Hairy Bikers' chocolate and cherry buns recipe

This Hairy Bikers’ chocolate and cherry buns recipe gives a devilish twist to classic Chelsea buns. 

Hairy Bikers are famous for their delicious desserts and this cherry bun recipe is another brilliant one to add to the list. This recipe uses traditional Chelsea bun dough, combined with melted chocolate chips and sweet sticky glace cherries, to make 10-12 tasty buns. Each one is then dusted with cinnamon and mixed spices, giving it an extra kick of flavour. We recommend drizzling these chocolate and cherry buns with homemade icing and serving as fresh as possible.

Ingredients

• 75g butter, plus extra for greasing
• 250ml milk
• 500g strong white bread flour
• 1 tsp mixed spice (optional)
• 7g instant yeast
• 75g soft light brown sugar
• pinch of salt
• 1 egg
• vegetable oil, for greasing
• 100g butter, softened
• 50ml maple syrup
• 25g dark soft brown sugar
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp ground mixed spice
• pinch of salt
• 100g glacé cherries, halved
• 100g chocolate chips
• 1 egg, beaten
• 2 tbsp demerara sugar
• 1–2 tbsp just-boiled water
• 200g icing sugar

Method

1. Line a 26–28cm deep cake tin or a deep roasting tin with baking paper and grease it generously with butter.
2. Put the milk in a saucepan, place it over a gentle heat and bring it to just below boiling point. Remove the pan from the heat and add the butter, then set aside until the butter has melted and the mixture has cooled to blood temperature.
3. Put the flour and mixed spice, if using, in a large bowl and add the yeast, sugar and a pinch of salt. Make a well in the middle.
4. Beat the egg into the milk and butter mixture. Add this to the flour and stir until well combined – it will be a very soft, sticky dough.
5. Lightly oil your hands and the work surface, then turn out the dough. Knead until the dough is no longer sticky and has become smooth and elastic. Put the dough back in the bowl and cover it with a damp tea towel, then leave it to rise until doubled in size. This will take about an hour and a half.
6. For the filling, beat the butter with the maple syrup, sugar, spices and a pinch of salt to make a creamy, toffee-coloured mixture.
7. Turn the dough out and roll or pat it into a rectangle of about 30 x 23cm. Spread the butter mixture over the dough, then sprinkle with the chocolate chips and cherries. Roll the dough up fairly tightly, then cut it into 10–12 pieces.
8. Arrange the rounds, cut-side down, in the deep cake tin. Brush them with some of the beaten egg, then leave for another 30 minutes. Preheat the oven to 180°C/Fan 160°C/Gas 4. Brush with egg again, then sprinkle with the sugar. Bake the buns in the oven for 20–25 minutes, or until they are a rich golden-brown and well risen.
9. For the optional glaze, gradually add enough just-boiled water to the icing sugar to make a glaze that’s thin enough to pour, but won’t run off too much. Leave the buns to cool in the tin, then drizzle over the glaze. Leave to set. Recipe taken from The Hairy Bikers British Classics cookbook

Tips for making Hairy Bikers' chocolate and cherry buns:

If the buns are browning too quickly in the oven before they fully cook all the way through, cover them with tinfoil after the first 15 minutes or so. 

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