Mincemeat Chelsea Buns is a traditional British recipe for a classic yeasted dough bun with mincemeat spread between the layers that's rolled, sliced into spirals and baked. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic British version of: Mincemeat Chelsea Buns.
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Here is another great way of using up leftover Christmas mincemeat. With their normal filling of raisins/currants mixed with butter and spices it makes natural sense that you can use mincemeat as a filling for traditional Chelsea buns. What makes this recipe different (apart from the mincemeat) is that it starts with a tangzhong starter, a blend of flour and milk heated to a thick paste. Tangzhong is an Asian method of bread-making where a roux of water and flour is cooked together gently and then left to cool, before adding to a dough. The concept of mixing flour and water and then adding it to dough at a later date is often used to really help with the flavour and texture of your bread and is traditionally used to make milk breads.
Ingredients:
For the Starter:
25g (1/5 cup) Strong White Bread Flour
125ml (1/2 cup) Milk
For the Dough and Filling:
475g (4 cups) Strong White Bread Flour
30g (1/6 cup) Caster Sugar
1 tsp fine sea salt
7g (1 sachet) Fast Action Dried Yeast
75g (3/8 cup) Unsalted Butter
175ml (4/5 cup) Milk
2 tsp Vanilla Extract
1 Large Egg
350g (7/9 lb) Mincemeat
For the Icing (Frosting):
100g (1/2 cup) Icing (confectioners’) Sugar
2-3 tbsp Water (or lemon juice)
3 tbsp finely-grated orange zest
Method:
Begin by preparing the tangzhong. Combine the milk and bread flour in a saucepan and whisk gently until it thickens and reaches 650°C, by which time it should be thick and gloopy. Scrape the resultant mix into a bowl, cover with a layer of clingfilm (plastic wrap), which should be in contact with the paste so that a skin doesn’t form. Set aside to cool to room temperature.
Now for the main dough, combine the milk, butter and vanilla into a small saucepan and cook over a low-medium heat until all the butter has melted. Take off the heat and set aside until just lukewarm.
Combine the flour, caster sugar, salt and yeast into the bowl of a food mixer fitted with a dough hook.
Form a well in the centre of the flour mixture and pour in the milk mixture, followed by the tangzhong and then the egg.
Mix the dough on a low speed until it starts to come together, then knead on a medium speed for about 10 minutes or until the dough comes away from the side of the bowl.
Transfer the dough to a large, lightly greased, bowl and cover with clingfilm (plastic wrap). Set aside to rise in a warm spot for about 60-90 minutes or until it has doubled in volume.
At this point tip the dough onto a lightly-floured work surface and use a rolling pin to roll into approximately a 40 x 50cm (16 x 20 in) rectangle.
Take 300g of the mincemeat and stir it to loosen a little, spread the mincemeat over the dough and spread it in an even layer. If you think you need more mincemeat then use the rest to fill in any gaps. I love mincemeat, so I might use more. However, as mincemeat can be quite rich, use the smaller amount if that’s more to your taste.
Now, working from the longer side roll up the dough into a cylinder, keeping the spiral tight. Using a sharp knife, cut into 12 even-width slices.
You can either arrange the buns in the base of a 20 x 30cm (8 x 12 in) non-stick baking tin, with the spiral facing upwards or place in the wells of a large muffin tin. Cover loosely with oiled clingfilm, set aside, and allow the buns to prove for 45-60 minutes until risen and touching each other.
While the buns are proving, pre-heat your oven to 180°C (160°C fan, 370°F, gas mark 4). Once proved, transfer the buns to the oven and bake for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown. Remove the buns from the oven and set aside to cool.
To decorate, sift the icing sugar into a bowl and add 2 tbsp of water (or lemon juice) and stir the icing, if needed add more water, but you want quite a thick consistency. Drizzle or pour the icing over the buns and use as much or as little as you want. Allow the icing to harden, then tear off each bun as required and eat while still warm or at room temperature.
If desired, you can finish the Chelsea buns with a sprinkling of finely-grated orange zest.
