#122 Festive citrus & saffron sweet buns

HOW, I repeat, HOW, is it 3 days until Christmas? I’m so confused. This sense of time evaporating is disconcertingly familiar, you may recall that I felt very similar a few weeks ago. I swear minutes have picked up their pace in the past month, anyone else feel the same?

I’m also feeling particularly UN-festive, thoroughly anxious and like there are a lot of balls (eggs actually, they’re more fragile) in the air that I need to catch, I’m not sure which ones to prioritise, or when, and I’m scared that they’re all going to come splatting down around me which will be messy and potentially painful - eggs shells can be spiky!

On a serious note, I wish I could explain to you the chaos that I’m experiencing in my head as I try to type something coherent for you to read this week. Sometimes I can’t put words to my emotions and the more I struggle to unpick the feelings, the more agitated I feel. Essentially, my brain has become frantic with whirring thoughts, overwhelmed with internal chatter, and wild with worry. What makes it all feel one million percent worse, is that, at this point in the year, the newsletter should be filled with jubilance and sparkle (where did last week’s moment of happiness evaporate to?) and, instead, I’m fizzing behind my computer screen.

Is this one almighty comedown from the kitchen ordeal? Is it the usual overwhelming nature of Christmas (yes, I always find it challenging)? Is it ‘just me being silly old me’? I’m not sure, but I’m sorry to admit that this week has been less about tinsel and turkey and more about fretting and floundering.

Bearing all this in mind, I’m going to keep things quite snappy and save you from my wobbly head woes. But before I leave you in peace and wish you a very Happy Christmas, first I need to tell you about this week’s bake.

Given my obsession with bread, it felt right for it to feature as one of the final bakes of the year, specifically, I’m referring to these pillowy, SOFT, golden, sweet buns. The dough is enriched with olive oil, milk and eggs for ultimate tenderness and flavour. They’re oozing with festive sparkle in the form of citrus zest, vanilla, saffron, and plump sultanas, and given a final flourish with an orange and brandy syrup glaze and a smattering of chopped pistachios - heaven.

If you don’t have the capacity to bake these before Christmas, I get it, there’s often a STRICT food schedule at this time of year and shoehorning a spot of bread baking into the mix may not be feasible. However, I urge you to archive the recipe and maybe drag it out during January, particularly if you need a bit of sunshine in bread form, I’m quite sure these will bring you a moment or two of unrivalled joy and comfort.

OK, all that’s left for me to say is this: I hope you have a truly wonderful Christmas filled with love, food, and happiness. If you struggle with it and you’re not even sure what the struggle is - HI, HELLO, ME TOO! - or if you just think it’s all a bit average, you really are NOT alone… my best advice is to ride the wave as best you can, revel in the ups, be kind to yourself during the downs, I’ll be with you, and let’s meet back here on the other side. We can do this!

Bundles of love,

Steph X X X

p.s. Winter isn’t all bad is it… PLUS… we’ve crested the shortest day - ROLL ON SPRING!

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Festive citrus & saffron sweet buns

I’ve given all the info you really need about these buns… and that is - THEY’RE GREAT! but just a few notes on the recipe:

• Firstly, a lot of the credit needs to go to Letitia Clarke whose recipe they are based on. I LOVE her sweet dough recipe, the inclusion of olive oil in the dough gives the baked buns an ULTRA plush, tender centre that I’m VERY into!!

• … one caveat to this wonderful dough is that it’s a bit of a sticky handful to work with, so I strongly advise using a stand mixer to help you out, and I suggest kneading the dough in intervals with short breaks, which allows it to relax, and prevents overworking it.

• Letitia suggests incorporating the olive oil at the start of the mixing process, but I tend to withhold it until a bit of strength has been established in the dough as you would with butter. It tends to look a bit gross as you start to incorporate it, and takes a little while to emulsify into the dough, but a few minutes mixing takes care of it.

• The dough is quite slow to rise, however, you can add a pinch more yeast to expedite the process a little.

• You could also choose to retard the second proof (by placing the shaped dough balls in the fridge overnight - in the tin and covered with clingfilm) so that you can enjoy sweet buns for breakfast. Full disclosure though, I haven’t tried this, so you will need to use your own judgement in terms of monitoring timings, and I suggest making sure the buns are fully proofed and at room temperature when you come to bake them.

• The glaze is optional, but it gives them that sticky hot cross bun vibe that obviously is a major PLUS!

• In terms of flavour - if you haven’t tried saffron buns before - you must! Saffron is an unusual spice in a GREAT way; delicate, sweet, earthy and floral - it’s a little bit of everything good and the addition of both lemon and orange zest as well as vanilla really complements it.

  Right, I think that’s all you need to know… now it’s time to get baking!

Golden buns...