The idea for these Coconut Mango Chelsea Buns came when I saw the buns baked at Great British Bake Off. I thought mango pulp would be a great filling for this kind of buns. So, I paired the mango with desiccated coconut and I’ve made the Chelsea buns.
While I’ve made enriched dough before, for example for Cozonac, I never baked Chelsea buns. They turned out great, so I’m glad I tried them.

Firstly, let’s talk about ingredients. You might not have heard about mango pulp before. I’ve discovered this ingredient in the International shop. After a quick search online, I saw that at least two supermarkets have it on their website, Tesco and Sainsbury’s. As with the International ingredients, these might be available in some of their shops. It is used in the Indian cuisine.

Alternatively, you can make the mango pulp at home, very easy. Wash and peel a couple of ripe mangoes, cut them in cubes and put them in a blender. Blitz until they become a soft paste. That’s it. No need for adding anything extra. You can store this homemade pulp in the fridge for a few days, or put it in the freezer and it keeps for a long time. Mango pulp can be used in smoothies, or with a bit of Kefir or youghurt you can make a Lassi type of drink. Add it to a thick youghurt and you can make your own, healthier, flavoured yoghurt.
Obviously, you can use the mango pulp for what was made for: Indian curries, chutneys, and raitas.

How lovely are the buns? The vertical layers of filling and dough look so appealing. The only thing I would change next time, is that I would add a bit more milk in the dough, 25ml more. As another option, I would add 50ml more milk and change the melted butter with a spoon of oil. I followed a recipe and it wasn’t enough moisture in it, despite me adding more milk than it was stated.

Ingredients for 9 Coconut Mango Chelsea Buns:

– 250g strong white flour
– 200g strong wholemeal flour
– 10g easy-bake dried yeast
– 50g sugar
– 200ml warm milk. Or 225ml, see my comment above.
– 1 free range egg, beaten
– 50g butter, melted
– a few drops of Coconut flavouring (optional)
Ingredients for the filling:
– 5g – 10g melted butter
– 25g sugar
– 150ml mango pulp
– 75g desiccated coconut
– 25ml mango pulp and 1 spoon of desiccated coconut for decoration

Start by making the dough. In the bowl of the stand mixer, measure in the flour, make a well and add the yeast and the sugar. Pour the warm milk and start incorporating at slow speed. Beat the egg with the melted butter and the coconut flavouring and pour it over the mixture. Increase the speed and let it knead for 7 minutes. Of course you can do that by hand, but I think it’s pointless when I have the machine.

While the dough is kneading, prepare a bowl by spraying oil, so the dough will not stick. Put the dough in the bowl and cover it with cling film. Put a tea towel over the top and let it prove for about an hour or until it doubles in size. It can be less or more, depending on the temperature.

After the dough has risen, flour the worktop. Tip the dough on the worktop and roll it with a rolling pin. There is no need to remove the air from the dough before rolling it out. Make sure the dough didn’t stick to the worktop, so you can handle it nicely. Now brush the melted butter on top of the dough. After that sprinkle the sugar on top.

In a bowl, mix the mango pulp and the desiccated coconut. Spread the coconut mango mixture on top of the dough. When all the filling is evenly spread, is time to make the buns. Tightly roll the dough. Cut the roll into 9 pieces. On a baking tray lined with baking paper, put the buns, leaving even gaps between them. Put a tea towel on top and leave the buns to rise for 30 minutes or so.

Pre-heat the oven at 180C or 160C for fan assisted ovens. Put the baking tray in the oven and bake for 30 to 40 minutes, flipping the tray after 20 minutes, so they bake evenly. I kept mine for 40 minutes. Next time I might take them out a couple of minutes earlier.

When the buns are baked, take the tray out of the oven. Leave them in the baking tray for a few minutes to cool. Then transfer them on a cooling rack using two turners. Leave them to cool. For the finishing touches, brush mango pulp on top, to give them the lovely shine and sprinkle a bit of coconut on top. You can now enjoy this wonderful dessert.

I was delighted with my coconut mango Chelsea buns, I know I’m going to make these again. It wouldn’t be me though, if I didn’t say that I’m also thinking of new flavour combinations I’d love to try. Tell me, which ones do you prefer?

Part of Bake Off Bake Along.