Roasted strawberry buns

Instructions

• Prepare the strawberry filling
• The night before you make the buns, prepare the strawberry filling. Preheat the oven to 325F. Remove the stems from the strawberries and cut into quarters. Place in a glass or ceramic baking dish (I found that using a metal baking sheet caused the juices to burn) and add the sugar, lemon juice, and black pepper.
• Cook, for about 60-90 minutes, stirring every 20 minutes, until the juices have thickened. At first, the strawberries will release a lot of liquid and it will look too runny, but if you’re patient, most of the water will cook out and you’ll be left with a very thick syrup. Remove from the oven, mash the strawberries with a fork, and place the strawberries and their juices in a container. Let cool slightly and then refrigerate overnight to set.
• Prepare the dough
• Make the tangzhong by mixing 1/2 cup of milk with 3 Tbsp of flour in a small saucepan. Cook on medium low heat, whisking constantly, until there are no lumps and the mixture thickens into a gluey paste. Immediately remove from the heat and transfer to the bottom of a large mixing bowl.
• To the bowl with the tangzhong, whisk in the other 1/2 cup of milk until the tangzhong has been mostly broken up. Then whisk in the egg and vanilla. Using a wooden spoon or spatula, stir in the remaining flour, salt, sugar, powdered freeze-dried strawberries, and yeast.
• Mix together until you have a tacky dough. Using a stand mixer with a dough attachment or your hands, begin kneading the dough. After kneading for about 3 minutes, add in one tablespoon of butter at a time, kneading to completely incorporate the butter before adding the next tablespoon. The dough ball will start to feel very tacky but as it continues to be kneaded, it will come back together into a dough that, while moist, no longer sticks to your hands. In total, kneading will take 10-15 minutes to achieve a smooth dough.
• Form the dough into a ball, place back in the bowl, and cover with a towel or plastic wrap. Let rise for 60 to 90 minutes until the dough has risen to between 1.5 and 2 times its original size. Timing will vary based on the temperature of your kitchen.
• Fill and shape the buns
• Once the dough has risen, place on a lightly floured surface and roughly pat down into a rectangle. Gently roll the dough into a 10″ x 12″ rectangle, using your hands to help square off the corners.
• Spread all of the strawberry jam mixture onto the dough, using a knife or offset spatula to spread the filling evenly. It may not look like quite enough at first, but once it has been spread some, it should cover the entire surface.
• Starting at one of the long ends, roll the dough into a log, resting the final log on the seam. Cut off the very ends of the log by taking a long piece of floss, placing it under the dough where you want to cut, and bringing the two ends around to encircle the dough. Then cross the two ends and pull in opposite directions. Using the floss, cut the log in half and cut each half into quarters, until you have 8 rolls in total.
  
• Place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and let rest for 30-60 minutes, until they have puffed up some and when you press the dough with your finger, it does not instantly spring back. Tuck the “tails” from the end of each piece under the bun to help them hold their shape.
• Preheat the oven to 375F, brush the tops with a bit of milk, and bake for 14-16 minutes until lightly golden.
• Make the frosting
• In a bowl, whisk together the mascarpone, vanilla, powdered sugar and milk until smooth. Let the buns cool completely before icing. For best results, ice individual buns as they are ready to eat. Frost generously and top with chunks of freeze-dried strawberry.
• Leftover buns can be stored in an airtight container for several days. They can be reheated briefly in the microwave or oven to get their soft, fluffy texture back.