Tear And Share Christmas Chelsea Buns Food

CHRISTMAS BUNS

Steps:

• 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.
• For the filling, knock the dough back to its original size and turn out onto a lightly floured surface. Roll it into a 1cm-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 190C/170C 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.

TEAR-AND-SHARE CHEESE & GARLIC ROLLS

Steps:

• Heat 280ml water in a saucepan for a minute until warm but not too hot to stick your finger in (don't burn yourself!). Remove from the heat, then add 50g butter. Combine the flour, yeast, sugar and 1 tsp salt in a large bowl or a tabletop mixer. Add the warm water and beat to make a soft dough. Knead for 10 mins by hand, or 5 mins in a mixer, until the dough feels stretchy and smooth. Tip into a clean, oiled bowl and cover with oiled cling film. Leave to rise for 1½-2 hrs, or until doubled in size.
• Brush a large baking tray with oil and scatter over the polenta. Knock the air out of the dough. Pinch off small pieces (about the size of a walnut), then roll each piece into a ball and put on the baking tray. Leave a little space between each dough ball.
• Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Cover the tray with oiled cling film, then prove for 30 mins-1 hr until the dough has doubled in size and the balls are touching. Mix the remaining butter with the garlic. When the rolls are ready to cook, brush the tops with the garlic butter and scatter with the cheeses. Bake for 25-30 mins until the dough balls are cooked through. Leave to cool for 5 mins, then serve.

CHELSEA BUNS

Steps:

• Start by making the dough. Mix together the flour, yeast, caster sugar and 1 tsp sea salt in a large mixing bowl. Make a well in the centre and pour in the warm milk, beaten egg and melted butter. Mix well, first with a wooden spoon then with your hands until you get a soft dough. If it feels dry add a bit of warm water, but if it feels too sticky and wet add a spoonful of flour.
• Dust your work surface with flour and tip the mixture onto it and start kneading. Keep kneading the dough until it feels smooth and elastic. Shape into a ball and sit it in a clean bowl, lightly greased with melted butter or oil. Cover with cling film and leave to rise in a warm place for about 1 hr or until doubled in size.
• Heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6 and grease a deep 21 x 21cm square tin. Dust the work top with a little more flour then start to knead the risen dough on the prepared surface just to knock the air out. Shape into a 20 x 30cm rectangle. To fill the buns gently spread the softened butter over the dough and then scatter the currants and chopped sultanas over the top. Mix the mixed spice and caster sugar together in bowl then sprinkle that over the dough in an even layer.
• Roll the dough up in a tight spiral from the longest edge like a Swiss roll then slice into 9 equal sized swirled buns. Arrange them in the tin, cut side up then cover with a clean, damp tea towel and leave to prove in a warm place for around 30 mins or until doubled.
• Bake the buns for 10 mins, then reduce the temperature to 180C/160C fan/gas 4 and cook for a further 10 mins. For the glaze, stir the caster sugar together with 1 tbsp water until the sugar has dissolved then brush it all over the buns as soon as they are cooked. Leave to cool in the tin for 10 mins before serving. Can be eaten hot or cold.

APRICOT & ALMOND CHELSEA BUNS

Steps:

• Put the flour, yeast, caster sugar and 1 tsp salt into a large mixing bowl and mix well. Make a well in the centre and pour in the warm milk, 50ml warm water, the beaten egg and the melted butter. Mix everything together to form a dough - start with a wooden spoon and finish with your hands. If the dough is too dry, add a little more warm water; if it's too wet, add more flour.
• Knead in the bowl or on a floured surface until the dough becomes smooth and springy. Transfer to a clean, lightly greased bowl and cover loosely with a clean, damp tea towel. Leave in a warm place to rise until roughly doubled in size - this will take about 1 hr depending on how warm the room is.
• Heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6 and grease a deep 21 or 23cm cake tin. Tip the risen dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for a few secs. Roll out the dough to a rough 20 x 30cm rectangle. Spread the butter evenly over the dough, then sprinkle with the chopped apricots, almonds and sugar. Roll up firmly like a Swiss roll from one of the long sides - dampening the open edge to help it stick if you need to. Cut into 8 even slices with a sharp knife, shape into 8 round pinwheels, then arrange in the tin, cut-side up. Cover with a clean, damp tea towel and prove in a warm place for about 20 mins until roughly doubled in size.
• Bake the buns for 10 mins, then lower oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Cook for 10 mins more until golden brown. Melt the jam with 1 tbsp water, brush all over the buns, then sprinkle with a few more flaked almonds.

CHELSEA CHRISTMAS BUNS

Steps:

• Do-ahead steps: Defrost the puff pastry overnight in the refrigerator and leave in the refrigerator until ready to roll out. If you leave it on the counter while you assemble everything they get too soft and will be difficult to work with. Preheat oven to 400°.
• With a hand mixer or stand mixer cream together and place one rounded tablespoon of mixture in to each muffin cup. Sprinkle ½ cup of the chopped pecans evenly over the sugar butter mix: 7 TBS of butter, 1/3 cup brown sugar and ½ t vanilla extract
• With a fork combine remaining brown sugar and the spices. Divide mixture in half: one half for one puff pastry sheet, and one for the second: 2/3 c brown sugar, 3 t cinnamon, ½ t nutmeg, ¼ t salt.
• Tear off a sheet of plastic wrap larger than the puff pastry sheet and place on a wooden board. Lightly flour the area and unfold one sheet of the defrosted puff pastry with the folds going left to right. With a pastry brush, paint the sheet with melted butter, reserving ½ for the second sheet. Sprinkle brown sugar/spice mixture over the puff pastry and then top with ½ cup of chopped pecans. Starting with the end closest to you, roll snugly, just like a jelly roll ending with seam side down. Slice in to six equal pieces. Each piece is about 1 ½ inches wide. Place each piece spiral side up in the muffin cups. Repeat with the second sheet of puff pastry to make 12 Chelsea Christmas Buns.
• Bake at 400° for 30 minutes. Cool for just five minutes before turning out on to a foil or parchment paper lined sheet pan.
• Optional spice ideas: cardamom, ginger, allspice.
• Optional dried fruit ideas: cranberries, cherries, raisins, golden raisins, apricots, currants, dates.

CRANBERRY & ORANGE CHELSEA BUN TREE

Steps:

• Warm the milk in a saucepan until steaming but not boiling. Remove from the heat and add the butter, swirling to help it melt, then set aside to cool a little. Meanwhile, mix the flour, yeast, 50g sugar, the cinnamon and 1 tsp salt in a large bowl, or the bowl of a tabletop mixer. When the milk is warm, add it to the dry ingredients and combine to make a sticky dough. Tip onto your work surface and knead for 10 mins by hand, or for 5 mins in the mixe r until the dough is smooth and stretchy. Return to a clean oiled bowl, cover with oiled cling film and leave somewhere warm to rise for 1-2 hrs until doubled in size.
• Line your largest baking sheet with baking parchment. Tip the dough onto a lightly floured work surface and roll to a rectangle about 30 x 40cm. Grate the marzipan over the surface and scatter over the orange zest, fresh cranberries, 75g dried cranberries, 25g pistachios and 3 tbsp caster sugar. From one of the longer sides, tightly roll up the dough into a sausage, pinching the dough together at the other end to seal the open edge.
• Use a large, sharp knife to divide the sausage of dough first in half, then into quarters, then cut each quarter into three pieces, so you're left with 12 equal pieces of dough. Turn them all cut -side up and arrange on the baking sheet in a tree shape, using one piece for a trunk and leaving space between each bun for them to expand. Make sure the pinched edge on the outside of each bun is facing towards the centre of the tree, otherwise it may come unstuck and unravel as it cooks. You should have one bun left over - bake this alongside (treat for the cook!) . Cover the sheet in one or two pieces of oiled cling film and leave to prove for 30 -40 mins, or until doubled in size and just touching
• Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/ gas 4. Bake in the middle of the oven for 20-22 mins until golden brown. While the buns cook, heat the apricot jam with 2 tsp water until runny, then set aside to cool a little. Mix the icing sugar with enough orange juice to make a thick icing and transfer it to a small disposable piping bag or plastic sandwich bag. You can spray the pistachios with gold spray at this point, if you like.
• When the buns are cooked, leave to cool for 15 mins, then brush all over with the apricot glaze. Snip the corner off the piping bag and drizzle icing over the top of the buns in random lines. Scatter over the remaining pistachios and dried cranberries and leave the icing to set for 10 mins before serving. Will keep in an airtight container for up to three days.