Apricot & almond Chelsea buns: Soft and sweet for delight tea time !

I feel like I lack of the bread idea lately, well, it looks like I always make the same things again and again ^^". Why?, I don't know, may be it's so simple to stick to the thing that you like and you can be sure that the result will be great every time. 

But you know that it's not me, I'm not the one who believe in the "ultimate things", or the ultimate recipe! There are a lot of recipes to try, even it means a lot of failure that I will face, I still want to try something new, haha. Some of my best recipes can be the one that you don't like (well, it's a matter of taste, ^^), so I have to try a lot of recipes so you and I will  love some of them.


 But I don't know that it's because of the characteristic of the flour that can be different from country to country or it's me who love to eat a soft bread, I have to add more milk than the original recipe. I believe it's the second reason, because when I went to stay with my sister in UK, I could use my recipe without any adaptation. The result of my adaptation is a soft bread, with a sweet filling that I really love it!


This bread is great both for the easiness (even easier if you use the stand mixer, the dough come together like magic, and if you hand knead it, it's not hard too), and the taste. If you the one who love the dried apricot like I do, you will be very happy!
Anyway, I'm not talk about the "the ultimate Apricot & almond Chelsea buns" ^ ^ I'm here to talk about the recipe that I tried and tested, in the future you may see new recipe for Apricot & almond Chelsea buns again, well, I really can't help it, because it's my mission to try any recipe that I think it might be great and yes, delicious too, haha.

Apricot & almond Chelsea buns

MAKES  1 (23cm round pan)

FOR THE DOUGH


450g ..............................  strong white flour (Bread flour), plus extra for dusting
14g ................................. easy-blend yeast (instant yeast)
1 tsp ............................... salt 
50g ................................. caster sugar
200ml ............................ warm milk
50ml ............................... water
1 ...................................... egg, beaten
50g ................................. unsalted butter, melted, plus extra for greasing


FOR THE FILLING AND TOPPING


25g ................................. softened butter, plus extra for greasing
85g ................................. dried apricots, finely chopped
85g .................................  toasted flaked almonds, plus a few extra to decorate
25g ................................. caster sugar
2 tbsp ............................ apricot jam

1. Put the flour, yeast, caster sugar and salt into a large mixing bowl and mix well. Make a well in the centre and pour in the warm milk, water, the beaten egg and the melted butter (I put all of these in a jug and pour them all at once). Using a dough hook on medium speed, mix everything together to form dough. If the dough is too dry, add a little more warm water; if it’s too wet, add more flour (but do it lightly, if it's too wet start adding just 1 tbsp of the flour or if it's too dry adding 1 tbsp of water, and wait a bit until the water or flour absorbed).Knead until the dough becomes smooth and springy about 5-7 minutes. 

2. Take the dough out of  the bowl  and shape it into a ball on a floured surface.  Transfer to a clean, lightly greased bowl and cover loosely with a clean, damp tea towel (or put the bowl in the plastic bag). Leave in a warm place to rise until roughly doubled in size, this will take about 1 hr depending on how warm the room is.

3. Heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6.  Grease a deep 23cm cake tin. Tip the risen dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for a few secs. Roll out the dough to a rough 20 x 30cm rectangle. Spread the butter evenly over the dough, then sprinkle with the chopped apricots, almonds and sugar. Roll up firmly like a Swiss roll from one of the long sides -dampening the open edge to help it stick if you need to. Cut into 8 even slices with a sharp knife, shape into 8 round pinwheels, then arrange in the tin, cut-side up. 

Cover with a clean, damp tea towel and prove in a warm place for about 20 mins until roughly doubled in size. Bake the buns for 10 mins, then lower oven to 180C/16OC fan/gas 4. Cook for 10 mins more until golden brown. 

Melt the jam with 1 tbsp water, brush all over the buns, then sprinkle with a few more flaked almonds.

Apricot & almond Chelsea buns: Soft and sweet for delight tea time !