NICE buns!
GO ON, YOU DESERVE IT. YOUR TEA BREAK WON’T BE THE SAME ONCE YOU’VE MET THE NEW BREED OF BAKED GOODS
REMEMBER THE CRONUT? The croissant-doughnut hybrid that came out of Dominique Ansel’s New York bakery in 2013 and triggered a viral hysteria like no other baked good? Thought so. The cronut proved just how much people love a pastry – even more so if it has a funny name.
Now, the humble bun is enjoying the same sugar-dusted glow up. Helen Evans, head of bread and pastry for Lyle’s Group, which has recently opened Flor Bakery in Bermondsey, attributes the rise of the bun to memories of going to the local bakers at the weekend, or as an afternoon treat. ‘The softness of buns, with cream in the middle, is so comforting. It taps into that nostalgia,’ says Evans, who has worked in bakeries around the world, from Melbourne to Osaka, and has spent months perfecting a new offering: the laminated brioche bun.
While working at a French bakery in Japan, she remembers trying one for the first time and was instantly inspired: ‘I was blown away by the flavour and texture. It was like eating a cloud: so light and soft.’ Evans’ buns have the rich, buttery flavour of a brioche but the airy interior of a croissant, which has laminated layers. To make this happen, butter is needed – and plenty of it. ‘A typical brioche bun will have 20-30% butter, but with a laminate, it’s an extra 45% on top of that. I don’t even know how it’s physically or chemically possible,’ she jokes.
Another key dough ingredient is heritage flour, which tends to be grown more sustainably and in better soil.
Once cooled, the buttery buns are piped with a seasonal fruit filling – think rhubarb or lemon curd, folded through with whipped cream. Like Evans, you’ll definitely remember the first time you bite into one of these laminated brioche buns. All they need is a catchy name… crioche, anyone?