Raisin Buns

Glazed Raisin Buns

Unglazed ones

Some time ago I had made Tuti Fruiti Bread and I had bookmarked Bee and Jai's Chelsea Buns too as desert breads. You guys know I bake on Friday nights. It has been a while now since I baked last with all the travelling that I have done. Then came Bee & Jai's retrospective post that tempted me enough to bake mid-week.

I drool at their pictures always but these buns simply pushed me to go bake on a wednesday evening when I reached home early. I did not have any of the ingredients except raisins. On the way home I picked up flour, yeast etc. Here you don't get everything you need in your neighborhood and following a recipe needs planning. I decided to make them with whatever I had. I wanted them to look atleast like their drool worthy buns.

I went home and dumped my bag and went straight into the kitchen. Dad followed, "No, No, don't tell me you're going to bake now!" He got silence for an answer. Fortunately we had a lot of food left from the lunch he had made for his friends who had visited him in the afternoon. So I didn't have to worry about dinner.

Good! so I started by cleaning the 8 inch tart pan that was dusty. Washed and dried and kept it aside. Then went on inpromptu to the actual task. Here it is for you.

Ingredients

3 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup golden raisins
1/2 cup black currants
3 tablespoons honey
1/2 teaspoon salt
1.5 teaspoon active dry yeast
1 teaspoon sugar
3 cups water
2 teaspoons ghee
1/2 cup extra flour for kneading

Warm 1/2 cup water, add the sugar and active dry yeast. Let it bloom and foam for 20 mins.

Meanwhile soak the golden raisins and the black currants in the honey and let them stay till you need to use them.

Once the yeast is frothy add the flour, mix in the salt and the remaining 2.5 cups of water after warming it. Dust the counter lightly with flour and knead well. It will be a little messy but don't worry. Add the ghee and knead to get a smooth dough. Now oil a large bowl and keep the dough to double. Cover with a wet towel.

After an hour or when doubled remove the dough on a lightly floured counter and roll out into a rectangle. Now distribute evenly the honey soaked raisins on the dough and roll it up like a mat, tight and nice. Cut up the roll into nine equal pieces. Line them up in the lighly greased, 8 inch Tart pan like shown here with the cut side up.

Preheat oven for 10 mins. Bake a 185 deg Celcius for 20 mins. The flowers will blossom in the oven and your home will smell divine and the bees will be attracted to the Kitchen for a bite as soon as the buns are out of the oven. You bet!

Glaze with honey after removing from the oven. Lift the base of the tart pan and slide of the buns on to a grill to avoid sweating. We devoured these buns yesterday for dessert and I am posting it this morning :).