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We’re all in need of some comfort food right now. Try the Hairy Bikers chocolate and cherry buns. A variation on a classic Chelsea bun that’s got all dressed up for a party. They’re naughty but very, very nice. Makes 10–12 buns.
Hairy Bikers chocolate and cherry buns
Ingredients:
– 75g butter, plus extra for greasing
– 250ml milk
– 500g strong white bread flour
– 1 tsp mixed spice (optional)
– 7g instant yeast
– 75g soft light brown sugar
– pinch of salt
– 1 egg
– vegetable oil, for greasing
Filling
– 100g butter, softened
– 50ml maple syrup
– 25g dark soft brown sugar
– 1 tsp ground cinnamon
– 1 tsp ground mixed spice
– pinch of salt
– 100g glacé cherries, halved
– 100g chocolate chips
To bake
– 1 egg, beaten
– 2 tbsp demerara sugar
– For the glaze (optional)
– 1–2 tbsp just-boiled water
– 200g icing sugar
Method:
1. Line a 26–28cm deep cake tin or a deep roasting tin with baking paper and grease it generously with butter.
2. Put the milk in a saucepan, place it over a gentle heat and bring it to just below boiling point.
3. Remove the pan from the heat and add the butter, then set aside until the butter has melted and the mixture has cooled to blood temperature.
4. Put the flour and mixed spice, if using, in a large bowl and add the yeast, sugar and a pinch of salt.
5. Make a well in the middle.
6. Beat the egg into the milk and butter mixture. Add this to the flour and stir until well combined – it will be a very soft, sticky dough.
7. Lightly oil your hands and the work surface, then turn out the dough. Knead until the dough is no longer sticky and has become smooth and elastic. Put the dough back in the bowl and cover it with a damp tea towel, then leave it to rise until doubled in size.
8. This will take about an hour and a half.
9. For the filling, beat the butter with the maple syrup, sugar, spices and a pinch of salt to make a creamy, toffee-coloured mixture.
10. Turn the dough out and roll or pat it into a rectangle of about 30 x 23cm. Spread the butter mixture over the dough, then sprinkle with the chocolate chips and cherries. Roll the dough up fairly tightly, then cut it into 10–12 pieces.
11. Arrange the rounds, cut-side down, in the deep cake tin. Brush them with some of the beaten egg, then leave for another 30 minutes.
12. Preheat the oven to 180°C/Fan 160°C/Gas 4. Brush with egg again, then sprinkle with the sugar.
13. Bake the buns in the oven for 20–25 minutes, or until they are a rich golden-brown and well risen.
14. For the optional glaze, gradually add enough just-boiled water to the icing sugar to make a glaze that’s thin enough to pour, but won’t run off too much. Leave the buns to cool in the tin, then drizzle over the glaze. Leave to set.
This hairy bikers chocolate and cherry buns recipe is from the Hairy Bikers’ British Classics Cookbook
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Hettie is the editor and co-founder of DOSE. A keen runner, she’s also partial to a blast of high-intensity and hot yoga. A country girl at heart, she divides her time between London and the lush rolling hills of North Devon. When she’s not jetting off on her next adventure, Hettie can be found in a candle-lit alcove with a laptop, a spaniel and a full bodied Malbec.
