolate salted caramel before laying slices of banana on top. Pipe the malt cream to fill the bun. Sieve a light dusting of icing sugar over the top. Garnish with slices of banana and chocolate shavings. Best eaten on the day they’re made.