Cloud Usul Iced Buns

Today I will be sharing with you my recipe for Cloud Usul Iced Buns.
For this recipe you will need the following material and ingredients:
For the buns (this recipe makes about 7 buns):
- A steaming utensil to fit in a pan/pot;
- 7 pieces of parchment paper cut into about 5cm x 5cm
- 3.5 gr. of instant dry yeast
- 1 tbsp of sugar
- 1/2 tbsp of vegetable oil
- 1/2 cup of lukewarm water
- 1 and 1/2 cups of flour
- pinch of salt
- 1/4 tsp of baking powder

In a bowl put the lukewarm water, the sugar, the yeast and the oil and let it activate for 10 minutes.
After 10 minutes add in the flour, the baking powder and the salt and mix it well. If the dough is too dry add more water, if too wet add more flour. Little by little. Keep kneading it for 8 to 10 minutes until you get a very smooth and only very lightly tacky dough. Shape it into a ball and place it in an oiled bowl. Also oil the surface of the dough ball (so it doesn't form a dry crust) cover the bowl with a kitchen cloth or plastic wrap and let it rise for 2 hours.
After two hours put the dough in a floured working surface, and shape it into a roll. Cut the roll in 7 equal pieces, shape them into small balls and place them in a floured tray or surface. Cover them with plastic wrap or cloth and let them rest again for 10 minutes.
In the meanwhile fill a pot with water and bring it to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and prepare the dough balls for steaming. Place as many parchment paper pieces in the steaming utensil as dough balls can fit (keep in mind that they will puff up a bit while cooking) and place each ball on each paper piece. Place the steaming utensil on the pot with the steaming water and put on a lid. Let them cook for about 7 minutes. After cooking, take them off the heat, substitute the lid for a kitchen cloth and let them rest a minute, covered with the cloth, before taking them out of the steaming utensil. Let the buns cool completely before icing.

For the blue-ish icing:
- a wire rack
- 2 cups of powdered/icing/confectioner sugar
- a bit of pasteurized egg whites
- blue, purple and pink food coloring

In a bowl put in the sugar and add the pasteurized egg whites, little by little, mixing all the way, until you get a very thick consistency (spreadable like Nutella). Now, with the help of a toothpick, add the coloring (use a different toothpick for each color), also little by little (because you can always add more but you can not take back what's already in) and mix it all in until you get the desired color (in this case, a very light almost indigo like color). - Now it can get a bit messy ;)
After the buns have cooled completely, and with the help of a knife, peel off the shiny crusty layer of each bun and use a butter knife or a spatula to ice each one with the blue-ish icing mixture. Then place them on a wire rack with some parchment paper underneath so in case it drips you can always scoop it out and use it again. You don't need to ice the top of the buns since they will be topped with the white icing. Let the blue-ish icing set.

For the white icing:
- 2 tbsp of powdered/icing/confectioner sugar
- 2 very fresh egg whites
- an electric mixer
- a piping bag

In a bowl put the egg whites and start beating them with the electric mixer until it becomes frothy. Start adding the sugar, slowly, and keep beating until you get very stiff and glossy peaks. Put this icing in the piping bag (and you don't need to use a piping tip for this) and pipe a large and reasonably wide swirl of icing on top of each bun. Also apply a bit of this icing on the sides of each bun and, with the help of a butter knife or spatula, shape it into cloud like shapes.

For the "cherry" on top:
- either real cherries, or pink/red hard candy, or what I used, white fondant paste colored with a very tiny bit of red food coloring molded into small balls and with a very small cut on a side.

Place a topper of your choice: cherry or hard candy. But if you use molding fondant like I did, don't forget to brush a bit of clear jam or water on the small ball, just for the sake of the gloss ;)
Enjoy!

*This image was taken from and belongs to Neopets.