Torviewtoronto: Chelsea Buns with Dried Fruit

I adapted the recipe for these sweet and flavoured Chelsea buns from the DK Baking book, which is delicious to serve with tea.

2 1/4 cups flour sifted and extra for dusting

1/2 tsp salt

2 tbsp sugar

1 tsp dried yeast

3 tbsp butter plus extra for greasing

1 egg lightly beaten

1/2 cup warm milk

1 cup mixed dried fruit

1/3 cup brown sugar

1 tsp mixture of ground spices such as cinnamon and cloves or pumpkin spice

honey for glazing

Let the yeast froth in 2 tbsp warm milk and 1 tbsp of sugar until it activates. Then mix the yeast with the flour, salt, sugar, and 1 tbsp of butter. Pour the egg and rest of the milk. Knead for 5 minutes to make a soft dough and place it in a lightly greased bowl and cover with plastic wrap or cloth and let it rise until doubled in size. This would take about an hour.

Grease the baking pan. Put the dough on a lightly floured surface and knead. Then roll it out to a 12"x9" rectangle. Melt the rest of the butter and brush it on the surface of the dough. Mix the fruit with brown sugar and spices and scatter over the butter. Roll up the dough from the long edge and seal the end with a little water. Cut the dough from the long edge into 1" rolls and put the cut pieces in the pan. Cover the buns with plastic wrap, and let it rise for an hour until it doubles.

Bake in a preheated 375F oven for about 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and brush the buns wit honey and cool before transferring to a wire rack. The buns will keep in an airtight container for 2 days.