Preparation Notes: 55min, plus cooling, rising and proving time
Cooking Notes: about 40min
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Yields:
12
Prep Time:
55 mins
Cook Time:
40 mins
Total Time:
1 hr 35 mins
Ingredients
For the dough
250ml (9 fl oz) whole milk
500g (1lb 2oz) strong plain flour, plus extra for dusting
1tsp. caster sugar
25g (1oz) fresh yeast, or 12g (1/2oz) active dried yeast
50g (2oz) unsalted butter, softened
2 medium eggs, beaten
oil, to grease
For the filling and syrup
50g (2oz) unsalted butter
175g (6oz) mixed dried fruit (sultanas, currants or raisins)
50g (2oz) chopped mixed peel
125g (4oz) soft light brown sugar
50g (2oz) caster sugar, plus 3tsp for sprinkling
Directions
Step 1
Scald the milk in a small pan: it should bubble around the edge but not be simmering. Remove from heat, pour into a jug, and cool until lukewarm, about 15-20min. Sift 100g (3½oz) of the fl our into a medium bowl, and stir in the sugar. Add the yeast and beat in the milk with a wooden spoon. Cover and leave the yeast mixture in a warm place until frothy, about 15min.
Step 2
Meanwhile, in a large bowl, sift together the remaining flour and 1tsp salt, and then rub in the butter. Make a well in the centre, add the eggs and pour in the yeast mixture. With your hand, gradually work in the flour, then knead in the bowl until it leaves the sides clean. Turn the dough out on to a lightly floured surface and knead for about 10min until smooth and springy. Put dough into a lightly oiled large bowl and cover with oiled clingfi lm. Leave to rise at room temperature for about 1½hr until doubled in size. Lightly oil a 23 x 33cm (9 x 13in) baking tray and line with parchment.
Step 3
Knead the risen dough on a lightly fl oured surface until smooth (about 5min), then roll it into a rectangle 38 x 25.5cm (15 x 10in).
Step 4
To make the filling, melt the butter, and in a separate bowl, mix the dried fruit, peel and brown sugar. Brush the dough with the melted butter and spread the fruit mixture evenly over it, leaving a 1cm (½in) border. Roll up the dough along the shorter sides.
Step 5
Slice the ends of the roll and cut into 12 equal slices, about 3cm (1¼in) wide. Lay them fl at on the baking tray. Cover loosely with an oiled sheet of clingfilm, and leave to prove for 45min-1hr until doubled in size. Preheat oven to 190°C (170°C fan) mark 5.
Step 6
Bake buns in the centre of the oven for 15-20min until golden. Remove from oven and transfer to a wire rack. Gently melt the caster sugar with 50ml (2fl oz) of water in a small pan, then turn up heat and simmer for 2min. Brush the sugar syrup over the warm buns and sprinkle with the remaining 3tsp caster sugar.
An experienced and highly skilled team of food writers, stylists and digital content producers, the Good Housekeeping Cookery Team is a close-knit squad of food obsessives. Cookery Editor Emma Franklin is our resident chilli obsessive and barbecue expert, who spends an inordinate amount of time on holidays poking round the local supermarkets seeking out new and exciting foods. Senior Cookery Writer Alice Shields is a former pastry chef and baking fanatic who loves making bread and would have peanut butter with everything if she could. Her favourite carb is pasta, and our vibrant green spaghetti is her weeknight go-to. Lover of all things savoury, Senior Cookery Writer Grace Evans can be found eating crispy corn and nocellara olives at every opportunity, and will take the cheeseboard over dessert any time (though she cannot resist a slice of tres leches cake). With a wealth of professional kitchen know-how, culinary training and years of experience between them, they are all dedicated to ensuring every Good Housekeeping recipe is the best it can be, so you can trust they’ll work (and if they don’t – we’ll have the answer for why*) every time (*90% of the time the answer is: “buy an separate oven thermometer”!).
