Name: Spiced Fruit Buns Recipe
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 25 min
Total time: 165 min
Ingredients: 350 ml whole milk; 1 orange (peeled, avoiding the white pith as much as possible); 1 cinnamon stick; 1 vanilla pod (split and seeds released); 75 g slightly salted butter (plus extra to grease); 500 g strong white bread flour; 50 g soft light brown sugar; 1 ½ tsp fast action yeast; 1 tsp salt; 150 g dried mixed fruit; 1 medium free range eggs (lightly beaten)

Even if you've never made bread before, you'll love this spiced fruit buns recipe, The dough is flavoured with cinnamon, orange and vanilla, enriched with butter and milk and studded with plump mixed fruit to give a beautifully soft and aromatic crumb.

Sliced spiced fruit buns served on a white plate.

These spiced buns are great served in all sorts of ways: as they are, toasted with butter, or you could even go down the savoury route with a slice of mature cheese!

To make them, you'll start by warming milk with orange peel, cinnamon sticks and a vanilla pod, then add butter and leave to let all the flavours infuse into the liquid.

Side on shot of a finished batch of spiced fruit buns sliced in half on a decorative board.

Next you'll combine bread flour, yeast, brown sugar and salt and then stir in the liquid to form a lovely soft dough, which you'll knead until smooth, then leave to prove.

Hand reaching in from the left to grab one of the finished spiced fruit buns.

Once risen and full of air, you'll knock the dough back and knead in some soaked mixed fruit before dividing the dough into 10 rolls ready for a second prove. After that, it's just a case of brushing with egg until golden brown and smelling incredible.

Here's what to do to make these soft, delicious spiced fruit buns.

Ingredients

For the milk

350 ml (1¾ cups+ 2 tbsp) whole milk
1 orange peeled, avoiding the white pith as much as possible
1 cinnamon stick
1 vanilla pod split and seeds released
75 g (5 tbsp) slightly salted butter plus extra to grease

For the dough

500 g (3⅓ cups) strong white bread flour
50 g (5 tbsp) soft light brown sugar
1 ½ tsp (1½ tsp) fast action yeast
1 tsp salt
150 g (¾ cup) dried mixed fruit
1 medium free range eggs lightly beaten

Equipment

Instructions

Scald and infuse your milk

Place your milk, orange zest, cinnamon stick and vanilla pod in a small saucepan over a low-medium heat. Bring it almost to boiling point, with steam starting to form and bubbles appearing around the edge of the pan, then take off the heat. Scalding is an important step as milk contains an enzyme that can stop your gluten from developing but you don’t want to boil it as you’ll start to lose liquid.

Overhead shot of some of the ingredients for the spiced fruit buns in a pan.

Add the butter to the milk and leave to cool.

Overhead shot of a pan filled with the ingredients for spiced fruit buns.

It mustn’t be too hot when it goes into the dough or it will kill the yeast. “Blood temperature” is ideal, so no more than 37C (98.6F).

Overhead shot of some of the wet ingredients for the spiced fruit buns mixed together in a pan.

Strain through a sieve to remove the additions.

Make your dough

Put the flour, sugar, yeast and salt in a large bowl.

Overhead shot of some of the dry ingredients for the spiced fruit buns dough.

Stir together.

Pour in two thirds of the milk mixture.

Mixing the wet and dry ingredients together for the dough together in a mixing bowl.

Stir together. Keep adding the milk little by little to any patches of loose flour until the dough comes together in a clump on the spoon with no loose flour on the bottom.

Overhead shot of the finished dough in a mixing bowl.

You might not need all the milk mixture.

Tip the dough on a very lightly floured surface and knead for about 8 minutes, stretching and folding the dough until you have a smooth, elastic texture that springs back when pressed.

Overhead shot of the dough in the form of a ball used for the spiced fruit buns.

Form the dough into a ball and place in a lightly oiled bowl. Cover and leave to prove in a warm place for 1-2 hours until doubled in size.

Overhead shot of the spiced fruit buns dough having been left to rise for one to two hours.

Shape your rolls

Put the mixed fruit in a small bowl and add freshly boiled water to just cover the contents. Soak for 5 minutes, then drain away any excess. Soaking in this way makes the fruit less prone to burning in the oven.

Line two trays with baking paper and place clean tea towels on top.

Tip the dough onto a clean surface.

Overehad shot of one of the rolls from the dough.

Press out to about 2.5cm (1 inch) think and then sprinkle the mixed fruit on top.

Overhead shot of the mixed fruit being added to the top of the spiced fruit buns dough.

Knead a few times until the fruit is incorporated - try not to overwork the dough more than necessary.

Overhead shot of the mixed fruit rolled into the dough balls for the spiced fruit buns.

Weigh the dough, then divide into 10 equal pieces - mine were 105g (3.7oz) each but it will depend how much liquid you added when making the dough.

Overhead shot of the spiced fruit buns dough having been split into smaller balls.

Cover the pieces with a tea towel and let them rest for 10 minutes.

Close up shot of the cloth covering the spiced fruit buns dough for ten minutes.

Take a piece of dough and bring the sides up into the middle, pinching to hold. Flip the dough to reveal the smooth side and now press your palms together underneath the dough to create more tension on top. Place on a lined tray under the tea towel. Repeat for all the rolls

Overhead shot of the spiced fruit buns dough balls on a baking sheet ontop of a baking tray.

Leave for in a warm place for about 45 minutes - 1 hour until doubled in size. You can test if they’re fully proved by pressing a finger into one roll in an inconspicuous spot. If it stays dented, the bread has proved.

Overhead shot of the balls of spiced fruit buns dough having been baste.

Bake your rolls

Heat the oven to 180C (160C fan, 350F), then remove the tea towels and brush each roll gently with beaten egg. Avoid getting too much on the brush so that you don’t end up with drips that will show up after baking.

Bake in the oven for 25 minutes until the rolls turn a gorgeous, golden brown on top and sound hollow when tapped underneath. The rolls on the lower shelf may need a minute or two longer than the ones on the top shelf.

Overhead shot of the spiced fruit buns having been in the oven.

Transfer the rolls to a wire rack to cool completely.

Overhead shot of the spiced fruit buns cooling on the cooling rack.

They're soft and delicious and taste amazing as they are, or toasted and served warm with butter.

Side on shot of the finished spiced fruit buns on a decoative white board.

Store well wrapped in the bread bin to keep them fresh. What did you think of these deliciously spiced fruit buns?

Side on shot of a finished spiced fruit buns sliced open served on a white plate.

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5 from 1 vote

Spiced Fruit Buns Recipe

Even if you've never made bread before, you'll love this spiced fruit buns recipe. The dough is flavoured with cinnamon, orange and vanilla, enriched with butter and milk and studded with plump mixed fruit to give a beautifully soft and aromatic crumb.

Prep Time20 mins

Cook Time25 mins

Proving time2 hrs

Total Time2 hrs 45 mins

Course: Bread

Cuisine: British

Diet: Vegetarian

Servings: 10 spiced fruit buns

Author: Emily Leary