Crispy and Fluffy! Classic Homemade Melon Pan Recipe

In a bowl, combine 200g bread flour, 15g brown sugar, and 3g dry yeast, placing 0.5 beaten egg slightly apart. Pour 110g of 40°C warm water over the sugar and yeast, mixing with a spatula until a dough forms. Add 3g salt, mix well, and transfer to a work surface. Knead by stretching the dough forward and back until less sticky, then add 15g room temperature unsalted butter and knead for about 5 minutes until fully incorporated and smooth. Slap and fold the dough while turning it 90 degrees to develop gluten, then round it into a smooth, elastic dough that forms a thin membrane. Place in a bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and let rise in a warm place until 1.5 to 2 times its size.

Put 45g room temperature unsalted butter in a bowl and soften with a spatula, add 40g granulated sugar and mix without incorporating too much air. Add 0.5 beaten egg in two batches, mixing thoroughly to emulsify each time. Sift in 30g almond powder and 80g cake flour, mix by pressing against the bowl walls with a spatula until it comes together into a dough. Place the dough on plastic wrap, cover with pre-folded square plastic wrap to shape it evenly into a square, and chill in the refrigerator until ready to use.

Return to the fermented bread dough, dust a finger with bread flour for a finger test, ensure the hole doesn't spring back, and press out the gas. Transfer to the work surface, divide into 8 portions, round each piece while pinching the bottom closed, place seam-side down, cover with plastic wrap and a damp towel, and rest for 10 minutes. During this time, divide the cookie crust into 8 portions through the plastic wrap and round them firmly.

Press the gas out of the bread dough and round it up neatly again, covering the resting dough with plastic wrap to prevent drying. Dust with bread flour, and use a scraper to press down while rotating 45 degrees at a time to flatten the cookie dough into a circle slightly larger than the bread dough. Place the flattened cookie dough over the bread dough, use the impact of lifting with the right hand and dropping into the left hand to stretch and wrap the cookie dough, then flip and gently roll it in your hands to wrap it evenly.

Coat the surface of the wrapped dough thoroughly with granulated sugar and arrange on a baking sheet. Use a scraper to score a grid pattern on the surface.

Cover the baking sheet with plastic wrap and perform a second rise in a warm place for about 15 minutes. Once done, remove the plastic wrap and bake in an oven preheated to 190°C for 12 to 14 minutes.