Cherry Marzipan Chelsea Buns
These yeasted buns are full of glacé cherries and maraschino cherries as well as marzipan. They are rolled like a scroll and finished with a golden syrup glaze while still warm. They are pretty easy to make, particularly if you use a mixer with a dough hook. You will need to use a bit of elbow grease if you knead by hand!
Start the buns the day before you want to bake them and leave in the fridge overnight for the second prove. Then bake them first thing in the morning and eat them warm from the oven for breakfast if you can’t resist the smell of freshly baked sticky buns!
For the Dough
500g strong flour
7g instant yeast
10g salt
50g caster sugar
250g full fat milk
2 large free-range eggs, beaten
50g butter
Filling + Glaze
150g glacé cherries
50g maraschino cherries
200g marzipan
100g golden syrup
Put the strong flour into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a dough hook or into a large mixing bowl if kneading by hand. Add the instant yeast and salt, making sure the yeast and salt are on opposite sides of the bowl, and the caster sugar. Add the milk which you have warmed to tepid (microwaving is easy) and the beaten eggs. Mix by hand into a rough dough, even if you’re going to use the dough hook in the next stage.
Cover the bowl with a plastic bag or plastic shower cap, and rest for 20 minutes. Then move the bowl to the mixer and knead with the dough hook until the mixture is smooth and starting to develop some elasticity, about 5 minutes. Add the butter in small pieces, then knead again for about 5 minutes, using the mixer until the butter is thoroughly incorporated, the dough is smooth and you can achieve the “windowpane” effect. That is, you can pull some of the dough off the dough hook, between two fingers, stretching it so that it’s translucent.
If you are kneading by hand, you will knead to work the dough really well, in both stages, to get it to the desired silky, elastic stage.
Cover the bowl again and leave in a warm place to prove for about an hour, until the dough is doubled in size.
Once the dough is risen, take the dough out of the bowl onto the bench top or ideally a large wooden board. Flour the bench top or board liberally with flour. Flour a rolling pin and roll the dough into a large rectangle, as large as you can go, with the dough ending up about 1/2 cm thick. My dough rectangle is usually about 30cm in width by 40-50cm in length.
Chop the marzipan into small pieces and scatter over the length of the dough. Cut both kinds of cherries in half and scatter over the marzipan. Now carefully roll up the dough along the long side. Using a sharp knife, slice the dough. You should get about 12 slices.
Line a large baking tin or tray with baking paper. Carefully place each slice, cut side up, into the tin or tray, fitting them snugly together.
Place the tin or tray into a large plastic bag. You will need to make sure you have enough room in your fridge, as you are going to prove the buns in there overnight. Put the tin or tray into the fridge and leave for 8-16 hours overnight.
When ready to bake, preheat your oven to 200 degrees C, or 180 degrees C fan. Place a baking tray, or ideally a cast iron pan, in the bottom of the oven, with some water in it, to create steam for your baking.
Remove the plastic bag from the tin/tray and put the buns straight from the fridge into the preheated oven. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until the buns are risen and a deep golden brown.
Remove the buns from the oven. Warm the golden syrup to make it spreadable - 30 seconds in the microwave on low, or gently heat in a saucepan.
While the buns are still still warm, brush all over with the golden syrup. Be generous! You want the buns to be really sticky!
They keep for a couple of days, and they also freeze well.
But best eaten on the day!