The Perfect Chelsea Buns

One of my favourite things about  living in London was the ability to go out and buy literally any kind of food I desired. After moving this privilege was no longer available, however my disappointment didn't last long as this is what sparked my interest in cooking and baking.

A few days ago I finally got around to making one of my favourite baked goods... Chelsea buns. I used Paul Hollywood's recipe but tweaked a few things to suit my taste and they tasted incredible (or so say the people who ate them). So here it is...

Ingredients (See the original recipe here) 
500 g strong white flour (plus extra for dusting)
1 tsp salt
1 x 7g sachet fast-acting yeast
300ml milk
40g unsalted butter (plus extra for greasing)

For the filling:
25g unsalted butter (softened)
75g soft brown sugar
2 tsp cinnamon
100g sultanas

To Finnish:
Caster sugar (no set quantity, just sprinkle as much as you like)

Method:

Place the flour in a large bowl and place the salt and yeast at opposite sides, add the butter and start mixing. Slowly add the warm milk bit by bit until you get a nice soft dough. (I didn't use all of my milk, just enough to get a nice dough consistency)

Tip the dough onto a clean, floured surface and knead it for about 5 minutes until the dough is smooth and elastic.

Grease a large bowl with butter and place the dough inside, covering it with cling film and a napkin.
Leave to rise.

I left mine for just over one hour.

Tip the dough onto a lightly floured surface and smooth into a ball shape. With a rolling pin, roll out the dough into a large rectangle.

Using clean fingers spread the softened butter all over the dough, next sprinkle the soft brown sugar, cinnamon and sultanas onto the buttered surface.

Press the sultanas into the dough with the palm of your hands and then start folding over the long edge (similar to how you would do with a Swiss Roll), making sure it's tight.

Once you have a tight roll, use a sharp knife to cut 12 even rounds.

Before

Grease a roasting tin with a generous amount of butter and place the buns evenly on the tray.

Cover with cling film and a napkin and leave to rise for another hour.

After

Preheat the oven to 190C (375F, Gas Mark 5) and place the roasting tray on the top shelf for about 20/25 minutes, checking regularly. If the buns start to brown too much, seal the tray with aluminium foil and leave in the oven for the remaining cooking time. (I left mine for about 18/19 minutes because they looked done)

Remove the buns from the oven and allow them to cool before sprinkling with caster sugar.

And after all that hard work, put your feet up and enjoy :)