Korean Garlic Cream Cheese Buns

Picture this: a soft enriched bun stuffed with silky cream cheese and smothered in a garlic-butter glaze. If that doesn’t get you salivating, we don’t know what will!

This treat is a popular South Korean street food, and strikes a perfect balance between sweet and savoury. The recipe below also features a sprinkling of gochugaru for a spicy kick, which pairs nicely with the cream cheese made from scratch (that’s right: from scratch).

Korean Garlic Cream Cheese Buns were the Technical Bake for Savoury Week in Season 8 of The Great Canadian Baking Show.

Korean Garlic Cream Cheese Buns

Ingredients

Dough:

• 1½ cup warm water
• 1 tsp instant yeast
• 2 tbsp plus 1 tsp granulated sugar, divided
• 5 cups (600 g) bread flour
• 2 tsp kosher salt
• 1 egg, room temperature
• 2 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
• 2 tbsp room temperature water
• All-purpose flour, for dusting
• Non-stick cooking spray

Cream Cheese Filling:

• 8 cups 3.25% milk
• ½ cup 35% cream
• 4 tsp kosher salt, plus more for seasoning
• 6 tbsp white vinegar
• 3 stalks green onion, finely minced
• 2 tbsp finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

Garnish:

• 1 tbsp black sesame seeds
• 1 tbsp white sesame seeds
• 1 tbsp gochugaru (Korean chili flakes)
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• 1 tbsp finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
• 1 tbsp finely chopped Italian parsley

Garlic-butter Glaze:

• 1 cup (227 g) unsalted butter
• 4 large garlic cloves, rasped or finely grated
• ½ cup 35% cream
• ½ cup sweetened condensed milk
• ½ tsp kosher salt
• 2 eggs, room temperature
• 1 tbsp chopped Italian parsley

Preparation

Dough:

Heat the oven to 350 F.

Combine the warm water, yeast and 1 teaspoon of sugar in a small bowl. Set aside to allow the yeast to activate, about 3 to 5 minutes or until it’s bubbly. 

In a large bowl, mix the flour, remaining 2 tablespoons of sugar and salt. Separate the egg and set the white aside.

Add the activated yeast mixture, egg yolk and melted butter to the flour mixture. Using a rubber spatula, stir together until all of the flour is absorbed and a wet dough is formed. 

Using either a stand mixer fitted with the hook attachment or working by hand, knead the dough. It will seem quite sticky at first, but be careful to not add too much flour if kneading by hand. Stop when the dough is smooth, soft and able to pass the windowpane test, about 10 to 12 minutes. The dough should still be a little sticky. 

Lightly coat a large bowl with cooking spray. Form the dough into a smooth ball and place it in the bowl. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and place in a proofing drawer for about 30 minutes or until the dough has doubled in size. If you don’t have a proofing drawer, let it rise in a warm place until doubled in size, about 1 hour.

Cream Cheese Filling:

While the dough is proofing, prepare the cream cheese filling. Place the milk, cream and salt in a heavy-bottomed saucepan. Slowly heat over medium, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until the mixture is just barely simmering and a candy thermometer registers 200 F (93 C). Remove the pot from the heat, stir in the vinegar, and let it sit for about 4 minutes. 

Meanwhile, line a large sieve with cheesecloth and place it over a large, deep bowl. When the dairy mixture is ready, pour it through the sieve (it will look like cottage cheese at this point). Allow it to drain for 20 minutes.

Once the cream cheese has finished draining, gather the cheesecloth around it and squeeze out as much liquid whey as possible, reserving the liquid whey.

Place the drained cream cheese into the bowl of a food processor and process until smooth, scraping down the sides as needed. The cream cheese will thicken more as it cools; if it seems too stiff at this point, add some of the reserved liquid whey back to the cream cheese, 1 teaspoon at a time, until it is soft and spreadable. 

Scrape the cream cheese into a medium bowl. Fold in the scallions and Parmigiano-Reggiano, and season with salt to taste. Place the filling into a large piping bag and set aside. 

Buns: 

Once the dough has proofed, punch it down in the bowl to release the gas. Turn it out onto a floured surface and cut it into 8 even pieces. Roll each piece of dough into a smooth ball. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper and arrange the balls on top, leaving enough space between the balls to allow them to expand. Cover the dough balls with a clean tea towel and place in the proofing drawer until they have doubled in size, about 30 minutes. Again, if you do not have a proofing drawer, let the dough balls rise in a warm place until doubled in size, about 1 hour. 

Once the dough balls have proofed, combine the reserved egg white with the room temperature water in a small bowl and lightly beat with a fork. Using a pastry brush, lightly coat the dough balls with the egg wash. 

Bake the buns until they are golden brown and baked through, about 20 minutes. Transfer them to a wire rack and chill in the freezer until they are cool enough to slice, about 15 minutes. 

Increase the oven temperature to 425 F.

Garnish:

While the buns are cooling, combine the sesame seeds, gochugaru and salt in a small bowl, and set aside.

Garlic-butter Glaze:

Place the butter in a small saucepan and melt over low heat. Add in the grated garlic cloves. Remove from heat and whisk in the cream, condensed milk and salt. Whisk in the eggs until the glaze is homogenous. Mix in the parsley, transfer the glaze to a small bowl and set aside.  

Assembly:

When the buns are cool enough, slice them three-quarters of the way through 3 times, as shown, to create 6 even segments. Pipe a line of cream cheese filling in between each segment, taking care not to break them.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Dip a filled bun cut-side down in the garlic-butter glaze, allowing the excess to drip off into the bowl. Place the glazed bun on the prepared baking sheet, and repeat with the remaining buns. Spoon more glaze into the crevices as desired, then sprinkle the buns with the prepared garnish and top with the grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese. 

Bake the buns until crispy and toasted, about 10 to 12 minutes (broil if needed). Garnish with the chopped parsley and transfer to a serving platter.

Makes 8 buns