Breakthrough buns

My first attempt at these was an epic fail... the dough was tough and difficult to work with and then they quietly burnt away in the oven while I was none the wiser! But.. today is my day off. And being a miserable, rainy one at that, I thought I'd give them another go. I tweaked the recipe a little and came out with flying colours... Chelsea Buns a la Elle. I incorporated the currants (and a touch of spice) into the dough itself, leaving just a mixture of brown sugar and cinnamon for the filling.  These do take time, but are well worth the wait.

The ingredients...

450g bread flour

1/2 tsp salt

7g dried yeast

225ml milk (tepid)

40g unsalted butter (room temperature)

1 egg

25g brown sugar

150g currants/sultanas

2 tsp cinnamon (or mixed spice)

Filling

3 tbsp brown sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

Sift flour and salt into a large bowl. Rub in butter. Stir in the yeast, cinnamon and currants. In another bowl, whisk together the egg, sugar and milk. (About 30 seconds in the microwave should get the milk to right temperature). Add to the dry mix, combine roughly with a big spoon and then knead well. Leave to rise for 1 hour in a floured bowl, covered in cling film or a tea towel. The bowl should be in a non-drafty area, hot water cupboards are perfect, it just needs to be somewhere neither hot nor cold.
Your dough should almost double in size. Turn it onto a floured surface and roll out to a rectangle about 30 x 25. Combine the filling ingredients and sprinkle over dough. Roll up from the wider side and cut into about 9 or 10 rounds. Place on a lined baking tray and leave to rise again 40 minutes. Pre-heat your oven to 200 C.

Bake for 20 - 25 minutes and finish them with whatever you fancy. I tried a bit of everything, some with sugar sprinkled on top, others drizzled with honey, or the runny white icing was rather good too. Just a couple tbsp icing sugar with a tsp boiling water. Must be served with a cup of tea.