Cinnabuns

Unsurprisingly, I am a huge fan of The Great British Bake Off and have been since the first series. Every week I sit and drool over what they make and laugh at all their silly mistakes (assuring myself that I would do soo much better...) 
And ever since last week's theme of sweet doughs and the very tempting buns that were displayed, I've had a hankering for one myself and have been searching for the perfect recipe.

As it happens, my mum happened to come home with the new issue of Waitrose Kitchen magazine yesterday and on the cover is a recipe for cinnamon buns from the winner of the first series of the Bake Off, Edd Kimber. Seeing as I had the day off work today, I thought it would be rude not to try baking them myself.

The recipe took quite a while as dough must be left to prove before and after rolling it out and I did manager to make quite a mess of the kitchen (much to mothers delight) but it was all worth it in the end as I had one of these delicious buns to tuck into and my craving was finally satisfied. I could not recommend these more!

Ingredients:
250ml whole milk
50g unsalted butter, plus extra for greasing
500g strong white bread flour, plus extra for dusting
30g caster sugar
1 tsp salt
7g sachet fast-action yeast
1 large egg, beaten
vegetable oil for greasing
Filling:
150g soft light brown sugar
3 tbsp ground cinnamon
60g unsalted butter, plus extra for brushing
75g currants
Topping:
75g soft cheese
125g icing sugar
1 tbsp whole milk

To Make:

• Put the milk and butter into a small pan over a low and warm until the butter has just melted. Allow the mixture to stand until lukewarm.
• In a large bowl, mix together the flour, sugar, salt and yeast.
• Add the milk mixture and the egg and mix to form a soft dough.

• Lightly flour a work surface and tip the dough onto it. Now take out all that anger and knead for 10 minutes until smooth and elastic. 

• Put the dough in a lightly oiled bowl and cover with clingfilm. Put the bowl in a warm place (I chose the airing cupboard) and leave to rise for 1 hour, or until doubled in size.

They grow up so fast...

• Tip the dough onto a floured work surface and roll out to 40cm x 50cm.
• Lightly grease a 23cm x 33cm high sided baking tray and pre-heat the oven to 180C.
• Make the filling by combining the sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl.
• Spread the dough with the softened butter and sprinkle over the sugar mixture, then the currants.

• Starting from the long edge, roll into a tight log. Trim the ends and slice into 16 pieces (approx.)

• Put the rolls into the greased tin and cover with clingfilm, leaving for a further 45 minutes to double in size.
• Brush the buns with a little melted butter and bake for 30 minutes or until golden brown. For the last 5-10 minutes you may need to cover the tin for foil to prevent the buns from burning.

• Whilst enjoying the smells of the buns cooking, you can make the topping. Combine all the ingredients in a bowl and mix until smooth.
• Once the buns are out of the oven, wait for them to cool slightly and then drizzle the topping over the buns or spread to coat evenly. 

• Serve warm (and try to share).