Blood orange sticky iced buns

1 HOUR 5 MINUTES + PROVING + COOLING | MAKES 20 A LITTLE EFFORT

These are a more refined version of that cake shop staple, topped with a zesty blood orange icing and pretty edible flowers.

strong white bread flour 250g plain flour 250g whole milk 125ml, warmed fast-action dried yeast 1 tsp fine sea salt 2 tsp caster sugar 50g egg 1 medium, beaten blood orange 1, zested unsalted butter 50g, softened, plus extra for the bowl

BLOOD ORANGE ICING

icing sugar 300g, sifted

blood oranges 2, juiced edible flowers to decorate (optional – see cook’s notes)

toasted flaked almonds to decorate

(optional)

• Put the flours, milk, yeast, salt, sugar and 125ml of warm water in a large bowl, and mix together. Add the beaten egg, blood orange zest and butter, and mix to a sticky dough.

• Tip out the dough onto a worksurface and knead for 10 minutes until smooth and elastic. If the dough is sticking, lightly oil your hands.

• Put the dough in a large buttered bowl, cover and leave to rise for 2 hours or until doubled in size, then tip the dough out and knead a few times to knock out the air. • Divide the dough into 20 pieces and roll into balls. Arrange them in 5 rows of 4 on a large baking-paper-lined tray. Cover with a clean tea towel and leave to prove for at least an hour at room temperature, or until doubled in size. Don’t worry if they touch during proving or baking – they will tear apart easily once baked.

• Heat the oven to 180C/fan 160C/gas 4. Once the dough balls have doubled in size, bake for 15-20 minutes or until they are golden brown and sound hollow when gently tapped. Leave to cool on the tray. • Mix together the icing sugar and about 2 tbsp of blood orange juice in a large bowl until smooth and glossy.

• Spoon a generous tbsp of icing onto each of the buns, and decorate with edible flowers or toasted flaked almonds, if you like.

PER SERVING 191 KCALS | FAT 2.9G SATURATES 1.6G | CARBS 37.3G | SUGARS 18.2G FIBRE 1G | PROTEIN 3.5G | SALT 0.6G