Hi all!

Sorry for the extended absence – what a mad few months!!!

Never mind! I’m here now and have a recipe that will bring joy to many.

Maybe all.

Who can say?

This wonderful recipe is perfect for anytime that sweet, sticky, spicy buns are required and is pretty straightforward. It is adapted from a couple of versions I’ve tried and really delivers. I would advise using a food mixer if you have one as the dough is STICKY!!!!

Get bunning!

Ingredients

For the dough:

• 600g strong white flour, plus extra to dust1 packet fast active dried yeast
• 100g caster sugar (or vanilla sugar if you like)
• 1tsp salt
• 275ml milk
• 1 medium egg
• 5 or 6 cardamom pods (optional)
• 50g unsalted butter, melted, plus extra to grease

For the filling:

• 40g softened unsalted butter
• 60g caster sugar
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 100g sultanas
• 125g icing sugar
• 2-4 tbsp water (or lemon juice if you like)

Method

• Put the flour, salt, sugar, and yeast into the bowl of a food processor fitted with a dough hook (or just a large bowl if you are being bold and kneading by hand!)
• Gently heat the milk with the cardamom pods (you can lightly crush them if you want) and leave to infuse for a few minutes then remove. While the milk is still warm, whisk in the egg and melted butter.
• Add to the flour bowl in one go and turn the mixer on to low speed.Knead the dough for 5 minutes until elastic and smooth then dust a surface with flour, scrape out the sticky dough and knead by hand for a minute or so.
• Shape into a round and transfer to a large greased bowl (if you are super organised you can used the scraped out mixing bowl), cover with clingfilm and leave to rise in a warm place until doubled in size (anything from 1-2 hours)
• Line a large baking sheet with baking parchment.
• Lightly dust a work surface and plonk your risen dough on to it. Knock back the air gently then roll out dough to a rectangle roughly 23cm x 38cm with the long edge in front of you.
• Spread the softened butter over the rectangle (right to the edges), and liberally scatter over the sugar, cinnamon,and sultanas – it is best to mix all three together in a bowl first.
• Brush the long edge furthest away from you with water and carefully roll the dough in to a tight sausage, pressing lightly to seal it on the watered edge. Stuff may fall out. Don’t worry – just tuck it back in.
• Preheat oven to Gas Mark 5 (190c).
• Divide the dough into 12 slices (about 2.5cm wide) and arrange them on the baking sheet, spaced slightly apart to allow for growth. Cover loosely with greased clingfilm and leave to rise again in a warm place for about half an hour.
• Remove clingfilm and bake buns for 20-25 minutes until golden, risen, and wonderful. If they still look pale, give them another few minutes.
• While the buns are baking and filling your kitchen with wondrous smells, sift  the icing sugar into a bowl and mix in the water/lemon juice until it is smooth and spoonable. If you want a thinner icing just add more liquid.
• As soon as the buns come out of the oven, smother them with the icing while they are warm and leave to cool.
• They are awesome cold but ludicrously good served warm….