Chelsea Buns
5 Reviews
About our Chelsea bun recipe
The humble Chelsea Bun is a classic tea-time treat. Dating back to the 18th Century, this delicious sweet dough has been enjoyed for centuries. In just six easy steps, you can whip up a batch and make the whole family smile. If you like to experiment in the kitchen, you could swap the currants for chocolate chips or a mixture of both.
How long do Chelsea Buns last in the fridge?
Chelsea buns are best served warm and fresh out of the oven, but are fine to keep in an airtight container for up to 3 days. Great news is these freeze really well too.
CJust make sure you defrost at room temperature for a couple of hours before serving and don't keep frozen for longer than 1 month - but trust us, they won't be around for that long!
Method
Step 1
MIX
Bring the milk to the boil, then remove from the heat and add the butter. Leave to cool until it reaches hand temperature. Mix the flour, yeast, sugar and salt in a big bowl. Mix the milk and the beaten egg into the dry ingredients with a wooden spoon.Step 2
KNEAD
Tip onto a lightly flour dusted surface and knead for 10 minutes (or use the dough hook attachment on your mixer).
Step 3
RISE
Lightly grease the mixing bowl with some oil. Put the dough back in, cover the bowl with a clean tea towel and leave to rise until doubled in size – up to 2 hours depending on how warm your kitchen is. Mash together the melted butter, muscovado sugar, spice, currants and zest.Step 4
SHAPE
Knock back the dough by gently kneading just 5 times to get the air out. Roll into a 20 x 45cm rectangle and sprinkle over the currant and sugar mix. Roll up tightly from one of the long sides like a swiss roll, then cut into 16 even pinwheels slices. Grease a 23cm square tin with more butter. Arrange the slices inside in a 4 x 4 pattern with the cut-sides up.Step 5
PROVE
Preheat your oven to 180°C (160°C fan, gas mark 4).
Cover the dough again with a clean tea towel and leave to prove until nearly doubled in size.Step 6
BAKE
Bake the tin of buns for 35 minutes until golden and the dough cooked through. Leave the buns to cool for 20 minutes in the tin, then lift onto a wire rack to cool completely. Drizzle over some white icing to decorate and leave to set before tearing off buns to eat.
Ingredients
For the dough
- 500gAllinson's Strong White Bread Flour
- 7gAllinson's Easy Bake Yeast
- 275mlMilk (whole)
- 50gButter (unsalted) (cold, diced)
- 1Egg(s) (free range) (medium, beaten)
- 75gBillington's Unrefined Golden Caster Sugar
- 1.5 tspSalt
Plus
- 50gButter (unsalted) (melted, plus extra for greasing)
- 75gBillington's Unrefined Light Muscovado Sugar
- 2 tspMixed spice
- 100gCurrants
- 2Lemon zest
For the icing
- 50gSilver Spoon Icing Sugar