rosinenschnecken

rosinenschnecken

31 Aug 2026

Last year I attended a conference in Freiburg, Germany. I'd heard good things about a bakery in Freiburg called Brotbruder so I made my way across town. The bakery was busy with a queue outside, always a good sign, and I treated myself to a Rosinenschnecken, aka, a raisin snail.

The snail was lovely and I wanted to recreate it when I came home. I had little to go on because all the recipes I found online didn't match the snail I'd consumed. From my memory the dough wasn't sweet and there didn't appear to be a frangipane or custard filling. The roll was topped with a shiny glaze, which may have been the only sweetening.

I used my foolproof overnight rise dough, topped it with a vanilla butter filling and plumped sultanas. I baked half the batch and covered each snail with lashings of vanilla flavoured glace icing as they came out of the oven. I was quite disappointed. I found the snails tooth achingly sweet so for the second batch I remade the glaze with lemon juice which I drizzled over each snail.

These snails were so much better then the first batch. They were smaller than the Brotbruder snails though so I'm going to tweak the recipe a bit and see if I can get a snail even closer to the original. 

Here's the recipe for you which makes 8 snails and you will have to make the dough a day or 2 before making the snails. 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.

Rosinen Schnecken

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
75g sultanas (golden raisins)
50g unsalted butter, softened
55g caster sugar
1 tbs almond meal
1 tsp vanilla extract
a pinch seasalt flakes

Assembly
Melted butter/beaten egg/cream

Icing
150g icing sugar, sifted
1-2 tbs lemon juice
 
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.

Whilst the dough is resting, prepare the sultanas. Place the sultanas in a small heatproof bowl, then cover with ½ cup of boiling water or tea and steep for a minimum of 1 hour.

The next day, take the dough out of the fridge. 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.  

Filling
Thoroughly drain the sultanas, then make the filling by mixing the remaining ingredients into a smooth paste.

Assembly

Line 2 baking sheets with baking paper. Roll the dough out into a rectangle measuring about 40 x 25 centimetres. Spread the filling evenly over the dough then sprinkle with the drained sultanas. Place the dough with the short side in front of you and use a ruler and a sharp knife or pizza cutter to mark out eight 3-cm slices. Roll each slice firmly to form a tight roll then place 4 snails onto each prepared tray with plenty of space between the snails. Cover the trays with a clean tea towel or plastic wrap and leave to rise for 1 hour or until puffed and well risen.

While the buns are proofing, preheat the oven to 200°C, conventional. When the buns have proofed, brush the tops of the buns with the beaten egg, melted butter or cream. Place the tray of 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 place the tray on a cooling rack.

Glaze
Mix the icing sugar with the lemon juice until you have a smooth thick glaze. Liberally drizzle each snail with the glaze while they are still warm and let cool before serving.

These are best served the day of baking but can be kept overnight in an airtight container and served the next day.

I froze 2 uncooked buns and pulled one out to defrost and bake when the need for a raisin snail arose. I can confirm they freeze really well and are a real treat when eaten freshly baked and iced.

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

Bye for now,

Jillian

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rhubarb and custard buns

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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roasted rhubarb almond and polenta muffins

roasted rhubarb almond and polenta muffins

29 Jun 2026

Last month I shared a recipe for roasted peach almond and polenta muffins. They were delicious and I planned to make a rhubarb version as soon as it was rhubarb season. Well it's rhubarb season in Sydney so I bought a bunch of rhubarb and set to work adapting the recipe.

First things first, oven roast the rhubarb. Please don't skip this step because raw rhubarb turns into tough inedible nubbins when baked for 30-40 minutes. If you have any leftovers they're delicious topped with yoghurt. 

I made a few changes to the batter - a little more sugar, a bit more egg and I added some chopped uncooked rhubarb because too much rhubarb is never enough. I ran out of muffin liners and discovered the new liners I bought were much smaller. Instead of 6 muffins I ended up with 9 muffins.

Here's the recipe for you adapted from a Claire Ptak recipe which will make 9 muffins. 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.

Roasted rhubarb almond and polenta muffins - makes 9 muffins
Oven roasted rhubarb

400g trimmed rhubarb
2½ tbs sugar 
1 tbs grated orange rind
½ cinnamon stick
juice ½ orange

Batter ingredients 
125g caster sugar plus raw sugar for sprinkling
125g room temperature unsalted butter
The grated rind of 1 orange (minus the 1 tbs used in the rhubarb)
2 eggs 
165g almond meal 
1 tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt 
112g polenta flour
60g diced rhubarb
icing sugar to serve 

Oven roasted rhubarb
Preheat the oven to 190°C conventional, or 170°C, fan forced. Trim the fruit to fit into a roasting pan and sprinkle with the sugar. Grate the orange before juicing. Sprinkle over 1 tbs of the rind and then reserve the rest to use in the batter. Add the cinnamon stick and the orange juice to the tin, then roast uncovered for 10 minutes. The rhubarb should still be quite firm as it needs to be trimmed to the size of your muffins. Remove the tray from the oven and cool completely before storing the roasted rhubarb in an airtight container the fridge. Reserve any juice.

Method
Preheat the oven to 190°C conventional or 170°C, fan forced. Line a 12-cup muffin pan with 9 paper liners. (I was aiming to make 6 muffins but my new paper liners are much smaller and I ended up with 9 muffins)

In a stand mixer, cream the butter, sugar, and orange zest until pale and fluffy. Add the eggs slowly and mix well.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the almond meal, baking powder, salt, and the polenta flour. Add this to the butter mixture and mix well then fold through the diced rhubarb. Scoop the batter into the lined muffin pan and top with 3 or 4 rhubarb slices then sprinkle generously with raw sugar.

Bake the muffins for 30-40 minutes on the centre rack of the preheated 190°C conventional, or 170°C fan forced oven or until an inserted skewer comes out clean and the tops of the muffins spring back to the touch. Allow to cool for about 10 minutes before removing from the tin. 

If you like, you can simmer the reserved rhubarb cooking juices in a small pan to form a syrup. Just before serving, glaze the rhubarb pieces with the syrup, then dust the muffins with icing sugar.

These muffins will keep for up to 4 days in an airtight container and I think they actually taste better the day after baking.

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

Bye for now,

Jillian

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Roasted peach almond and polenta muffins

Roasted peach almond and polenta muffins

4 May 2026

When I lived in Canada, muffins were a thing and I probably ate a life's supply during my year there. These days I rarely eat muffins and let's be honest, a muffin is just a cupcake without the icing. I was however enticed by these images of fruit topped muffins at Violet Cakes, Claire Ptak's London bakery. 

Apricots, plums, quince, figs, and cherries are some of Claire Ptak's favourite toppings but it was the rhubarb topped muffins caught my eye. It's a little too early for rhubarb here but I found some end of season peaches and roasted them to top the muffins. Ideally I'd have topped each muffin with 3 slices of peach but I didn't have enough and when I went back to the shop there were no peaches to be found. Instead I topped one of the muffins with some plum quarters I found buried in the freezer and I topped another muffin with some frozen raspberries.

Here's the recipe for you adapted from a Claire Ptak recipe which will make 6-7 muffins. 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.

Roasted peach almond and polenta muffins - makes 6 muffins

Almond paste

165g almond meal

35g icing sugar

20mls water

Ingredients

3-4 peaches

75g caster sugar plus extra for the peaches 
125g room temperature unsalted butter
220g almond paste (at least 60% almonds), broken into pieces 

Zest of 1 orange
1½ eggs (80g egg)
1 tsp baking powder
¼ tsp seasalt
112g polenta flour

raw sugar for sprinkling

Optional glaze

2-3 tbs warmed thinned apricot jam

Method

To make the almond paste, combine the almond meal and sugar in a small food processor. Gradually add enough water until a paste forms. Remove the paste from the food processor and need a few times. Wrap in plastic until needed.

For extra luxurious muffins, roast the fruit first. Halve and stone the peaches and place, cut side up, in a roasting pan. Sprinkle with sugar and a little water, and taste. Depending on the ripeness and the variety of the fruit, you may want to add half a scraped vanilla pod, the zest of 1 orange or lemon, or half a cinnamon stick. Roast for 35 to 45 minutes, until soft and a little caramelised. Use a bit more fruit than you think you'll need as it shrinks in the cooking. Cool completely before slicing the fruit.

Preheat the oven to 190°C conventional or 170°C, fan forced. Double-line a 6-cup muffin pan with paper liners. (I suggest using two liners per muffin because the fruit makes these particularly juicy.)

In a stand mixer, cream the butter, almond paste, sugar, and orange zest until pale and fluffy. Add the eggs slowly and mix well.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the baking powder, salt, and polenta flour. Add this to the butter mixture and mix well. Scoop into the lined muffin pan and press 3 peach slices on top of the muffins then sprinkle the fruit with some raw sugar.

Bake the muffins on the centre rack of the preheated 190°C conventional or 170°C oven for 30-35 minutes or until an inserted skewer comes out clean and the tops of the muffins spring back to the touch. Allow to cool for about 10 minutes before removing from the tin. If you like, you can glaze the fruit with some warmed apricot jam. These keep well for up to 4 days in an airtight container.

These are really good and I will definitely be making them again once its rhubarb season.

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

Bye for now,

Jillian 

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swedish chocolate cinnamon buns

swedish chocolate cinnamon buns

4 Jun 2024

I don't know what came over me but with incessant rain last Saturday and inspired by a recipe in an old Delicious magazine, I suddenly decided that I needed to make a batch of chocolate cinnamon buns. They're supposed to be Swedish chocolate cardamom buns, but I do not like cardamom at all, so all traces of cardamom were removed from the recipe.

As I'm more than happy with my own sweet bun recipe, I used the filling recipe and the glaze from the magazine article then set to work. Consistency of shaping the buns is not my forte and I will never be employed in a Swedish bakery but wonky as they are, they were delicious.

Here's the recipe for you, inspired from here, which makes 9 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.

Swedish chocolate cinnamon buns – makes 9
Dough
1¼ tsp yeast
150 mls lukewarm milk
30g brown 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 piece

To coat

1-2 tbs cream or melted butter

Filling
85g unsalted butter, softened
85g brown sugar
2 tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp vanilla extract
17g Dutch process cocoa
Pinch salt 

Glaze
70g (1/3 cup) brown sugar
40 mls (2 tbs) water
Pearl sugar, (from specialty stores, optional), to sprinkle

Dough

Grease a large plastic container and set to one side. Combine the yeast, milk and brown 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.

Filling
Place all ingredients in a medium bowl and mix to combine. Set aside.

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 a 26cm pan with baking paper and set to one side. Roll the dough out to a 30cm x 40 cm rectangle on a lightly floured bench. Spread chocolate filling over the dough, then fold in half to form a 15cm x 40cm rectangle. Gently roll the dough out to a 20cm x 40cm rectangle (this will help enclose the filling). Cut into 9 strips. Gently twist the strip, then wrap the dough around itself into a knot, tucking the ends underneath. Place on prepared trays and repeat with remaining dough. Brush each bun with some 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.

Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 180°C, conventional. Once the buns have risen, remove the plastic wrap and bake for 20-25 minutes, swapping the trays around halfway, until golden and cooked through.

The glaze

While the buns are baking, place the brown sugar and the water in a small saucepan over low heat, stirring until the sugar has dissolved. Bring to a simmer and cook for 2-3 minutes until slightly syrupy. Brush over the warm buns, and sprinkle with pearl sugar, if using. Place the buns on a cooling rack and allow to cool a little before serving. The buns are best served on the day they're baked but freeze well.

I shared these with the neighbours, and they went down a treat. 

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

Bye for now,

Jillian

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pistachio and lemon iced buns

pistachio and lemon iced buns

28 Apr 2024

A few weeks ago, I made a batch of iced pink finger buns, an adaptation of the recipe for pistachio and lemon iced buns from 'Beatrix Bakes: Another Slice' by Natalie Paull which was featured in a recent issue of Delicious magazine. I'd always planned to make a batch of the orginal pistachio and lemon finger buns and when invited over to a friend's place, I said I'd bring along finger buns. I tweaked the recipe a little, made the dough and the zingy lemon stuff when illness intervened, so I put the bun dough into the freezer and a few weeks later, defrosted the dough and made the buns.

There are many steps to making these buns, so I was glad I just had to make the icing and the syrup, and with an early start, the buns were ready to transport by 10.30am on Sunday morning.

Here's the recipe for you which makes 6 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.

Pistachio and lemon iced buns, inspired by this recipe for pistachio and lemon iced buns from Beatrix Bakes: Another Slice by Natalie Paull.

Fruit soak
100g dried fruit (I used a mix of sultanas, currants and dried blueberries)
½ cup boiling water
Finely grated rind of 1 lemon

 
Dough
1 and ¼ tsp yeast
135 mls lukewarm milk
30g 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 

Tiff’s zingy lemon stuff (makes 150g)
2 small lemons
2 tbs (40ml) water

Fluffy cream cheese icing
125g full fat softened cream cheese
125g unsalted butter, squidgy soft 
pinch salt
40g yoghurt powder or dried milk powder
125g icing sugar

Syrup
40 mls lemon juice 
40g caster sugar

To finish
30g blanched slivered pistachios
60g butter of your choice

Fruit soak
Place the dried fruit into a small bowl and cover with boiling water. Leave for an hour before draining thoroughly and patting dry with paper towel. Stir through the grated rinds and set aside until needed.

Dough
Grease a large plastic container and set to one side. Combine the yeast, milk and honey 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. The dough will be sticky, and you might need a spatula to scrape the dough into the bowl or container. 

Cover the container with a lid or with plastic wrap and let rise for 30 minutes. Distribute the fruit soak over the dough and gently push it into the dough using your fingers. 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.

Icing
Place the cream cheese, butter and yoghurt or milk powder and salt in the bowl of electric stand mixer. Sift the icing sugar over the top. Beat with the paddle attachment for 10 minutes on speed 4 (below low) until pale, and fluffy. Store covered in the fridge until needed. If refrigerated, rewarm in the microwave in 20-second bursts until softened.

Zingy lemon stuff
Juice one lemon and place the juice in a non-reactive saucepan with the water. Trim the stalk end off the other lemon, halve it, and remove any visible seeds, then slice into thin half-moons and add to the lemon juice in the saucepan. Cover the saucepan with a lid and simmer over a low heat until all the pith is translucent. Take care the lemon doesn't catch any colour as it simmers. You can also use the microwave - cover with a lid and zap for 3 minutes on high. Cool, then whiz to a paste in a food processor, Scrape into a small container doing a final seed check, and chill.

Assembly
Spray a shallow 20cm x 30cm 5cm deep baking tray with cooking oil spray and line with baking paper. On a lightly floured counter, divide the chilled dough into six, approximately 115g portions and gently shape into balls. Leave on the counter with a tea towel over the top and rest for 10 minutes. This little pre-shape will relax the dough so you can roll evenly shaped with extra flour as possible.

Roll the balls into smooth, even diameter cigars about 15cm long. Place the dough cigars in parallel lines on the lined tray. Space them apart by 1cm so they'll touch during baking. Free-range, far apart buns won't puff as much without support from their bun buddies. Spray the tops with cooking oil and cover with plastic wrap. Leave at room temperature for the final proof (around 1 to 1½ hours depending on room temperature) or until they're a little puffed and snuggling one another. 

Towards the end of the proof, preheat the oven to 220°C, conventional. While the buns proof, finish the icing by stirring in 50g of the zingy lemon stuff. Set aside at room temperature or refrigerate if it's a warm day. 

Syrup
Combine the juice and sugar in small non-reactive saucepan and bring to a simmer. Simmer for 30 seconds, until viscous like oil. Turn the heat off and set the syrup aside to cool at room temperature. Chop the slivered pistachios into a coarse crumb.

When the buns bounce back lazily when poked, put them in the oven. Turn the heat down to 190°C conventional and bake for 18-20 minutes. The bun tops will be a light tan colour, springy to touch, and the internal temperature will be 95°C. 

As soon as the buns come out of the even, brush the syrup all over the tops and sides. Leave the tray to completely cool on a wire rack for around 1 hour. If your icing is chilled, take it out of the fridge now.

To finish 
Pull a bun away from its buddies. Using a small, sharp serrated knife, split the cooled bun lengthwise like a hot dog bun, keeping the base intact, and smooth a good smear of softened butter on each cut side. 

Press the halves back together. Load the softened icing into a piping bag with a medium plain nozzle in place. Pipe a tight squiggly spine down the top of the bun and sprinkle a pile of crushed pistachios liberally on top. Serve within an hour or two of icing the buns.

I shared the buns with my friends and their 2 daughters, who'd just returned from a swimming lesson. I'd say the buns were inhaled rather than eaten as they disappeared so quickly. They really are very delicious and as far as we're concerned they don't need to be served with butter, they are just perfect the way they are.

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

Bye for now,

Jillian

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tuscan rosemary buns

tuscan rosemary buns

24 Mar 2024

Last year I saw some delicious looking Easter buns on the Flour and Stone IG account. They were Nadine Ingram's adaptation of pan di ramarino, or Tuscan rosemary buns. Nadine in turn had been inspired by an Emiko Davies recipe, so I went straight to the source.

I do love hot cross buns but they are a little time consuming and this recipe was not. I was also intrigued by the use of savoury rosemary in a sweet bun, so I went to work slightly adapting the recipe along the way. Firstly I had to buy some rosemary as my rosemary plant died some time ago. I didn't have quite enough sultanas so I used some currants as well. I have to say that combination worked out so well, I would do that again.

I made the dough and did an overnight rise and the dough rose very high and handsome. When it came to scoring the dough, the razor blades I'd purchased for the task went missing, so I used a sharp knife instead. 

As orange and rosemary are natural partners I topped the buns with orange flavoured syrup. I was very keen to try one of the buns still warm from the oven. The buns were lightly sweet, fluffy, gently flavoured with rosemary and best of all delicious. I've made the buns a second time, using a combination of sultanas and dried blueberries, because I'd run out of currants, and they were equally delicious. I also purchased another pack of razor blades so I could score the buns. So much easier than using a serrated knife.

Here’s the recipe for you which makes 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.

Tuscan rosemary buns - makes 8

Ingredients
80g sultanas or currants or a mix of both
1 Earl Grey teabag
100 mls boiling water
2 fresh rosemary sprigs
60ml extra-virgin olive oil
7g (1 sachet) dried yeast
180 ml lukewarm milk or water or a mixture
30g caster sugar
300g plain flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 egg lightly beaten, for glazing
Butter, to serve

Orange syrup
55g caster sugar 
1 tsp finely grated orange rind
20 mls water
60 mls orange juice

Method
Place the sultanas, tea bag and 100mls boiling water in a bowl. Set aside for an hour or until fruit is plump. Drain well before using.

To infuse the oil, remove the leaves from one rosemary sprig, you should have about 5g, and chop finely. Place the olive oil into a small saucepan with the rosemary leaves and gently heat for a few minutes. Allow to cool completely.

ln a small bowl, combine the yeast with 60 mls of the warm milk and 1 tsp of the sugar. Leave covered for 10 minutes or so until a sponge has formed. Place the remaining sugar, the flour and salt into the bowl of a stand mixer. Add the yeast mixture, the cooled oil and leaves and the remaining milk and using the dough hook mix until a soft dough has formed, about 5-7 minutes. Cover and leave for 20 minutes before doing a series of stretch and folds. Leave for a further 20 minutes covered in the bowl.

Place the dough onto a floured board and flatten into a rectangle. Remove the leaves from the second sprig of rosemary. Pat the sultanas dry and sprinkle over the dough along with the fresh rosemary leaves. Gently press the sultanas into the dough. Fold over corners of the dough to enclose the sultanas and rosemary and knead until evenly distributed. Form into a round, transfer to a lightly oiled bowl, cover and rest in a warm, draught-free place until doubled in size (about 1 hour). You could also cover the bowl and leave it in the fridge for an overnight rise.

Place the dough onto a lightly floured board, then divide the dough into 8 pieces. Shape into fist-sized buns and place on a lined baking sheet with 5cm or so space between each bun. Score the tops of the bun with a noughts-and-crosses grid using a very sharp knife or a razor blade. Cover with a tea towel and allow to rise in a warm place, for a further half hour.

Preheat the oven to 200°C, conventional. Brush the tops of the buns with beaten egg and bake at 200⁰C for 20 minutes or until golden brown on top. While the buns are cooking, prepare the syrup. Place the sugar and orange rind in a small saucepan with the water and stir to dissolve. Add the orange juice then simmer for a few minutes until slightly thickened. When the buns are ready, brush the tops of the still warm buns with the syrup, then transfer to a wire rack to cool. Serve with butter.

Like most breads, these are best eaten the day they are made but are excellent the following day toasted and served with butter and apricot jam.

Have a great Easter break and I'll see you all again next week with some more baking from my kitchen.

Bye for now,

Jillian

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