A taste of the past
Chelsea bun was the cronut of 18th-century London
Centuries before New Yorkers lined up for hours in hopes of a cronut, Londoners queued for a taste of a Chelsea bun.
“Chelsea buns were the first ‘it’ food in London,” says Regula Ysewijn, author of The British Baking Book, which includes a recipe for the classic treat.
“That was the first time people would actually go to a certain bakery, queue up to get one of those buns and have the feeling they were part of something.”
The Chelsea bun may no longer cause queues as it did in the 18th century, but the joy of unrolling these currantstudded spirals is timeless. With its signature square shape, it’s still popular today.
The key to making them, explains Ysewijn, is to roll out the dough as thinly as possible.
“It’s almost like a laminated dough even though it’s not a croissant dough. It’s something you layer with a lot of butter and fold and fold and fold until you have very thin layers, which makes it glorious.”
Depending on your commitment to eating Chelsea buns (or the size of your household), you might consider halving this recipe. They freeze well baked, however, and are delicious reheated in the oven.
CHELSEA BUNS
For the buns:
3 tbsp + 1 tsp (30 g) dried yeast
2 1/2 cups (625 mL) lukewarm milk 8 1/3 cups (1 kg) strong white bread flour (see note)
1/2 cup (120 g) demerara (coarse raw sugar) or granulated white sugar 10 tbsp (140 g) butter, cubed, at room temperature
2 eggs, beaten
1 3/4 tsp fine sea salt
Flour, for dusting
For the filling:
1 lb (450 g) butter, at room
temperature
1 1/3 cups (285 g) demerara (coarse raw sugar) or granulated white sugar 3 tsp ground cinnamon
Pinch of fine sea salt
2 1/2 cups (350 g) currants
For the sugar syrup:
1/4 cup (60 g) demerara (coarse raw sugar) or granulated white sugar 5 tbsp (75 mL) water Superfine sugar, for sprinkling
Add the yeast to the lukewarm milk and stir briefly and gently to activate it. The yeast will start to foam up in clusters, which means it is ready for use. Combine the flour and sugar in a large bowl or the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a dough hook and put the butter on top. Pour half of the yeast mixture over the butter and start kneading.
When the milk and butter are completely absorbed, add the rest of the yeast mixture, along with the eggs. Knead the dough for five minutes, then let it stand for a few minutes (at this point the dough will be very wet).
Add the salt and knead for 10 minutes, scraping the dough off the dough hook and sides of the bowl if needed, until the dough has come together in a smooth and elastic dough that is not too dry but also not terribly wet.
Cover the dough and set aside for 1 hour until it has doubled in quantity.
Meanwhile, make the filling by whipping the butter with the sugar, cinnamon and salt until creamy.
Preheat the oven to 400 F (200 C) and line the baking tins with parchment paper.
Roll out the dough on a floured surface to a rectangle that’s about 24 x 38 inches (61 x 97 centimetres) and 1/16 inch (two millimetres) thick (or as thin as possible).
Place the dough in front of you horizontally.
Cover the top half with a third of the filling, then fold the bottom half over the filling. Roll over the dough with a rolling pin to flatten it out.
Spread the whole surface of the dough with the remaining filling, dot with the currants and roll up lengthwise to make a long roll. Cut the roll into two-inch (five cm) slices and place in the baking tins with the spiral facing upwards and a little space in between each bun.
Bake for 20-25 minutes until the buns are golden brown. Prepare the syrup while the buns are baking by heating the sugar and water in a small saucepan until the sugar has dissolved.
Brush the buns with the sugar syrup as soon as they come out of the oven and sprinkle with superfine sugar.
The buns are best eaten on the day they’re made, but they can be revived in a hot oven for a few minutes the next day or you can freeze the baked buns, thaw and then pop them in a hot oven for a few minutes.
Makes: 24 buns; for two 15 x 10-inch (38 x 25.5-cm) jelly roll tins
Note: Strong white bread flour is made from harder wheat, which means that the flour contains more gluten.
It may be made from either winter or summer wheat and has around 12.6 g of protein per 100 g of flour (12-13 per cent).