How to Bake Chelsea Buns
Makes: 10 buns
Preparation time: 25 mins
Cooking time: 1 ½ hours
Ingredients needed to make Chelsea Buns:
- 1 lb strong white flour, plus more for dusting
- 1 sachet (1/4 oz) instant dried yeast
- 1 ½ oz unsalted butter, softened
- 1 tsp salt
- 10 fl oz milk
- 1 egg
- Vegetable oil, as required
For the filling:
- 5 oz mixed fruit
- 3 oz soft brown sugar
- 1 oz unsalted butter, melted
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon
For the glaze:
- 2 tbsp caster sugar
- 2 tbsp milk
Cooking instructions for Chelsea Buns:
- Add a large dollop of butter in a saucepan and pour the milk over it.
- Heat the mixture until the butter melts and maintain a lukewarm temperature at slowest heat.
- Stir a dash of salt into the flour and sift it into a large bowl.
- Make a cavity in the centre with your fingertips and fill it up with the yeast.
- Pour the warm buttered milk into the flour mixture and crack the egg into it.
- Stir them all together thoroughly to form a soft dough and transfer it to working surface, which in turn is already dusted generously with flour.
- Knead the dough for about 4-5 minutes until it becomes smooth and flexible; it shouldn’t feel sticky anymore.
- Grease a bowl with a small lashing of oil and transfer the dough into it.
- Slide it along the edges and base of the bowl to coat it well with the oil and wrap the surface of the bowl with a plastic wrap.
- Let it rest in a warm place for an hour or until the dough rises and becomes double its previous size.
- Lightly oil a baking tray and set aside until required.
- To make the filling, punch the dough back to its previous size and place it on a lightly floured working counter.
- Roll it out into a ¼’’ thick rectangle and paint its surface with melted butter.
- Spread the brown sugar over it, followed by a layer of dried fruits and sprinkle a dash of cinnamon on top.
- Roll the dough to form a tight rectangular log and slice them into ten 1 ½’’ pieces.
- Arrange them on the prepared baking tray and let it rest for half an hour, covered, until rises.
- Meanwhile, warm up your oven to 375 degrees F and bake the buns for about 25 minutes or until they puff up and turn golden brown.
- To make the glaze, heat its ingredients together in a saucepan and bring it to a boil.
- Reduce it to a simmer and cook for a couple of minutes; remove from heat.
- Take the buns out of the oven and smother it with the glaze.
- Cool them on a wire rack before serving.
Image credit: Wikimedia Commons
