A Sussex Belgian Bun

Week 13, Bake 13.

Surprisingly enough there are not many recipes for Belgian buns on the Internet. This may be because they are very available in most supermarkets and cafes, and yet even though I was severely limited for recipe choice I decided to make them as I do love them. When we lived in Sussex we had a lovely farm shop near us where they sold the best Belgian buns (mainly because they were huge!), so here is my attempt to recreate a classic.

Ingredients:

• 1 teaspoon of caster sugar
• 150ml of room temperature milk
• 2 teaspoons of dried yeast
• 200g of plain flour
• 1/2 a teaspoon of salt
• 25g of butter (for the dough)
  
• 25g of butter (for the filling)
  
• 25g of raisins
• 25g of sugar (brown or white)
• milk to glaze
• icing sugar
• water
  
• a glace cherry to place on the top

Method:

1. Stir the teaspoon of sugar into the milk and then whisk in the yeast. Now let it froth up in a warm place for 20 minutes or so.
2. Meanwhile rub the butter into the sifted flour and add the salt.
3. Once the milk is frothy enough, make a well in the flour. Now pour in the milk mixture and beat it with a wooden spoon until it becomes a sticky ball.
   
4. Now cover the dough and leave it to rest for 30 minutes or until it doubles in size.
5. Flour a surface really well and turn the dough out. Lightly knead it, adding flour if it is still sticky.
   
6. Now roll it out into a 20cm square.
   
7. Melt the remaining butter and brush over the dough, then sprinkle the raisins over the top and the sugar.
   
8. Now roll the dough (as if you were rolling a Swiss roll).
9. Cut into eight equal pieces and put on a tray, cover and prove for 30 minutes.
10. Pre-heat the oven to 200c. Then cook them for 15-20 minutes.
11. Cool on a wire rack.
12. Meanwhile make the icing, by whisking together icing sugar and a small amount of water. The icing should be very thick so it wont fall off the finished buns.
    
13. Spoon the icing onto the buns and place half a glace cherry on top to finish.