Makes 5–6 buns

With just a handful of ingredients and a oven and you’ll soon have a batch of these Sweet Coconut Buns (Macatia Coco), a favourite in Mauritius and delicious when warm and with a bit of butter.

What you need…
For the buns
• 250g plain flour
• 1 Tablespoon butter
• 2 Tablespoons sugar
• 1 teaspoon instant yeast
• 120ml warm water

For filling
• 75g dessicated coconut
• 2 Tablespoons sugar
• 1 Tablespoon butter, melted
• 1 teaspoon vanilla essence

Plus
• milk for glaze

How you make it…
1. Mix all the ingredients for the buns, adding the water at the end, bit by bit. Knead the mixture for a couple of minutes. Leave the dough for 1 hour, which will allow it to rise.
2. Heat the oven to 180 C.
3. Roll the dough for a couple of minutes and divide it into 5 or 6 equal amounts.
4. Mix all the ingredients for the filling.
5. Take one of the lumps of dough and push down using your thumbs to create a cup. Fill the cup with some filling and close the cup back into a ball. Roll gently and keep working the dough until it is completely sealed again. It should now be in the shape of a small bun. Place it on a lightly greased baking tray and repeat the process until you have used all the dough and filling mixture.
6. Using a brush coat all the buns with milk.
7. Place the baking tray into the preheated oven and bake for 30 minutes.
8. Remove from oven and let the buns stand for a few minutes. Sprinkle a bit of dessicated coconut on the top and serve warm.

If you like this you should try our…
Roasted Sweet Potatoes (Bhundi Shakarkandi)
Medium Chicken Curry
Chicken Madras
Chicken Vindaloo
Chicken Bhoona