Who would have thought you could make a Boston Bun with Bakery-Style Frosting quick and easily at home? Well you can! And I may have a secret ingredient or 2 that makes this bun even better than store-bought!

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First up, I have to say a huge thank you to my sister, Helen, for this wonderful Boston Bun recipe. I was visiting her last week (because that's what us Melburnians are allowed to do now #nomorelockdown) and was looking through her old recipe book, when I came across this Boston Bun recipe. After laughing at her 14 year old swirly handwriting, I snapped off a photo and said I had to try it!

As you may have worked out, I love a good old-school recipe and Helen has given me so many, including Hawaiian Shortbread and Chocolate Peppermint Slice

THE SECRET INGREDIENT

Now, I thought this was really odd! I've seen it in other recipes before and discarded the recipe, but believe me, you need to try it! If you want the fluffiest Boston Bun, you need to do yourself a huge favour and just go with it...

It's mashed potato (insert scared face). Yep, mashed potato makes a super soft and tender Boston Bun! Helen said she remembers making it back in school and it was really good, so how could I not try it?

WHY MASHED POTATO?

I had to do a little investigating. How could mashed potato make this Boston Bun so good?

Well, according to southernliving.com the starch in potatoes holds more water than wheat starch and when potatoes are boiled, their starch molecules become enlarged. These molecules make it difficult for the proteins in flour to form gluten, which means this Boston Bun with be light and tender! No heavy buns here!

WHAT YOU'LL NEED FOR THE BOSTON BUN

Mashed Potato: this gives the Boston Bun that incredibly light and fluffy texture. Funnily enough, it also adds a little sweetness! A medium sized potato, chopped, boiled for 10-15 minutes and mashed will give you ½ a cup.
Sugar: because we need a little more sweetness!
Milk: I used full-fat.
Self-raising Flour: there's no yeast in this recipe, so self-raising flour will make the Boston Bun, well, raise!
Mixed Dried Fruit: for little chunks of sweetness that Boston Buns are known for.
Salt: just a pinch, to help bring out the flavours.

THAT BAKERY-STYLE FROSTING

Ok, hands up if you've ever scraped off that amazing bakery frosting and eaten it on it's own? I'm sensing a few hands going up. Including mine! That stuff is just so damn good!

Again, I did a little digging and came up with what I think is the most perfect Bakery-style Frosting for our Boston Bun. It's super light and fluffy, sweet and delicious...and I may have eaten some straight from the bowl!

HOW TO MAKE BAKERY-STYLE FROSTING

Copha: it's a vegetable shortening that gives a white and super fluffy frosting. It also makes the frosting more stable, which means it won't go all runny on a hot day.
Icing Sugar: for sweetness. Use pure icing sugar.
Vanilla Extract: because I think it belongs in almost everything! Use the best you can find.
Water: Just a dash, to lighten the texture of the frosting even more!