Meringue filled flower buns for Daring Baker's Challenge March 2011

This is my 8th challenge with Daring Baker's and my last challenge in Germany.  Hopefully I'll continue the challenges in India after a break.  This month our challenge was by Jamie and Ria.  Our challenge was to make Meringue filled yeasted coffee cake.  Jamie's version was sweet buns filled with meringue, chocolate and nuts. Ria's version was a saffron dough filled with meringue, cashews and a touch of garam masala.  I would have loved to make Ria's spicy and aromatic version but this time I adopted Jamie's version, next time Ria's may be.  This was so good, so definitely I'm going to make it another time.  Thank you Ria and Jamie for this wonderful challenge.

Ingredients:
For the yeasted dough:
Flour- 300 g
Sugar- 25 g
Dried yeast- 1 1/2 tsp
Milk- 90 ml
Water- 30 ml
Egg- 1
Unsalted butter- 60 g( softened)
Salt- 1/2 tsp

For the meringue:
Egg white- 1
Sugar- 30 g
Vanilla essence- 1/2 tsp
Salt- a pinch

For the filling:
Pecan nuts or walnuts- 50 g chopped
Sugar- 1 tbsp
Cinnamon powder- 1/2 tsp
Dark chocolate- 60 g chopped

Jam- 1 tbsp( for the topping)

Method:
To make the dough:
Add 150 g of flour, salt, sugar and yeast in a large mixing bowl.  Heat the milk, water and butter until the butter gets melted completely.  Add the liquid mixture to the flour mixture slowly beating with your electric mixture.  Now add the egg and remaining flour and beat with a electric mixture until it hold together like a dough. Turn the dough to a floured work surface and knead it for 5 to 10 minutes until it looks smooth and elastic.  Place the dough in a clean and oiled bowl, cover with a cling film and allow it to rise for 1 to 2 hours or until doubled in size.

Prepare the filling:
Mix all the filling ingredients together in a bowl and keep it separately.

Prepare the meringue:

Once the dough has doubled start preparing your meringue.  Beat the egg whites with salt in a clean bowl with a electric mixer.  Once it looks foamy, add the essence and sugar little by little .  Increase the speed to high and beat it until it looks stiff and glossy.

Prepare the buns:

Once the dough has risen, punch the air back.  Divide the dough into 4 equal rounds and allow it to rest for 10 minutes.

Then flatten each round , spread 1/4 th of the meringue in the middle and sprinkle with the filling mixture.

  Seal the edges and make it into a round again. Dust your working surface with flour and flatten the filled buns slightly. Take a kitchen scissors and make small cuts around the buns.

 Make a deep dimple in the middle and fill it with a tsp of strawberry or any jam of your choice.
Preheat the oven to 180 degree Celsius and bake the buns in the preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes.  Once they are cooked,  take it from the oven and leave it to cool down in the cooling rack.
Enjoy these yeasted soft buns with a cup of tea or coffee.