Around the year 2000, these started to appear in Malaysia and spread to Singapore. They were so trendy. Some call theirs rotiboy, Mr Bun, coffee dome. etc etc etc. When they first appeared, we used to buy 10 and get one free every weekend, until we got tired. The sad thing is, I think everybody got tired as well. It was trendy and very soon, these specialist shops’ bubble burst just like the bubble tea bubble. (pun intended)

As an entrepreneur lecturer, I often wonder why there was no case study done, or business plan written. Hm… those were just Mexican conchas, with coffee added, and of course they can reinvent this concept into something more sustainable, no?

How we brand the company and determine what it does changes the longevity or sustainability of our businesses. With just a few tweak, these roti shops can become really big, with little innovation and little additional investment.

But ah! This is just me, the entrepreneur and don thinking.

Today’s bake, I just added 2 teaspoons of coffee and brandy into a standard Mexican conchas recipe. I changed the bun into a new sweet bun bread that requires just one proof, and added butter and cheese to the core of the bun.

The result … everybody (except me) had 3 buns each. Nice. Takes less time to make than to drive all the way to buy a few buns.

Bailey’s Roti

Print Recipe

Ingredients

One-proof bun

120 g Fresh Milk
1 egg
90 g Plain Flour
180 g Bread Flour
40 g Raw Sugar
2 g Salt
40 g Unsalted Butter
4 g Instant Yeast

'Bailey's cream

1 Tablespoon instant coffee
1 Tbsp Brandy
100 g Unsalted Butter at room temperature
100 g Low gluten or cake flour
80 g Icing sugar
1 egg
1 g salt
1 Tbsp hot water

Filing

Cheese
Butter
Coarse sugar

Instructions

Bread

Combine everything except the butter and knead till shiny (on the Thermomix, it took 4 minutes)
Add butter and knead till dough passes window pane test (another 4 minutes on the Thermomix)
Divide dough into 40g each, you will get about 12 portions.
Put 1/2 tsp each of cheese, butter and coarse sugar into each and seal.
Shape into a ball and cover tightly with cling wrap.
Allow to raise for about 30 minutes at 40C, 85% humidity.

Bailey Cream Topping

Dissolve the coffee in the hot water.
Add the sugar and dissolve.
Add the rest of the ingredients and stir into a paste.
Place the Bailey's cream paste into a piping bag with a round nozzle.
When the buns have completed proving, piple spirals on the buns and bake for 15 minutes at 190C.
Eat warm or even hot!