I found a recipe on a blog that I love to visit http://www.rosiesgreatbakes.com/2012/11/belgian-buns.html and set about giving them a go myself. (Take a peek over on that blog if you want to drool over this recipe or some of her other delicious bakes.)
Ingredients
450g Strong white bread flour
7g sachet fast-action yeast
1 tsp salt
50g caster sugar
50g melted butter
2 large eggs
150ml milk
3 tbsp lemon curd (if you like it)
175g sultanas
100g icing sugar
2 tsp hot water
Glace cherries for the top .... COMPULSORY in my opinion.
Method .... if there is such a thing in my madness
Mix together flour, yeast,salt and caster sugar in a large bowl. Make a well in the middle.
Beat the eggs and add to the well. Fill that well up then with milk and the butter.
Mix it to form a sticky dough which will make you start to panic that you've not done something right.
OPTIONAL ~ Answer the door to the postman who has a heap of parcels. Get dough all over his machine whilst signing for them and apologise profusely.
Put dough onto lightly floured surface and knead for 5 minutes until it goes all smooth and elastic. Consider this your workout done for the day.
Place into oiled bowl and leave somewhere warm until it's doubled in size. (about an hour.) I put it in my airing cupboard. REMEMBER what a good hiding place that would be next time I pay hide-and-seek with the children.
Turn out dough and knead again until smooth and elastic once more.
Roll out into a rectangle (ish!) shape.
I don't own a rolling pin so I used a bottle of Port. (I don't drink so no idea how that materialised in my house!)
I added a layer of lemon curd onto it and then sprinkled on 175g sultanas.
Roll the dough up from longest side..
Cut into equal portions and put onto greased baking trays. (I bought myself a silicone baking sheet which I love using for everything.) I did 15 as wanted slightly smaller buns.
Cover with cling film and leave again in your new hide-and-seek warm place until double the size. (About 30 mins) Mine never 'grew' that much and I couldn't be bothered waiting anymore.
Bake in a preheated oven at 190C for about 15 minutes or until golden brown. The base will sound hollow when tapped.
Put onto a wire rack to cool.
Mix together icing sugar and warm water to make a lovely icing. Spoon over the cooled buns and ...
......stick the cherry on the top of each one.
Verdict from The Sweetpeas ~ "These are amazing."
avoiding the washing up and making Belgian Buns.