Blood Orange Sticky Iced Buns Recipes

BLOOD ORANGE STICKY ICED BUNS

Steps:

• Put the flours, milk, yeast, salt, sugar and 125ml of warm water in a large bowl, and mix together. Add the beaten egg, blood orange zest and butter, and mix to a sticky dough.
• Tip out the dough onto a worksurface and knead for 10 minutes until smooth and elastic. If the dough is sticking, lightly oil your hands.
• Put the dough in a large buttered bowl, cover and leave to rise for 2 hours or until doubled in size, then tip the dough out and knead a few times to knock out the air.
• Divide the dough into 20 pieces and roll into balls. Arrange them in 5 rows of 4 on a large baking-paper-lined tray. Cover with a clean tea towel and leave to prove for at least an hour at room temperature, or until doubled in size. Don't worry if they touch during proving or baking - they will tear apart easily once baked.
• Heat the oven to 180C/fan 160C/gas 4. Once the dough balls have doubled in size, bake for 15 20 minutes or until they are golden brown and sound hollow when gently tapped. Leave to cool on the tray.
• Mix together the icing sugar and about 2 tbsp of blood orange juice in a large bowl until smooth and glossy.
• Spoon a generous tbsp of icing onto each of the buns, and decorate with edible flowers or toasted flaked almonds, if you like.

ORANGE STICKY BUNS

Steps:

• For the orange glaze: Grease a 9-inch round cake pan with nonstick cooking spray.
• In a small saucepan, combine the brown sugar, butter, orange juice, honey and salt and bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring gently to dissolve the sugar. Reduce the heat to medium and cook, stirring occasionally, until the glaze thickens and coats the back of a spoon, about 7 minutes. Pour the glaze into the cake pan and set aside.
• For the orange roll filling: In a small bowl, combine the brown sugar, orange zest, cinnamon, salt and cloves. Pour over the butter and use a fork to stir the mixture until it resembles wet sand. Set the filling aside while you make the dough.
• For the orange roll dough: Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.
• In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. In a medium bowl, whisk together the buttermilk and melted butter. Add the buttermilk mixture to the flour mixture and stir with a wooden spoon or spatula until a shaggy dough forms.
• Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead gently until smooth, 3 to 4 minutes. Roll the dough out into a 12-by-9-inch rectangle. Spread the reserved filling evenly over the dough, leaving a 1/2-inch border around the edges. Starting at one long end, gently roll the dough into a log and pinch the seam. Slice the log into 8 even pieces and place the rolls cut-side down onto the glaze in the cake pan.
• Bake until the rolls are golden and the filling is dark and bubbly, 25 to 30 minutes. Cool the rolls in the pan for 5 minutes, then turn them out onto a platter, spreading any leftover glaze from the pan over the top of the rolls. Allow to cool slightly before serving.

ICED BUNS WITH CREAM & JAM

Steps:

• Heat the milk until steaming. Add the butter and swirl until melted. Leave to cool slightly. Tip the flour and yeast into a bowl or stand mixer fitted with a dough hook, then add the caster sugar and ½ tsp salt.
• When the milk mix has cooled slightly (it should feel just warm when you stick a finger in) pour into the flour mix. If using a stand mixer, mix for 5-8 mins on a medium speed until springy. Or, knead in the bowl for about 10 mins - when the dough is pulled apart, it should be able to stretch without ripping.
• Put the dough in a clean bowl, cover with a tea towel and leave to rise for 1½ hrs or until doubled in size. Or, transfer to the fridge to slowly rise for up to 24 hrs (this will improve the texture and flavour).
• If the dough is chilled, remove from the fridge 1 hr before shaping. Divide into 10 equal portions (weigh them out if you want to be accurate). To make round buns, roll and shape each piece into a smooth ball, or to make finger buns, roll and shape each piece into a finger shape. Arrange on a lined baking tray, leaving space between each. Cover loosely and leave to rise for 30 mins-1 hr more until doubled.
• Heat the oven to 180C/160C fan/ gas 4. Brush the buns with milk and bake for 25-30 mins until golden. Put on a wire rack and leave to cool.
• Mix the icing sugar with 2-3 tbsp water - it should be thick. Divide between bowls, depending on how many food colourings you're using (we used three). Dye each with a different colouring, adding a splash more water if needed.
• Whisk the cream and 1 tbsp icing sugar until just holding its shape. Don't overwhip, as it will thicken as you pipe (see tip, below). Fit a piping bag with a star nozzle and fill with a third of the cream.
• Split the round buns in half as you would a burger bun, or the finger buns down the middle lengthways. Spoon roughly 60g lemon curd or jam over the bottom half of each bun (or down the middle), alternating the flavours, then pipe over a swirl of cream. Continue until all the buns are filled, refilling the piping bag with cream as needed. Spoon some icing over each bun, matching the colours to the jam (we used yellow for the curd, pink for the raspberry jam and purple for the blackcurrant). Decorate with the glacé cherries, sprinkles and crystallised petals, if you like, then leave to set for about 20 mins before serving. Best eaten the day they're made, but will keep in the fridge for 24 hrs.