This soft and fluffy bun is made from natural ingredients. Get streaks of white and purple colors with freshly made dough using natural coloring without additives. Create this recipe with flour, yeast, sugar, purple sweet potato puree, and your chosen sweet filling.
Purple sweet potato bun is an excellent addition to your breakfast meals and snacks!
What Is A Purple Sweet Potato Bun?
First, what is a purple sweet potato? Sweet potato is a tuberous root plant that is similar to a regular potato. It comes in a variety of colors, including yellow, red, purple, and brown. It is naturally sweet tasting with notes of nutty and earthy flavors.
In this recipe, you need purple sweet potato, also known as Okinawan sweet potato or Japanese purple sweet potato. It should be purple outside and inside to get that vibrant purple hue for the bun. You may find some purple sweet potatoes that are brown-skinned but have purple flesh.
Purple sweet potato bun is a type of bun made with two kinds of dough: plain white dough and purple sweet potato dough. It is just like making other Chinese buns, such as beef bao bun, char siu bao bun, and chicken bao bun.
Instead of one plain white dough, this recipe uses another purple-colored dough to be able to make a swirl of white and purple shades.
If you enjoy a sweet filling, this bun recipe is for you. This recipe uses purple sweet potato paste for a naturally sweet and purple filling. You can also swap it for other sweet filling, such as taro paste from my taro bun recipe.
What You Need To Make The Bun Dough
The basic ingredients of a typical Chinese bun dough are flour, yeast, and sugar. These dry ingredients are mixed with a wet ingredient, usually with warm water or milk for a milkier taste. However, you will use purple sweet potato puree instead of warm water for the purple dough.
Before getting started with the recipe, here are some key notes worth remembering about each ingredient.
- All-Purpose Flour: I suggest using all-purpose or regular flour to give the dough its white color and fluffy texture. Flour is needed for both the white and purple dough. Do not use special flour, such as whole wheat flour, rice flour, and glutinous rice flour. Whole wheat flour will make the bun drier and coarser, while rice flour and glutinous rice flour will make it chewy instead of fluffy.
- Yeast Powder: A key ingredient to making the bun rise and airy is yeast powder. You can use any type of yeast, such as instant or active dry yeast. However, remember that the preparation methods of different yeast types may vary. Some require dissolving in warm water first before combining it with the flour mixture, while some can be added directly with flour. In this recipe, I combined the yeast directly with the flour mixture before mixing it with water.
- Warm Water: You may have noticed that we use warm water for the dough mixture instead of hot. Keep in mind that warm water is mixed with yeast powder, a powder that is a living microorganism. If it is mixed with hot water at a temperature between 120°F and 140°F or higher, it will kill the yeast. You do not want to kill the yeast since it should activate to make the bun rise. An unactivated yeast will result in a flat bun that does not rise. I suggest using a thermometer to measure the temperature just to be sure.
- Purple Sweet Potato Puree: For the purple dough, we use purple sweet potato puree. In this puree, the purple sweet potato is steamed, mashed, and mixed with water, sugar, and oil. Alternatively, you can simply steam the pieces of purple sweet potato and mash them. Add water to make it moist enough for the dry dough mixture. Remember, allow it to cool down before mixing it with the yeast as you do not want to kill it at hot temperatures.
- Sugar: Sugar can be optional for this recipe for a hint of sweetness. It is not only used for adjusting the sweetness level but to aid in the fermentation process with the yeast. Yeast feeds on sugar, which makes the fermentation process faster and more efficient. The sugar is converted into carbon dioxide and ethanol, the two elements that are essential in making the bun rise.
Essential Tips For A Successful Bun
If it is your first time making a bun, you should know that the process involves kneading and proofing the dough. The quality of your bun highly depends on how well it is kneaded and correctly proofed or fermented. So, make sure to read and follow my essential tips below for a successful bun result.
- Get accurate measurements using a kitchen scale and thermometer:The consistency of the dough can be affected by inaccurate measurements. It is best to use a kitchen weighing scale to measure out the ingredients correctly. If you measure accurately, you will avoid having dough that is too runny or stiff. The kitchen thermometer is also recommended so that you don’t kill the yeast with the correct temperature of the water.
- Have the right dough consistency: The dough should be soft and similar to a clay dough without the stickiness. It should not be watery, sticky, or too stiff. If you have a runny dough, simply add small amounts of flour. If you have a stiff dough, gradually add water in small amounts until you get the desired consistency.
- Proof at the right temperature and time: Another crucial step in making the buns is the proofing process. It generally takes about half an hour or more to proof the buns. Proofing takes place after kneading and shaping the dough. You leave it to proof or ferment before steaming to activate the yeast. Here are a few things to remember about proofing:
- At the end of the proofing process, the buns should typically become bigger at about 1.5 or 2 times their original size.
- Keep in mind that proofing time may shorten on hot days or warm environments. So, make sure you do not over-proof for long as this will weaken the dough and make it taste sour.
- You should also not under-proof the buns as this will not complete the activation process which results in a flat bun. So, make sure you do not rush or skip the proofing process.
- For winter season or cold environments, you can proof the buns in a DIY warm environment by placing the buns in the oven or microwave with a cup of boiled water inside.
What To Prepare For Purple Sweet Potato Bun
What I love about this recipe is that the things you need are accessible and easy to find. You just have to focus on properly kneading the dough with your two hands. Here’s everything you need to get started.
Kitchen Items
Prepare the following basic kitchen items:
- Mixing bowl
- Rolling pin
- Dough cutter or knife
- Steamer lined with parchment paper
- If you don’t have a steamer, you can still steam buns without a steamer in 5 ways: pan with steamer rack, microwave, pan with sieve, rice cooker, and instant pot.
Ingredients
The dough ingredients are divided into two: ingredients for the purple dough and white dough. These ingredients are readily available in grocery stores. Then, use purple sweet potato paste or your preferred sweet filling. You can use different fillings for this bun for a wider variety of flavors.
For The Purple Dough
- 200g flour
- 2g yeast
- 3g sugar
- 150g purple sweet potato puree
For The White Dough
- 200g flour
- 2g yeast
- 3g sugar
- 110g warm water
For The Filling
Here are two suggestions for a sweet filling:
Detailed Steps To Make Purple Sweet Potato Bun
In this recipe, you will have to make the purple and white dough by kneading them separately before combining them. The dough is flattened into circular wrappers, where you will place the filling in the center before shaping into round buns. In the last part of the recipe instructions, the buns are proofed and steamed. That’s it! Watch my short recipe video on Instagram and TikTok for more details.
Make The Purple Dough
In a bowl, mix flour, yeast, sugar, and purple sweet potato puree.
Knead until you form a smooth purple ball of dough.
Make The White Dough
In another bowl, mix flour, yeast, sugar, and warm water to create white dough.
Knead until you form a smooth white ball of dough.
Combine The 2 Dough Sheets
Using a rolling pin, roll out the white dough into a rectangle on a chopping board or flat surface. It does not have to be a perfect rectangle as long as the dough is flattened into a long oblong or rectangular sheet.
Repeat step 1 for the purple dough.
Then, place the purple potato dough over the white dough.
Roll the two dough sheets inward, with the purple dough inside.
Roll it once more to make it longer and allow the two dough sheets to come together. This should give you a cylindrical dough.
Next, use a dough cutter or knife to slice the rolled dough into small pieces about 1 inch wide.
Flatten each dough piece using a rolling pin. This should give you small circular wrappers with a purple spiral pattern on both sides.
Assemble The Dough And Filling
Choose the side of the wrapper with a smaller spiral pattern and place the filling in the center. In this way, the larger spiral pattern is placed on the exterior for better presentation.
Wrap the filling by taking the edges of the wrapper to the center and pinching them together to seal.
After assembling all the buns, let them proof in the steamer until they rise 1.5 times their size.
Steam buns for 15 minutes once the water boils.
Turn off the heat and let it sit for 2 more minutes in the steamer. Do not open the steamer while letting it sit. Otherwise, you risk deflating the buns and making them shrink.
Lastly, enjoy your delicious purple potato buns for breakfast or a sweet snack after a savory meal.
All-Natural Purple Sweet Potato Bun
Equipment
- Mixing bowl
- Rolling Pin
- Dough cutter or knife
- Steamer lined with parchment paper
Ingredients
For The Purple Dough
- 200 g flour
- 2 g yeast
- 3 g sugar
- 150 g purple sweet potato puree
For The White Dough
- 200 g flour
- 2 g yeast
- 3 g sugar
- 110 g warm water
For The Filling
- Purple sweet potato paste choose the fillings you like
- Taro paste
Instructions
Make The Purple Dough
- In a bowl, mix flour, yeast, sugar, and purple sweet potato puree.
- Knead until you form a smooth purple ball of dough.
Make The White Dough
- In another bowl, mix flour, yeast, sugar, and warm water to create white dough.
- Knead until you form a smooth white ball of dough.
Combine The 2 Dough Sheets
- Using a rolling pin, roll out the white dough into a rectangle on a chopping board or flat surface. It does not have to be a perfect rectangle as long as the dough is flattened into a long oblong or rectangular sheet.
- Repeat step 1 for the purple dough.
- Then, place the purple potato dough over the white dough.
- Roll the two dough sheets inward, with the purple dough inside.
- Roll it once more to make it longer and allow the two dough sheets to come together. This should give you a cylindrical dough.
- Next, use a dough cutter or knife to slice the rolled dough into small pieces about 1 inch wide.
- Flatten each dough piece using a rolling pin. This should give you small circular wrappers with a purple spiral pattern on both sides.
Assemble The Dough And Filling
- Choose the side of the wrapper with a smaller spiral pattern and place the filling in the center. In this way, the larger spiral pattern is placed on the exterior for better presentation.
- Wrap the filling by taking the edges of the wrapper to the center and pinching them together to seal.
- After assembling all the buns, let them proof in the steamer until they rise 1.5 times their size.
- Steam buns for 15 minutes once the water boils.
- Turn off the heat and let it sit for 2 more minutes in the steamer. Do not open the steamer while letting it sit. Otherwise, you risk deflating the buns and making them shrink.
- Lastly, enjoy your delicious purple potato buns for breakfast or a sweet snack after a savory meal.
