Whole Grain Chelsea Buns With Cinnamon And Sage Recipes

Steps:

• Pour the warm water into the bowl of a standing electric mixer, add the yeast and granulated sugar, and let the yeast proof until bubbly on the surface, about 10 minutes.
• Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan, heat the 2 cups of milk until very warm (120 to 130 degrees F).
• In another pan, melt the butter. Set aside 1/4 cup for brushing the pans.
• When the yeast is bubbly, fit the electric mixer with a dough hook or paddle. Add all of the flour, the brown sugar, warm milk, eggs, and the 1 1/4 cups melted butter and beat on low speed for 10 minutes.
• Oil a large bowl and place the dough in it, turning it in the bowl to coat on all sides. Cover and let rise in a warm, draft-free place until doubled in volume, about 1 1/2 hours.
• Brush two 8-inch springform pans, 2 inches deep, with the reserved 1/4 cup of melted butter.
• Make the filling: In a bowl, stir together the brown sugar, currants, and cinnamon.
• Once the dough has doubled, punch it down with your hands. Divide the dough into 2 equal portions. On a clean, dry, lightly floured surface, roll out each piece of dough into a rectangle 8 x 12 inches. Sprinkle half the filling over each piece of dough, leaving a 1-inch border on all sides. Starting with the long side of the dough closest to you, roll each piece of dough into a cylinder, pinching the seam closed. Cut each roll into 6 equal slices and place the slices, cut side up, with the sides touching, in the prepared springform pans. Brush the surface of the buns with the remaining 1/4 cup of milk. Let the buns rise in the pans until almost doubled in size, about 30 minutes.
• In the meantime, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Bake the buns for about 45 minutes, until golden and a toothpick inserted into the center of one of the buns comes out clean. Cool in the pans 10 minutes. Serve warm. To store, wrap the buns well in plastic, then store in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. To reheat, remove the plastic wrap; then wrap the buns in aluminum foil. Reheat in a preheated 350 degree F oven for about 10 minutes, or until heated through.

Steps:

• Levain
• Mix the levain ingredients and briefly knead. Place the levain in a container with room for doubling, cover loosely, and keep warm, ideally 80-85F.
• When the levain has doubled in size (about 6 hours in a lit oven) it is ready to use.
• Dough Mixing and Bulk Fermentation
• Put all the dough ingredients except for the butter in the bowl of a stand mixer with the dough hook attachment. Tear the levain into about 10 pieces when you add it to the bowl.
• Run the mixer on low and then medium speed until the ingredients are incorporated.
• Add the butter chunks one at a time while running the mixer, waiting about 30 seconds between each chunk.
• Remove the dough from the mixer, working it between your hands to check for any unincorporated butter. If you find any butter chunks, smear and knead with your hands.
• Place the dough in a bowl or straight-walled container, cover and keep warm (ideally 80-85F) until doubled in size (about four hours in a warm lit oven).
• Do the filling prep described below, except melting the butter, while the dough is rising so the raisins have time to soak.
• Filling
• Prep the bun filling in three small bowls: one with the brown sugar, cinnamon, and sage whisked together (pinch of salt too if your butter is unsalted), a second bowl with the raisins and bourbon or water, and a third bowl with cubed butter (microwave it at low power just before using). I prefer to chop the raisins rather than use them whole -- to get a more even spread of the raisin flavor.
• Assembly
• Lightly oil/butter your work surface and turn the doubled dough out onto it.
• Gently pat and roll the dough out into a rectangle about 12"x18".
• Brush on the melted butter, leaving about 1/2" uncovered on one of the long edges.
• Sprinkle on the sugar-spice-herb mixture, gently smoothing it even with your palm.
• Spread on the damp raisins.
• Roll the dough into a tube, working toward the unbuttered long edge and letting the tube rest on the seam to seal up.
• Grease 9" diameter cake pan. If not non-stick, then line the bottom with a round of parchment paper too.
• Mark lines on the tube for eight buns and then cut the buns using a sharp serrated knife or dental floss looped around the tube (pull opposite ends).
• Place the buns in the pan and cover loosely.
• Final Proof and Baking
• Let the buns rise until they almost fill the pan (see photo gallery), about four hours if kept warm. Remember to take the pan out of the oven for the preheat if that's where you're proofing the buns.
• Preheat your oven to 350F.
• Bake the buns for 25-30 minutes, until the inside of the buns is about 190F.
• Remove from the oven and cool for about 10 minutes. See serving tips below.
• Icing and Serving
• Mix together the powdered sugar and milk. Always start with very little liquid.
• If you plan to serve the buns after the 10-minute cooling period, flip the buns out of the pan and then flip them again onto your serving dish. Drizzle on the icing.
• If you plan to serve the buns later or the next day. Run a flat knife or thin spatula around the inside of the pan to separate the buns from the edge. Leave them in the pan to finish cooling, then wrap with plastic. When it's time to serve them, flip them out of the pan and drizzle with icing.
• You can reheat the entire batch or one at a time. For one bun on a plate, I heat for 30 seconds in the microwave.

Steps:

• Heat the milk in a pan until steaming. Remove from the heat, add the butter, then leave to cool until lukewarm and the butter has melted. Put the flour, yeast, sugar, spices and 1 tsp salt into a large bowl, and mix together. Make a well in the centre, and pour in the egg and milk mixture. Mix everything together with your hands to form a dough - it will be quite wet. Tip the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 5-10 mins until smooth. Transfer the dough to a clean, lightly oiled bowl, cover with oiled cling film and leave to rise until doubled in size - this will take 1-2 hrs depending on how warm the room is. You could rise the dough in the fridge overnight, but make sure you bring to room temperature before moving on to the next step.
• Heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Tip the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead for a few moments. Roll out to a 45 x 40cm rectangle, with the longest edge facing you. Mix together the butter and sugar for the filling, and spread all over the dough. Follow with the mincemeat, then sprinkle over the apricots and cherries. Roll up firmly, starting from one of the long sides. Using a sharp knife, cut off either end of the roll to neaten, then slice into 8 even pieces. Arrange, cut-side up, on an oiled tray, leaving about 1cm between each bun and making sure the tail ends are pointing inwards. Cover loosely with oiled cling film and leave to prove until doubled in size - about 30 mins. Sprinkle over the demerara sugar and bake for 22-25 mins until golden brown. Transfer to a wire rack. Melt the jam with ½ tbsp water and brush over the buns, then leave to cool.
• Mix the icing sugar with enough water to make a runny icing. Using a spoon, drizzle the icing back and forth over the buns. Leave for 10 mins to set before eating. Will keep in a sealed container for up to 3 days.