Light lemon buns

By using olive oil rather than butter, cutting down the sugar and introducing lemon into the recipe, these buns are lighter and fresher on the palette than an indulgent Danish pastry. That's not to knock Danish pastries at all - a time and a place for those, of course! From time to time, I have added grated dark chocolate with a little orange zest to the filling below, and that's quite a popular recipe with some of my family.

Ingredients for six buns

Bun Dough

Strong organic bread flour (Shipton Mill Strong #4) - 300 g

Olive oil - 60g

Water (warm) - 145g

Salt - 1/2 tsp

Soft brown sugar - 1 dessert spoon

Dried yeast - 5g

Filling

Olive oil - 3 dessert spoons

Mixed spice - 1 tsp

Nutmeg (freshly grated) - 1/2 tsp

Soft brown sugar - 2 dessert spoons

Vanilla essence - 1 tsp

Lemon zest - of one lemon

Glaze

Soft brown sugar - 25g

Juice of one lemon

Mixed spice - 1/2 tsp

Instructions

Mix together the dry ingredients for the dough - adding water last. Knead on lightly floured board for 5 minutes, until dough has relaxed and softened and is evenly textured. Put in a bowl and cover with cling film. Leave in a warm place for 1 1/2 to 2 hours to prove.

Mix together the filling ingredients and stir well to incorporate all elements.

Meanwhile, on a floured surface roll out bun dough into a rectangle - approx 40cm x 30 cm. Brush on filling distributing evenly right to the edges of the dough. Roll dough into a cylinder - like a fat sausage - start with the shorter of the two sides of the rectangle (see below). Line a 20cm/8inch spring form cake tin with baking parchment. Trim off the ends of the sausage, if these are uneven. Cut the dough into six equal fat sausages. Place in tin - 5 around the edge and one in the middle (see below). Cover and leave to rise another 30-45 minutes.

Set oven temperature to 180°C. Bake buns for 30 minutes.

Remove from oven and set aside.

Put glaze ingredients into a pan and bring to a simmer over a medium heat. Once the sugar has dissolved and the glaze has started to thicken, becoming glossy, pour it over the still warm buns.

Once the glaze has set, these are ready to eat. While delicious fresh and warm, they will keep for a few days in an airtight container and are delicious served with coffee as a continental breakfast - bun layers can be peeled off and dunked. Have a napkin handy, or be prepared to lick sticky lemoness off your fingers.

Added by: Marc Puttock

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