Boshi Bun 👒

"Boshi", meaning "hat" in Japanese, is how this hat-shaped bun got its name. It was originated from Kochi, Japan, back in 1955. A sweet bread dough covered with a special batter that has a texture between cookie and castella cake after baked, which formed into a rounded hat brim-like edge. 

The birth of the Boshi bun was a beautiful mistake of a professional baker in Kochi. He was actually in the process of making the popular Melon bun, but he unintentionally forgot to cover the sweet bread dough with the cookie dough as it was supposed to. The result came out unexpectedly well with its adorable and appealing shape.  

Now that Boshi bun with its soft and crunch texture coat on top of the sweet bread became popular, people started to create new flavors and also new looks. Some have chocolate chips or nut crumbs on the top, some made other flavors of the covering batter, and others would make either very large or smaller hat brims. 

The best-known and original bread shop that started making Boshi buns is located in Kochi, called 永野旭堂本店リンベル. This traditional bread shop is a 15-minute walk from the JR Kochi Station. As a huge fan of bread, I really hope I could have a chance to visit there some day!

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In my creation of Boshi bun, I put a small cube of salted butter in the middle of the sweet bread dough to add a kick of savory flavor to this sweet bread. Also, as the butter melts during the bake, it would form a small hollow space inside the bread which would bring out an extra lightness when you enjoy this Boshi bun.