School Bread
1 cup water
2 envelopes Active Dry Yeast
1/2 cup sugar
5 Tbsp butter
1 tsp cardamom
4 cups flour
1 large egg, beaten
Heat water and butter to 100 degrees Farenheit. Add yeast, sugar, cardamom, flour, and egg. Mix approximately five minutes or until it becomes a stiff dough. Form into a ball and put into an oiled bowl. Cover and allow to rest 45 minutes or until doubled in size. Roll into a log shape and cut into orange sized pieces. Roll each piece into a ball and allow to proof for 30 minutes. Bake for 15 minutes at 375 degrees. Allow to cool. While the bread is cooling, make the custard filling.
Custard
1 2/3 cup milk
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 tsp vanilla
4 egg yolks
1 Tbsp corn starch
Bring the milk to a boil in a heavy saucepan, then set aside. In a bowl, beat together eggs, sugar, and vanilla until doubled in volume. Slowly add the hot milk to temper the eggs, mixing well. Pour the mixture into a double boiler. Dissolve the corn starch in a small amount of water and slowly add to the mixture, stirring constantly. Allow mixture to thicken, but do not boil. Remove from heat and place in an ice bath to cool.
Icing
1 cup powdered sugar
2 Tbsp milk or water
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 cup shredded coconut
Mix together powdered sugar and either water or milk and vanilla to form a thin icing.
Now, you can bring it all together. Dip the top of the bread into the icing and sprinkle each one with the shredded coconut. Fill a pastry bag with the custard. Using a fairly large star tip, poke a hole in the center top of each bread and fill with custard. Finish with a decorative swirl of custard on top.
