15. Chelsea Buns

When I got back from holiday, one of the very first things I did was catch up on Great British Bake Off. Yes, I know it’s not the same now that it’s on Channel 4 and there’s no Mary, Sue and Mel. BUT, I wasn’t really watching it just for them. (Well, I mean, Mary is a national treasure and I miss her on GBBO a lot and Sandy and Noel just can’t fill Mel and Sue’s shoes, even though they try). I was watching it for the bakes. Watching these 12 amateur bakers attempting more and more complex bakes every week. They were who I wanted to be. I even applied one year, but annoyingly they went with Michael. Also from Durham University. I was not bitter at all…..

I still watch GBBO with the same love for each and every bake. I love watching basic ingredients change into something beautiful. Or not as the case may be, the disasters make me feel a little better about my own baking mishaps. It’s just such a great show. I could ramble about it for ages.

But I’ll spare you. All this preamble is leading up to today’s recipe. Inspired by bread week, I decided to try my hand at Chelsea buns. I have never made Chelsea buns before and I am very proud of how mine turned out. I used the BBC Good Food recipe (here) as my basis, and swapped out the mixture of dried fruit for just raisins and added in some orange zest, as inspired by some of the bread week signature bakes. They turned out great and I’d recommend giving them a go!

SIDE NOTE: These buns were made for a Macmillan coffee morning. If you want to find out more about Macmillan Cancer Support and the great work they do, click here. If you’d like to donate to Macmillan, click here.

Makes 9 buns

Ingredients

For the dough

• 450g (16oz) plain or strong white flour

• 14g (0.5oz) dried yeast (2 sachets)

• 50g (1.75oz) caster sugar

• Pinch of salt

• 150ml warm milk

• 1 egg

• 50g (1.75oz) butter, melted

For the filling

• 25g (1oz) butter, room temperature

• 125g (4.5oz) raisins

• Zest of one large orange

• 1 tsp cinnamon

• 1 tsp nutmeg

• 25g (1oz) caster sugar (or light brown sugar)

For the glaze

• 25g (1oz) caster sugar

Method

1. Mix all the dry ingredients for the dough together in a bowl. Make a well in the middle and add in the milk, butter and egg. It can help to beat the egg before you add it, but it’s not really much more work if you don’t. Mix it together well, until it starts to form a dough and then use your hands. If once it has formed a dough it feels a bit dry, add a little splash of water, or if it feels too wet add a bit more flour.

2. Knead the dough on a lightly floured surface until it starts to feel smooth and elastic. When done, form into a ball and set in a lightly oiled or greased bowl to prove. Cover with cling film and leave in a warm spot for an hour until it doubles in size.

3. Knead the dough a couple of times to knock out the air and then form into a rectangle, about 30cm by 20cm. Spread over the butter and then sprinkle on the raisins. In a bowl mic together the sugar, spices and zest and then sprinkle that over the dough too.

4. Roll the dough starting at the long edge to get a 30cm long sausage. Slice this into 9 equal sized rounds. Grease an 8”x8” square tin and arrange the slices in the tin. Cover with a damp tea towel and leave to prove for half an hour. Preheat the oven to 180C during the prove.

5. Bake the buns for 10 minutes at 180C and then decrease to 160C and bake for another ten minutes.

6. To make the glaze mix the caster sugar together with a tablespoon of water. Once the buns are out of the oven, brush on the glaze immediately. Allow to cool a bit before serving warm or fully and serve cold.

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4. Mini Lemon Tarts

I think it is fair to say that summer is well and truly here.

The heat has been scorching, there's been barely a cloud in the sky, and the rain this weekend was a welcome change (not something we get to say often in England). But whilst I was born in the summer, I was not made for this heat. I have been sweltering.

I am very, very grateful that my office is air conditioned and my bedroom does not get direct sun and so stays a temperature I can actually sleep in. The tube to and from work has been disgusting and my lunch breaks have been spent searching for the shadiest patch in the park to eat my lunch in. 

But, we had a brief reprieve from the heat this weekend, and so I decided to try a new summery recipe out while I could bare to use the hob. 

What's more summery than a lemon tart?

These little babies also got the office treatment. I sent out the email saying they were in the kitchen and they were gone within the hour. I couldn't believe they'd gone so fast. I wanted one with my lunch...

I don't have the most experience with pastry, and I think I could've rolled mine a little thinner, but it went pretty well! Crumbly but could hold its own. 

Makes 18-24 mini tarts depending on size.

Ingredients

Pastry

• 3 cups (360g) plain flour

• Pinch of salt

• 1/2 cup (100g) golden caster sugar

• 225g butter, room temperature

• 1 tsp vanilla extract

• 2 large eggs

Lemon Curd

• 2 eggs

• 2 egg yolks

• 1/2 cup (100g) golden caster sugar

• 2 lemons, zest and juice

• Pinch salt

• 85g butter

Method

1. Beat the pastry sugar and butter together until well combined and creamy. Add the vanilla extract and eggs. Beat until smooth.

2. Fold in the flour and salt until the dough forms. (Mine was a little short, but I added a tiny splash of milk to make it hold. I think my butter was just a little too cold). Don't overwork the dough!

3. Chill your dough for 15-20 mins in the fridge to make it easier to work with.

4. Grease your mini muffin tray/tart cases and preheat the oven to 175C.

5. Roll your pastry to about 1/6-1/8" thick and use a round cookie cutter to cut out your tart cases. I used one about 3" in diameter, but you should adapt to the size of your tray/cases.

6. Line your tray/cases with your freshly cut circles, making sure you push them down to the bottom so that they have a flat bottom when baked.

7. Bake your cases for 15-20 minutes until they are golden brown and allow to cool.

8. To make the lemon curd, beat the eggs, egg yolks, sugar and lemon zest together in a pyrex/glass mixing bowl until it is smooth and pales in colour a bit. Then add the lemon juice and salt in, mixing well.

9. Half fill a pan with water and bring it to a simmer before putting your curd on top to bain marie. Make sure the water doesn't touch the bottom of the bowl.

10. Keep it simmering and stir your curd regularly until it thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon (about 15 minutes for me). If you don't stir it regularly enough your egg can coagulate. If it does this a little bit, don't worry. Pass your curd through a sieve after the next step.

11. Take your curd off the heat and add in your butter a bit at a time, stirring until it has melted in and your curd is glossy.

12. Pour your curd into a bowl and cover with clingfilm, making sure the clingfilm is on the surface of the curd to stop it forming a skin.

13. Chill your curd for 20 minutes or so.

14. Fill a piping bag with your curd and fill your tart cases to the brim with curd!

15. Enjoy! Keep refrigerated if they don't all go in one sitting.