yeast cooking

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rhubarb and custard buns

3 Aug 2026

I wanted to make as many rhubarb flavoured bakes as I could before rhubarb season was over. As you know, I do love a good bun and whilst I've made rhubarb buns before I wanted to make some rhubarb and custard buns inspired by the rhubarb custard buns at Juno The Baker.

I used my go-to bun dough as my base, adapted from a Sarah Keiffer recipe and made some rhubarb compote inspired by a Trine Hahnemann recipe and a batch of cold start custard from a Natalie Paull recipe. I put them together and hey presto, I had some rhubarb and custard buns.

Here's the recipe for you which will make 7-8 buns. For all my recipes I use a 250ml cup and a 20 ml tablespoon, unsalted butter and 60g eggs. My oven is a conventional gas oven so if your oven is fan forced, you may need to reduce the oven temperature by 20°C.

Rhubarb and custard buns
Rhubarb jam
150g rhubarb
55g caster sugar

Cold start thick custard
25g caster sugar
10g cornflour
pinch fine sea salt
20g cream
1 egg yolk
100g milk
½ tsp vanilla paste

Dough
1¼ tsp yeast
150 mls lukewarm milk
30g caster sugar
1 room temperature egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups (300g) plain flour
½ tsp salt
60g room temperature unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

For the filling
50g unsalted butter, softened
55g caster sugar
1 tbs almond meal
1 tsp vanilla extract
a pinch seasalt flakes

To finish
1 egg lightly beaten/melted butter or cream

Rhubarb jam
Cut the rhubarb into one-centimetre pieces, place in a saucepan with the sugar and bring to the boil. Cook for five minutes, then drain through a sieve placed over a heatproof bowl. Return the juice to the pan, bring to the boil once more and cook down until a syrup forms. Leave to cool.

Cold start thick custard
In a medium bowl, weigh the sugar, cornflour, salt and cream. Add the egg yolks last and hand whisk to make a creamy paste. Stream the milk in then the vanilla (paste or scraped pod and seeds) and whisk well. Scrape the mix into a small saucepan.

Place the saucepan on a medium-high heat and hand whisk at a slow pace to allow the heat to suffuse through the mix. Work the small balloon whisk into the corners of the saucepan (where the custard thickens first). After around 3 minutes of whisking, the custard will start to look like a creamy liquid. Speed up the whisking now the custard will thicken fast. It will look lumpy but just whisk quickly and it will all come together into an evenly thick paste in another 1 minute.
As soon as it looks smooth and thick, slow down the whisking and wait for a few burp-like bubbles to pop over the surface. It's a super thick custard and your whisk should leave obvious furrows as it moves through the mix.

Take the pan off the heat and scrape the custard into a bowl and press a piece of plastic wrap on the surface of the custard to prevent a rubbery skin forming. Chill for at least 1 hour.

Dough
Grease a large plastic container and set to one side. Combine the yeast, milk and sugar in a large liquid measuring cup and rest for 5 minutes or until foamy then stir in the egg and the vanilla. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook, mix the flour and salt and stir on low to combine. Add the egg mixture and mix on low to combine. With the mixer on low, add the butter, one piece at a time. When all the butter has been incorporated (about 10 minutes) increase the speed to medium and beat the butter into the dough, until all the little butter pieces are incorporated, and the dough comes away from the side of the bowl.

Transfer the dough to the prepared container. Cover the container with a lid or with plastic wrap and let rise for 30 minutes. Place your fingers or a spatula underneath the dough and gently pull the dough up and fold it back over itself. Turn the container and repeat this folding again. Continue 6 to 8 more times, until all the dough has been folded over on itself. Re-cover the container and let rise for 30 minutes. Repeat this series of folding 3 more times, for a rise time of 2 hours and a total of 4 foldings. Replace the lid or tightly cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight or up to 72 hours.

The next day, flour a work surface and knead the dough 10 to 12 times to activate the gluten. Shape the dough into a ball, cover the top lightly with flour, and cover with a tea towel and let come to room temperature.

Make the filling by mixing all the ingredients into a smooth paste.

Line a baking sheet with baking paper. Roll the dough out into a rectangle measuring about 40 x 15 centimetres. Spread the filling evenly over the dough. Fold the left third of the dough in towards the centre, and fold the right third of the dough over that towards the centre, like you're folding a business letter. Gently run the rolling pin over the dough to press out any big bubbles.

Roll the dough out a bit more so that it forms a 16 x 30 cm rectangle and then cut across into eight two-centimetre strips. Take each strip and twist it, then roll each twist into a spiral. Place the rhubarb buns on the prepared tray, pressing down on each so they spread slightly. Cover and leave to rise for 30 minutes or until puffed and well risen.

While the buns are proofing, preheat the oven to 200°C, conventional.

Make an indent in the top of the bun and spoon in 1 tbs custard, followed by a spoonful of the rhubarb. Brush the tops of the buns with the beaten egg, melted butter or cream. Place the buns onto the centre rack of the oven then bake the buns for 25-30 minutes, until risen and golden brown. Remove from the oven and brush with the reserved rhubarb syrup. Leave to cool on a wire rack before serving.

These are best served the day of baking and are so delicious, I wished I'd made a larger batch! If the whole rolling and folding is too much for you, just make scrolls like Juno did.

See you all again next week with some more baking from my kitchen.

Bye for now,

Jillian

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chocolate hot cross buns

30 Mar 2026

I am a traditionalist when it comes to hot cross buns. I only eat them at Easter time and I'm definitely a dried fruit hot cross bun girl. However my next door neighbour does not eat fruit in any form so I decided to step outside my comfort zone to bake some chocolate hot cross buns.

Who else to turn to for my recipe other than the baking goddess herself, Natalie Paull. Last year when her chocolate hot cross buns recipe appeared in Delicious magazine I made a batch which were declared delicious, so this year I made another batch.

You'll need to begin the recipe a day ahead and you’ll need a piping bag or a small zip-lock bag for the cross. Although these are best eaten the day they're baked, the buns are still good the next day.

Here's the recipe for you which makes 8 buns, adapted from here. For all my recipes I use a 250ml cup and a 20 ml tablespoon, unsalted butter and 60g eggs. My oven is a conventional gas oven so if your oven is fan forced you may need to reduce the oven temperature by 20°C.

Natalie Paul Chocolate hot cross buns - makes 8
Ingredients
1½ tbs dark cocoa powder
1¼ tbs milk, boiled
1 small orange
100ml water, tepid
1 tsp instant dried yeast
35g light brown sugar
300g strong (baker’s) flour
3 tsp mixed spice powder
45g unsalted butter, chilled, chopped
Cooking oil spray, to grease
160g dark (70%) chocolate, chopped (I used 125g)

Glaze
50g caster sugar
2 tsp golden syrup
½ vanilla bean, split, seeds scraped (substitute 1 tsp vanilla-bean paste)
Finely grated zest of 1 orange

Cross
¼ cup (35g) plain flour
¼ cup (25g) dark cocoa powder
1 tsp icing sugar mixture
2 tsp vegetable oil

Method
Mix cocoa powder and boiled milk in a small bowl until a thick rough paste forms. Trim and discard the stem ends of the orange, then roughly chop the trimmed orange and puree in a food processor until almost smooth. Set aside 100g of orange puree.

Pour tepid water into the bowl of a stand mixer. Add yeast, 10g brown sugar and 100g flour. Whisk by hand until a smooth paste. Place remaining flour and brown sugar on top, then add orange puree, spices, 1 tsp fine salt, chilled butter and the cocoa paste. Stand for 30 minutes.

Attach dough hook to mixer and knead on low for 15 minutes. Add chocolate and knead for a further 5 minutes. It should be soft, smooth and not wet – add 1-2 tbs more flour if it is. Scrape into a plastic tub or large bowl lightly sprayed with cooking oil spray. Rest at room temperature for 40 minutes, or until puffed. Lift dough up by one side and shake to lengthen. Fold dough over on itself and place back in the tub. Turn dough 90⁰ and repeat the shake and fold – this activates the gluten in the dough. Press plastic wrap on top, cover and chill overnight.

The next morning, place the chilled dough onto a lightly floured surface. Portion into 8 x 100g portions. Roll each into a tight ball and place in a 2 x 3 formation, with the extra two on the side, on a shallow baking tray lined with baking paper. Cover lightly with plastic wrap and leave to prove in a warm place for 1 hour, or until puffed, almost touching and bounces back lazily when poked lightly.

Meanwhile, for the glaze, place all ingredients with 1½ tbs water in a small saucepan and place over high heat. Bring to the boil, reduce heat to low and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 2-3 minutes, until slightly thickened and syrupy. Set aside to cool.

For the cross, place all ingredients in a medium bowl with ¼ cup (60ml) water and ¼ tsp fine salt. Whisk until combined and smooth, adding more water if the paste is too thick to pipe. Transfer cross paste to a piping bag and set aside.

Preheat the oven to 210°C/190°C fan-forced. Cut a 5mm tip off the piping bag and pipe crosses over the top of buns. Bake for 10 minutes, then reduce the temperature to 190°C and bake for another 10 minutes or until firm and bouncy when pressed. Remove the buns from the oven and brush with glaze. Cool on a wire rack for 20 minutes before serving.

Recipe Notes: adjust the cross mixture with 1-2 tsp extra water if it’s too thick or stiff to pipe. You’ll have more paste than you need, but the exact amount would be hard to pipe easily. Another way of checking buns are cooked is using a kitchen thermometer. The internal temperature will be 90⁰C.

Although these are best eaten the day they're baked, the buns are still good the next day and the butter is not negotiable.

See you all again next week with some more baking from my kitchen.

Bye for now,

Jillian

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the french bastard's pain aux raisins

9 Mar 2026

When I visited Paris in 2023 my favourite pastry by a long shot was the pain aux raisins from The French Bastards. Rather than raisins or sultanas the snail was filled with currants and it was delicious. You can imagine how delighted I was when the bakery published a recipe book, 'The French Bastards, Modern Pâtisserie Classics from Paris's Cult Bakery' in 2025, which contained their recipe for the pain aux raisins.

I copied the recipe then studied it. The recipe was obviously a scaled down version of a commercial batch of pain aux raisins. The recipe was very short on detail and some of the measurements didn't appear to be correct. I bought some high fat content butter and set to work. I struggled on aided by multiple google searches for pain aux raisins recipes plus suggested resting and cooling times during the lamination process.

The end result didn't look too dissimilar from the original but I could have rolled the dough more tightly to get another swirl. My lamination skills definitely need work. It was 26°+ C the day I made the dough and despite using ice blocks to chill the surface and regular rests in the fridge and freezer, my butter block melted a bit during the rolling process. The quantity of pastry cream in the recipe wasn't very generous and although I increased the quantity a little I think you need at least 50% more. However the quantity of syrup was super generous and probably double what you need but any leftovers can be stored in the fridge.

The dough was also very dry so I had to add another 40-50 mls of water before it came together. Then finally, the recipe suggested baking the snails at 150°C, conventional for 25 minutes. All the other recipes I consulted suggested baking the snails at 180°C-200°C, conventional which is what I ended up doing.

Here's the original recipe for you from The French Bastard's cookbook, without my suggested changes, which makes 6-12 snails. For all my recipes, I use a 250 ml cup and a 20 ml tablespoon. All eggs are 60 grams and my oven is a conventional oven not fan forced, so you may need to reduce your oven temperature by 20°C. If you'd like to see a demonstration of a double/single fold mentioned in the recipe I've attached a link here, with l.architecte.patissier expertly showing how the turns are performed.

The French Bastards Pains aux Raisins - makes 6
Preparation time: 1 hr * cooking time: 25 mins * resting time: 2 hrs 15 mins

For the pastry cream
112g whole milk
21g caster (superfine) sugar
10g custard powder
4g egg yolk
22g whole egg

For the croissant dough
141g pastry (sponge) flour
141g fine soft wheat flour (e.g, Italian 00 flour)
6g salt
11g fresh yeast/4g dried yeast
14g unsalted butter, cold
42g caster (superfine) sugar
7g cold water
110g whole milk, cold
169 g unsalted dry butter (84% fat)

For finishing
600g currants

For the syrup
150g caster (superfine) sugar
150g water

Pastry cream
Pour the milk into a saucepan and bring to the boil. Combine the sugar and custard powder in a bowl, add the egg yolk and whole egg and mix well. Pour in half the hot milk, stir to combine, then return the mixture to the pan with the remaining milk. Bring back to the boil, then remove from the heat. Allow to cool.

Dough
In a mixer fitted with a dough hook, combine all the ingredients for the dough, except the dry butter. Mix on the lowest speed for 5 min to form a dough, then knead on speed 2 for 8 minutes. The dough should be smooth.

Shape the dough into a rectangle on a baking tray (pan). Cover with cling film (plastic wrap), allowing it to be in direct contact with the dough and rest for 15 minutes in the refrigerator.

Take the dough out of the refrigerator and use it to encase the dry butter. Make a double turn and roll out the dough to a thickness of 8 mm. Next, make a simple turn and roll it out to a thickness 8 mm, then roll out the dough to a thickness of 4.5 mm. Trim the edges of the dough to form a regular rectangle. Press the lower edge of the dough with your fingers.

Using a spatula, spread the pastry cream over the entire surface of the dough. Scatter the currants evenly over the cream. Starting at the top, roll the dough into a sausage, then cut it into six slices. Lay the slices on a baking tray lined with baking parchment and leave to rise for 2 hours.

When they have doubled in size, preheat the oven to 150°C, conventional and bake for 25 minutes. In the meantime, make the syrup.

Syrup
Combine the sugar and water in a saucepan and heat until the sugar dissolves. Allow to cool. Remove the pains aux raisins from the oven and brush them with the cold syrup while still hot.

Would I make pain aux raisins again? I'd like to improve my lamination skills, so the answer is 'yes' but I'd use a different recipe. Perhaps this one.

See you all again next week with some more baking from my kitchen.

Bye for now,

Jillian

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sour cherry and pistachio scrolls

2 Feb 2026

Sour cherries and pistachios are a match made in heaven and feature in Honey and Co's delicious fitzrovia bun recipe. I recently bought a copy of Helen Goh's book, Baking and The Meaning of Life and in the book is a recipe for pistachio and sour cherry scrolls filled with pistachio paste.

I have a huge bottle of pistachio paste in my cupboard and I've been looking for ways to use it. Inspired by the photo in Helen's book, I made my own version. My bun dough is an adaptation of Sarah Kieffer's recipe from the Vanilla Bean Blog. Her pillowy soft cinnamon rolls recipe is so good I see no reason to ever use another recipe. The lemon cheese cream cheese icing recipe is one I developed some time ago.

Here's the recipe for you which makes 6-8 scrolls. For all my recipes, I use a 250 ml cup and a 20 ml tablespoon. All eggs are 60 grams and my oven is a conventional oven not fan forced, so you may need to reduce your oven temperature by 20°C.

Sour cherry and pistachio scrolls - makes 6-8 scrolls

Dough
1¼ tsp dried yeast

140 mls milk, lukewarm
30 mls honey
1 room temperature egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups (300g) plain flour
½ tsp salt
60g room temperature unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
75g sour cherries, roughly chopped if they are large

Filling
175g pistachio paste

To finish
2 tbs melted butter or cream

Lemon cream cheese icing

30g unsalted butter, room temperature
60g cream cheese, room temperature
1/2 tsp vanilla bean paste
Pinch salt
1 tsp lemon rind
120g (1 cup) icing sugar, sifted
1-2 tbs roughly chopped pistachios

Dough
Grease a large bowl and set to one side. Combine the yeast, milk and honey in a large liquid measuring cup and rest for 5-10 minutes or until foamy then stir in the egg and the vanilla.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook, mix the flour and salt and stir on low to combine. Add the egg mixture and mix on low to combine. Mix for about 5 minutes then with the mixer on low, add the butter, one piece at a time. When all the butter has been added, increase the speed to medium and beat the butter into the dough, until all the little butter pieces are incorporated, for about 1 minute. Transfer the dough to the prepared bowl. The dough will be very sticky and you will need a spatula to scrape the dough into the bowl.

Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let rise for 30 minutes. Add the sour cherries to the bowl and gently press into the dough with your finger tips. Place your fingers or a spatula underneath the dough and gently pull the dough up and fold it back over itself. Turn the bowl and repeat this folding again. Continue 6 to 8 more times, until all the dough has been folded over on itself. Re-cover the bowl with plastic and let rise for 30 minutes. Repeat this series of folding 3 more times, for a rise time of 2 hours and a total of 4 foldings. Tightly cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight or up to 72 hours.

To Assemble
Flour a work surface and knead the dough 10 to 12 times to activate the gluten. Shape the dough into a ball, cover the top lightly with flour, and cover with a tea towel and let come to room temperature. Line a tray with baking paper and set to one side.

Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface to form a 42cm x 30cm rectangle. Spread the pistachio paste evenly out onto the dough leaving a 1 cm border all around then roll up firmly from the long edge. Using a very sharp knife or pastry wheel, cut the dough into 6-8 scrolls.

Set the rolls on a baking tray covered with baking paper, about 5 cm apart, cover with a cloth and leave the rolls to rise in a warm place until they have doubled in size.

Preheat the oven to 200°C, conventional. Just before baking, brush each roll with some melted butter or cream. Bake the rolls for 20-25 minutes on the centre rack or until the rolls are golden brown, internal temperature has reached 90°C, rotating the pan halfway through. While the rolls are baking, prepare the lemon icing.

Icing
Place the butter, cream cheese, vanilla, salt and lemon rind into a medium size bowl. Using a hand beater, mix on medium until smooth and creamy. Add the icing sugar and mix on low until combined. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and mix on medium until the icing is light and fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes.

Remove the scrolls from the oven and leave to stand for about 10 minutes before spooning the icing over the top and sprinkling with chopped pistachios. Allow the buns to cool for about 30 minutes, then gently tear them apart to serve.

I was really tired the day I made the scrolls so every scroll was a slightly different size but once slathered with icing no-one could tell. I had my scroll while it was still warm and it was one of the most delicious things I've ever eaten.

See you all again next week with some more baking from my kitchen.

Bye for now,

Jillian

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spiced pumpkin pecan babka

10 Nov 2025

I know it's Fall in the Northern Hemisphere which means its pumpkin spice season. Pumpkin spice everything not really a thing in Sydney as we don't celebrate Thanksgiving and in general pumpkin is reserved for savoury recipes. I wanted to bake something pumpkin flavoured and when I saw some pumpkin spiced buns on Nicola Lamb's substack I decided to make a custard filled version of the buns.

I'm still a bit jet lagged and making custard seemed a bit too much for me, so the pumpkin buns morphed into a spiced pumpkin and pecan babka. How I thought this was less time consuming than making custard is beyond me as I had to roast pumpkin for the puree, toast and chop the pecans and make some cinnamon scented syrup. Please note, you will need to start this recipe the day before baking.

I adapted my own cinnamon bun recipe but I found the pumpkin puree made the dough very soft and sticky, so you might want to reduce the milk in the recipe a little. It also takes more time to mix, about 10 minutes for the dough and an additional 5 minutes for the butter. Whenever I make a sweet dough I always activate the yeast first. You can leave this step out and simply add the dried yeast to the flour.

Here's the recipe for you which makes 1 babka. For all my recipes, I use a 250 ml cup and a 20 ml tablespoon. All eggs are 60 grams and my oven is a conventional oven not fan forced, so you may need to reduce your oven temperature by 20°C.

Spiced Pumpkin Pecan Babka - you will need to start this recipe the day before baking.

Yeast sponge
1¼ tsp dried yeast
1 tsp plain flour
1 tsp caster sugar
1 tbs warm water

Dough

100 mls lukewarm milk (this can be reduced to 75mls)
30g caster sugar or honey
1 room temperature egg
140g pumpkin puree (I made my own)
1 tsp vanilla extract
330g plain flour
½ tsp salt

yeast sponge or 1¼ tsp dried yeast
65g room temperature unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

Pecan filling

80g unsalted butter at room temperature, cubed

100g light brown sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

½ tsp each ground ginger and nutmeg

¼ tsp ground cloves or mixed spice

pinch of salt

1 tsp maple or golden syrup

1 tbs almond meal

65g coarsely chopped toasted pecans

Syrup

75g caster sugar

1/3 cup water

1 cinnamon stick

Yeast sponge

Mix the dry ingredients together in a small jug or bowl before adding the water. Stir until it forms a smooth paste. Cover the bowl and leave for 15-20 minutes until the yeast starts to froth and bubble. If it doesn’t froth and bubble, leave for anther 15 minutes. If nothing happens then the yeast is dead and you'll need to start over with fresh yeast.

Dough

Grease a large plastic container and set to one side. Place the milk, the sugar, the egg, the pumpkin puree and the vanilla into a large jug and stir to combine. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook, mix the flour and salt and stir on low to combine. Add the yeast sponge (or 1¼ tsp dried yeast) and the milk mixture and mix on low to combine. Continue to mix for another 10 minutes to develop the gluten. With the mixer on low, add the butter, one piece at a time. When all the butter has been incorporated (another 5 minutes), increase the speed to medium and beat the butter into the dough, until all the little butter pieces are incorporated, and the dough comes away from the side of the bowl.

Pecan filling

Make the filling by mixing the softened butter with the brown sugar, spices, the syrup and almond meal to form a spreadable paste. Set to one side.

Assembly

Grease a 23 by 10 cm (9 by 4 in) loaf tin and line the bottom and sides of the tin with baking paper. Allow some overhang on each side to act as a sling. Roll the dough out on a lightly floured surface into a rectangle measuring 38 by 28 cm (15 by 11 in). Trim the sides to make them even, then position the dough so that a long side is closest to you. Use an offset spatula to spread the spice mixture over the rectangle, leaving a 2 cm/¾ inch border all around. Sprinkle the chopped pecans over the spice paste.

Brush a little bit of water along the long end farthest away from you. Use both hands to roll up the rectangle like a roulade, starting from the long side that is closest to you and ending at the other long end. Press to seal the dampened end onto the roulade and then use both hands to even out the roll into a perfect thick cigar. Rest the cigar on its seam. You can refrigerate the dough at this stage for 30 minutes to firm up the filling before braiding.

Trim about 2 cm/¾ in off both ends of the roulade with a serrated knife. Now use the knife to gently cut the roll into half lengthwise, starting at the top and finishing at the seam. You are essentially dividing the log into two long even halves, with the layers of dough and filling visible along the length of both halves. With the cut sides facing up, gently press together one end of each half, and then lift the right half over the left half. Repeat this process, but this time lift the left half over the right, to create a simple, two-pronged plait. Gently squeeze together the other ends so that you are left with the two halves, intertwined, showing the filling on top. Carefully lift the cake into the loaf pan. Cover the pan with a wet tea towel and leave to rise in a warm place for 1½-2 hours. The cake will rise by about 50 percent.

Preheat the oven to 190°C/375°F, conventional. Remove the tea towel, place the cake on the middle rack of the oven, and bake for about 40 minutes, until a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean or registers 95⁰C on an instant read thermometer. If not, return to the oven for another 5-10 minutes. My babka took 45 minutes to cook through. While the babka is in the oven, make the syrup.

Syrup

Combine the water, sugar and cinnamon stick in a saucepan. Place the pan over a medium heat and bring to a boil. As soon as the sugar dissolves, lower the heat and simmer for 5 minutes then remove the pan from the heat and leave the syrup to cool down. As soon as the babka comes out of the oven, pour all the syrup over the top of the babka reserving the cinnamon stick. Leave the babka in the tin for about 1 hour before removing it otherwise it will fall apart. Whilst lovely to eat while still warm from the oven it’s a little hard to cut. Note my terribly uneven slice!

The babka will keep for up to two days at room temperature, wrapped in foil, and a few weeks if frozen.

The babka came out soft, squishy and delicious.

See you all next week with some more baking from my kitchen and in the mean time, watch out for some travel posts.

Bye for now,

Jillian

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unruly raspberry and lemon buns

5 Oct 2025

I first found Cecilia Tolone, an American born pastry chef who now calls Sweden home making cinnamon or cardamom buns in her home kitchen during lockdown. For a number of years Cecilia worked as the head pastry chef at Frantzén in Stockholm, a 3 Michelin star restaurant. These days she runs a Saturday bakery from her home. There are 4 items in the pastry boxes that she makes and Cecilia always includes 2 kinds of buns.

One week Cecilia made raspberry buns. I just love yeasted buns. I've made cinnamon buns, chocolate buns, lemon buns, rhubarb buns, passionfruit and custard buns, jam filled buns and blueberry buns, but I'd not made raspberry buns before. This oversight needed to be rectified so off to the kitchen I went. Please note this is not the recipe that Cecilia uses, this is my own tried and tested bun dough recipe, which I adapted from a Sarah Kieffer recipe.

Things didn't go as smoothly as I'd hoped. The day on which I made the buns was really cold, which made rolling out the bun dough very difficult. By the time I tried to roll the buns the filling had solidified meaning the raspberry pieces sprinkled over the butter filling went everywhere. My kitchen looked like a crime scene.

After baking I glazed then topped my buns with some raspberry sugar which I made by whizzing 2 tbs sugar with some freeze dried raspberries. It's a nice touch but as freeze dried raspberries are hard to find, just use regular sugar or some pearl sugar instead.

I've recently changed the brand of dried yeast I use and had forgotten this brand is more active. As the bun dough proved and then baked, the scrolls I'd so carefully rolled all unravelled. If you're brave and would like to make a fancy bun, I've attached a link to the King Arthur Baking website with videos of the shaping process. Next time, I might reduce the quantity of yeast a little and ditch the fancy shaping and just roll them up like cinnamon buns.

Here's the recipe for my unruly raspberry and lemon buns which makes 8 buns. For all my recipes, I use a 250 ml cup and a 20 ml tablespoon. All eggs are 60 grams and my oven is a conventional oven not fan forced, so you may need to reduce your oven temperature by 20°C.

Raspberry and lemon buns
Dough
1¼ tsp yeast
150 mls lukewarm milk
30g caster sugar or honey
1 room temperature egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups (300g) plain flour
½ tsp salt
60g room temperature unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

Filling
100g caster sugar
4 tsp grated lemon rind
Pinch salt
80 g room temperature unsalted butter
1 tbs almond meal
75g frozen raspberries, roughly crushed

To finish
20g melted butter or cream

Lemon Syrup
30g caster sugar
30mls water
30 mls lemon juice

Raspberry sugar (optional)
5g freeze dried raspberries
30g sugar
Pinch salt
1/8 tsp cinnamon

Dough
Grease a large plastic container and set to one side. Combine the yeast, milk and sugar in a large liquid measuring cup and rest for 5 minutes or until foamy then stir in the egg and the vanilla. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook, mix the flour and salt and stir on low to combine. Add the egg mixture and mix on low to combine. With the mixer on low, add the butter, one piece at a time. When all the butter has been incorporated (about 10 minutes), increase the speed to medium and beat the butter into the dough, until all the little butter pieces are incorporated, and the dough comes away from the side of the bowl.

Filling
Combine the sugar, lemon zest and a pinch of salt in a small bowl then using your fingers rub the lemon zest into the sugar. Add the remaining ingredients (other than the raspberries) and mix with a spoon until you have a smooth paste.

Shape the dough
Flour a work surface and knead the dough 10 to 12 times to activate the gluten. Shape the dough into a ball, cover the top lightly with flour, and cover with a tea towel and let come to room temperature.

Grease and line 2 baking trays with baking paper and set to one side. Roll the dough out to a 12 x 16" rectangle on a lightly floured bench. Spread the filling over the dough then sprinkle the berry pieces over the filling.

Take the easy route. Roll the dough up from the long side and cut into 8 equal pieces and place on the prepared trays. Brush each bun with a little cream or melted butter then cover the buns loosely with plastic wrap and set aside in a warm place for an hour or until risen by half.

If you'd like to go fancy, then fold the dough like a letter. Starting on the right side, fold towards the left, making a crease roughly 1/3rd of the way (around 6.5” from the right edge). Press to adhere. Repeat the motion with the left side, folding from left to right, covering the first fold. Again, press the layers together to adhere. After folding, the dough block should measure roughly 12” by 6.5". Roll to extend the length of the block and remove any air bubbles, working the dough to about 16” by 8”.

Cut 8 or 9 strips. Gently twist the strip, then wrap the dough around itself into a knot, tucking the ends underneath. Place on the prepared tray. Brush each bun with a little cream or melted butter then cover the buns loosely with plastic wrap and set aside in a warm place for an hour or until risen by half. Video instructions for shaping are here

While the buns are proofing, prepare the lemon syrup and the raspberry sugar, if using.

Syrup
Combine sugar and water in a small saucepan over medium-low heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Mix in the lemon juice; bring to a simmer and cook for a few minutes until thickened. Take off the heat and set aside until needed.

Raspberry sugar
Place all the ingredients into a small food processor and whiz until well combined. Set aside until needed.

To bake
Preheat the oven to 180°C, conventional. Once the buns have risen, remove the plastic wrap and bake for 15-20 minutes, swapping the trays around halfway, until golden and cooked through. The interior should look fluffy and bready (not raw and stretchy) and should have an internal temperature 95-98°C. Immediately after baking, brush the rolls with the glaze and then garnish with the sugar. Let the buns set for a few minutes before moving to a wire rack to cool completely. These are best eaten on the day of baking.

So how were my unruly buns? So delicious that I know I'll make them again.

See you all again next week with some more baking from my kitchen.

Bye for now,

Jillian

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