Christmas Buns

one Christmas Bun, glazed and drizzled

 

This is the first time I have ever in my life used yeast.

 Yes, the first time ever. I feel as if I missed the boat because of course I should have been using it for years. But yet, no. Don’t forget, when I came to Turkey in the 70s, there was no internet, no TV with cooking programmes, no English bookshops with English cookbooks  and noone around me cooking with yeast!

But I do remember feeling sad when we would return to Turkey after spending the summer in the UK with my parents. The children would have been eating currant buns, Chelsea buns, Bath buns ...and thoroughly enjoying them. I remember vowing to learn how to make them once I returned to Ankara where we were living then but just not knowing how to go about it.

So let’s fast forward ....... here we are in a Turkey that is virtually unrecognizable in culinary terms with so many more items available on the supermarket shelves.  Items that resonate with me like Gold Blend, chocolate chips, mincemeat, Golden Syrup, and pineapple rings. Now in the supermarkets we have maya or yeast in little packets clearly marked as to type and quantity. All I had to do was take my courage in both hands and buy it! It was that simple.

This is my very first attempt to bake with yeast and I am certainly not saying there is no room for improvement. But it was exciting, really exciting. Waiting for the dough to rise. Wonder of wonders, it did! And the smell was just as it was supposed to be: doughy, yeasty, warm, and redolent with promise!

So certainly not seasonal in the sense of Turkish seasonal but rather English seasonal: Christmassy with the dried cranberries and apricots, the aroma of cinnamon wafting through the kitchen, a forerunner of the approaching holiday. From this month's issue of BBC Good Food Magazine,

here is the recipe:

Ingredients for Christmas Buns

Makes approx 9

500g/ 1lb1 1/2 oz strong white flour, plus extra for dusting (I use Sinangil)

7g sachet/ 1packet fast-action dried yeast/kuru maya

300ml/ 10 fl oz milk

40g/1 1/2 oz unsalted butter, softened at room temperature

1 egg

Vegetable oil for greasing

FOR THE FILLING

25g/1oz unsalted butter, melted

75g/3oz soft brown sugar (if you don’t have it, use granulated sugar with a little pekmez)

2 tsp ground cinnamon/ toz tarçin

100g/3 1/2 oz dried cranberries/yaban mersini

100g/3 1/2 oz chopped dried apricots/ kuru kayısı

the exact amount you will need

FOR THE GLAZE

50g/ 2 oz caster sugar ( I used regular toz şeker)

FOR THE LEMON ICING

Zest 1 lemon

200g/ 7 oz icing sugar/pudra şekeri

Method

·         Put the flour and 1 tsp salt into a large bowl. Make a well in the centre and add the yeast. Meanwhile, warm the milk and butter in a pan until the butter melts and the mixture is lukewarm. Add the milk mixture and egg to the flour mixture and stir until the contents come together as a soft dough (add extra flour if you need to).

·         Tip the dough onto a well-floured surface. Knead for 5 mins, adding more flour if necessary, until the dough is smooth, elastic and no longer sticky.

·         Lightly oil a bowl with the vegetable oil. Place the dough in the bowl and turn until covered in oil. Cover the bowl with cling film and set aside in a warm place for 1 hr or until doubled in size. Lightly grease a baking sheet and set aside.

before and after

·         For the filling, knock the dough back to its original size and turn out onto a lightly floured surface. Roll it into a 1 cm-thick rectangle. Brush all over with the melted butter, then sprinkle over the sugar, cinnamon and fruit.

·         Roll up the dough into a tight cylinder, cut into 9 x 4cm slices and position on the prepared baking sheet, leaving a little space between. Cover with a tea towel and set aside to rise for 30 mins.

·         Heat oven to 190°C/170°C fan/gas 5. Bake the buns for 20-25 mins or until risen and golden brown. Meanwhile, melt the glaze sugar with 4 tbsp water until syrupy.

·         Remove from oven and glaze. Set aside to cool on a wire rack. Once cool, mix the zest and icing sugar with about 2 tbsp water to drizzle over the buns. Serve.

the icing sugar and lemon zest

and here they are: Christmas Buns!

 Make sure you eat them the same day as they don't keep.

Enjoy!

PS If you have any tips to share with me about using yeast, I would love to hear them!