Espresso buns

Posted on May 29, 2012

23


*ahem*

Now I have your attention. I just wanted to show you the good-looking thing that was knocking around my kitchen this Weekend.

But wait! I’m not done yet.

After the dough was drizzled with espresso syrup and dark chocolate chips…the resulting hot buns got smothered with a coffee and maple glaze.

Oh, you like that do ya?

I devised this recipe to use the rich espresso that we have been making in the new coffee machine…before Ed drunk it all. It’s so quick and easy to make now that he has even been having a sneaky cup while he brews our morning tea.

You may recognise this concept as a close relative of my cinnamon buns. It could also be described as a caffeine fuelled chelsea bun, but with tasty dark chocolate instead of evil pip-ridden currants.

It’s been a gentle way of initiating the boy into the joys of coffee. He loves them, he says they remind him of Krispy Kreme doughnuts. I even caught him dipping his fingers in the leftover espresso syrup. (I used decaffeinated for that so he didn’t get *too* buzzy)

With one of these spirally delights you get a hit of smooth coffee flavour, the toothsome bite of fresh-baked dough plus a sweet sticky mess of icing that gets all over your fingers.

I’m posh though, me. I eat mine with a fork*

Espresso Buns: Good for desserts, elevenses or breakfast-zes.

*not always true

The Recipe

  • 1 tbsp sugar
  • 2 7g sachets of yeast
  • 25oml luke warm milk
Allow these to froth together in a jug then add:
  • 1 egg yolk
  • 50g melted butter
  • 1 tsp salt
Pour this mixture (gradually – you might not need it all) into a bowl containing:
  • 200g plain flour
  • 200g bread flour

Knead for 5 minutes, I do this in my mixer with a dough hook, then cover and leave to rise for an hour or so until doubled in size. Meanwhile make the espresso syrup* by mixing

  • 1 cup of strong espresso (an espresso cup  = around 50ml or 2-3 tbsp)
  • 50g of brown sugar

Heat these gently in a pan, stirring until it goes glossy and slightly thicker. Pour into a small cup or jug and allow to cool.

*you could skip this and just use a ready made coffee or chocolate syrup – or even just a handful of brown sugar.

Roll out the bread dough to the size of a large rectangular baking tray and spread with:

  • 150g of very soft butter
  • 2 handfuls of plain chocolate chips

Then drizzle on the coffee syrup and roll it all up like a swiss roll. Slice into 2″ chunks, turn spirals on their side and spread them out in a tin. I use a 26cm non stick springform tin, with the bottom lined with a circle of parchment or non-stick foil. Don’t worry – there will be gaps between them until they rise again.

Cover the tin and leave it to rise for another 30-40 minutes until bulging.

Place the tin on a baking tray as butter WILL dribble out. Loosely cover it with foil and bake for 20 minutes at 200c then remove the foil and bake for another 10 minutes.

Pour the Coffee Maple Glaze all over your buns as soon after they come out of the oven. I now go for a ‘cover it all over’ policy, it keeps the buns nice and soft.

Coffee Maple Glaze

  • 200g icing sugar
  • 1 tblsp melted butter
  • 1 teaspoon of vanilla essence
  • 3 tsp of maple syrup
  • enough strong espresso to mix this into a runny icing

There may be some icing left…to drizzle on your tongue.

Here it is in printable form

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Posted in: Baking, Breads, Breakfasts, Claire, Food, Original Recipes, Sweet Stuff