This is the kind of recipe that circulates around friends. I was fortunate enough to receive a freshly baked batch of these brioche rolls from the wonderful Nicky at F L Bone in Queenstown. She kindly shared the recipe from a recent edition of Cuisine Magazine. Fiona Smith, senior food writer at the magazine, has reimagined an original 1990’s recipe from Annabel Langbein. Enjoyed with a hearty cup of tea we found them impossible to resist and savoured every mouthful. They are perfect for holiday weekend breakfasts or morning tea.
Makes: 12
Preparation: 40 minutes plus overnight rising time
Cooking: 45 minutes
This sweet pull-apart bread is ready in 45 minutes.
Ingredients
1 cup whole milk
110g butter
500g flour
⅓ cup sugar
1 teaspoon salt
8g/1 sachet instant dry yeast
1 egg
finely grated zest of 2 lemons
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
½ cup raw or light brown sugar
juice of 1 lemon
70g hazelnuts or almonds, chopped
1½ cups fruit mince (I use Barker's)
Method
Put the milk and 60g of the butter in a saucepan and gently heat to melt the butter. It doesn't need to be too hot, just enough to melt the butter.
Put the flour, sugar, salt, yeast, egg, lemon zest and vanilla extract in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a dough hook attachment.
Pour in the melted butter and milk mixture, mix until smooth then knead for 3-4 minutes. Alternatively, once mixed, tip the dough onto the bench and knead by hand for 8 minutes. Cover and leave to rise until doubled – about 1 hour.
Line a 28cm-30cm cake tin with a large piece of baking paper (it should be bigger than the base so that when you push it in, it comes up the sides a little).
Melt the remaining 50g butter with the raw or light brown sugar, stir in the lemon juice then pour this evenly over the cake tin base and sprinkle with the nuts.
Roll out the dough to a 30cm x 45cm rectangle. Cut the dough in half lengthwise and then into 12 equal-sized rectangles.
Spread a tablespoon of fruit mince down the length of each piece of dough, leaving a 1cm border. Fold over one long side of the dough to hold in the filling, then roll up from the short end.
Stand the rolls, folded edge up, in the prepared tin with some space between them. Cover and refrigerate overnight. Do not pack them tightly into the tin, especially in the middle, as the buns in this part of the tin will cook the most slowly.
In the morning, take the rolls out of the fridge and bring to room temperature for about 30 minutes. Preheat the oven to 200°C.
Put the rolls in the oven and bake for 40-45 minutes, covering with foil if they are browning too quickly. Cool in the tin for 10 minutes before turning out to serve.
