Pão de Deus (Portuguese Coconut Sweet Buns)

Ingredients

• 1½ dl milk, lukewarm
• 7 g dry yeast
• 60 g white sugar, for the dough
• 350 g wheat flour
• ½ tsp salt
• 2 egg, for the dough
• 60 g butter, softened and diced
• 120 g desiccated coconut
• 60 g white sugar, for the topping
• 1 egg, for the topping
• 1 tsp lemon zest
• 1 egg yolk, for glazing
• 2 tbsp powdered sugar, for dusting

Method

1. 1.

   Activate the yeast — Stir the yeast and a teaspoon of the dough sugar into the lukewarm milk and leave for 10 minutes, until the surface is foamy and smells of bread.

2. 2.

   Knead in the butter — Mix the flour, the rest of the dough sugar and the salt in a large bowl. Add the yeasted milk and the 2 eggs and work to a soft dough, then knead for 8 minutes. Add the butter a few cubes at a time, kneading between additions, and continue for 5 minutes more until the dough is glossy and pulls cleanly off the bowl.

3. 3.

   Prove until doubled — Cover the bowl and leave the dough in a warm place for about an hour, until doubled in size and visibly slack when you tilt the bowl.

4. 4.

   Shape the buns — Knock the dough back, divide it into eight equal pieces and roll each into a tight ball under your cupped hand. Space them well apart on a lined baking tray, cover, and prove for 40 minutes until they look pillowy.

5. 5.

   Make the coconut topping — Meanwhile heat the oven to 180 °C and make the topping: beat the whole egg with the 60 g of sugar and the lemon zest, then stir in the desiccated coconut to a thick, spoonable paste.

6. 6.

   Top and bake — Brush the risen buns with the egg yolk, then spoon a generous mound of coconut paste onto each and spread it almost to the edge. Bake for 18-19 minutes, until the crust is deep gold and crackled and the buns underneath sound hollow.

7. 7.

   Dust with sugar — Cool the buns on a rack for 15 minutes — the coconut crust firms as it cools — then dust generously with powdered sugar and serve with coffee.