Feel-good brights
Lift a grey day with these colourful buys
MAKES: 12 Preparation time: 20 minutes Cooking time: 20 minutes, plus 30 minutes cooling
1
Melt the butter in a small pan or in the microwave. Lightly grease a baking tray.
2
Make the glaze by mixing 3 tablespoons of the melted butter with the icing sugar and vanilla. Add 1 tablespoon of boiling water and 2 tablespoons of buttermilk. Stir, cover and chill.
3
To make the cinnamon filling, mix 3 tablespoons of melted butter with the cinnamon, mixed spice, soft brown sugar and caster sugar. Add a pinch of salt and stir until the mixture resembles wet sand. Set aside.
4
Preheat the oven to 200°C/180°C fan/ gas mark 6.
5
Combine the flour, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda in a mixing bowl and add a generous pinch of salt. Make a well in the middle of the mixture and pour in the remaining melted butter and the rest of the buttermilk.
6
Stir well, using a rubber spatula, until the ingredients are fully combined. Keep stirring until the dry ingredients absorb the wet – the dough will be shaggy, not smooth, at this point. 7
Tip the dough on to a lightly floured work surface and knead for 3-4 minutes. When ready, the dough will look smooth, have a slight shine and feel more elastic. Pat the dough in to a rough 20cm x 30cm rectangle.
8
Sprinkle the filling in an even layer over the dough, leaving a rough 1cm border. Press the filling into the dough and roll up lengthways, tightly, to form a long sausage shape.
9
Cut into 12 equal pieces. Transfer to the tray, cut-side up, leaving about 2cm of space between each. Bake for 20 minutes or until the buns are puffed up, golden and sticky.
10
Cool for 30 minutes and spread the buns with the glaze. Either serve immediately or leave the glaze to set.
INGREDIENTS
150g butter, plus extra for greasing 100g icing sugar, sifted
½ tsp vanilla-bean paste or extract
250ml buttermilk 2 tsp ground cinnamon
¼ tsp mixed spice 75g soft light brown sugar
25g caster sugar
Fine salt
300g plain flour, plus extra for dusting 1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp bicarbonate of soda