I hardly schedule my bakes or plan them ahead. I’m an impromptu person, i bake and cook what i feel like at the very last minute depending on the cravings or inspirations. :)
(which is why i stock up all the basics just in case – we can survive for 2 weeks without needing to step out!)

To be honest, planning ahead to bake stress me out. Haha! Strange but true!

So how did this Sweet Potato Mantou came about? For a start, i was gifted 3-already-steamed-sweet-potatoes a couple of days ago and they’ve been sitting in the fridge waiting to be used. Because i was already working in the kitchen on the granola, i thought, well.. might as well just make sweet potato mantou which sits pretty high on my to bake list. Off i went to google and viola, i saw a couple of recipes that caught my eyes. After scanning through them, i decided on Chelle’s, which was adapted from Cuisine Paradise and Swee San.

Ahh, all the talented bakers. I was very sure that my mantou will be purrrfect and boy, was i right or was i right? :P

(Purple) Sweet Potato Mantou with Black Sesame & Black Bean Filling

(makes 9 mantou)

1 tsp instant yeast
80ml lukewarm water
240g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
65g caster sugar
250-300g purple sweet potato, cooked and mashed ; i used 260g
2 tbsp vegetable oil
3 tbsp roasted black sesame seeds + 4 tbsp black bean & black sesame powder
15-20g sugar

Method

1. Add dry yeast into the lukewarm water and give it a quick stir, set aside for about 5 minutes till bubbles appeared.
2. Sift plain flour and baking powder together in a big bowl with the caster sugar till combined. Next slowly add in yeast water into the flour mixture and stir using a metal spoon or clean hand and then the mashed sweet potato till it forms soft dough.
3. Add the oil and give the dough a quick knead till well combine or till dough does not stick to your hand.
4. Set the dough aside in a lightly flour/oil bowl, covered with towel and let it proof for about 30 – 45 minutes till the dough became slightly bigger.
5. Lightly grind roasted black sesame seeds, the bean powder and sugar using a mortar and pestle.
6. Knead proof dough on a lightly floured work surface for a few second, flatten and roll into a rectangular shape, divide it into 3 visually, fold the left flap in follow by the right flap in. Re-roll into rectangular shape, 60cm x 20cm. Brush the dough with water and sprinkle the filling on it, roll it up lengthwise into an oblong shape, and cut them into equal portions ~ 50g.
7. Place each shaped mantou on the steamer rack with greaseproof paper below and rest for another 15 minutes.
8. Transfer the steamer rack into the pot of boiling water and steam over medium heat for about 8 – 10 minutes (depending on the size of the mantou).
9. When done, remove from steamer and serve hot/warm.

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We LOVE it!!!

It’s so good that i already planned to make these at the in laws’ place when they’re back from their vacay. Yup, to score brownie points ah.. hahahaaa! But mainly because i know the mother will be extremely delighted. She’s a hardcore mantou fan.. but bread? Nah.

The texture is not as fluffy as the usual mantou as it consists quite an amount of sweet potato but then, that’s exactly why i fell for it. It’s deliciously different, still fluffy, but more weight.

YUMS!!