Rhubarb buns

Buns fresh from the oven...mmm

I would say that rhubarb is my favourite fruit, except technically I believe it is classed as a vegetable. A kind of reverse tomato, if you will. Well, call it what you will...it is just as delicious.

These lovely little buns are great for breakfast, as well as teatime, and really are very easy to make.

Rhubarb buns

For the buns:

500g strong white flour

1 tsp salt

2 tbsp caster sugar

1 sachet fast action yeast

300ml milk

40g butter

1 egg

For the filling:

½ a pot of rhubarb jam

For the glaze:

2 tbsp milk

2 tbsp caster sugar

Mix the flour, salt and yeast in a bowl. In a saucepan, melt the butter with the milk and add to the flour mixture. Add the egg and mix to form a soft dough. Knead the dough for 10 mins. Put the dough in a bowl, cover with a clean tea-towel and put in a warm place to rise for 1 hour.

Once the dough has risen, knock back and roll out into a large rectangle, about ¼ inch thick. Liberally spread the dough with your rhubarb jam. I used a lovely rhubarb and vanilla jam for my buns – I’ve become a bit bored with rhubarb and ginger as it seems to be EVERYWHERE, but you can use whatever tickles your fancy.

JAM!

Grease a baking tray. Roll up your jammy dough into a tight cylinder and cut off slices about 1 ½ inches thick. Place your buns on the greased tray, cover with the tea-towel again, and let rise for 30 mins in a warm place. Preheat your oven to 190°C / gas mark 5.

Once the buns have risen, bake for 20-25 mins. Remove, allow to cool, and brush with a glaze made from the sugar dissolved in the milk.