Recipe: Blackberry Cardamom Buns
Late Summer brings the first brambles of the year deep purple and full of sharp sweetness. These blackberry and cardamom buns combine two beautiful flavours: the bright fruitiness of brambles and the warm aromatic lift of cardamom. Soft enriched dough wraps around a gently spiced filling creating a tender bake perfect for easing into the new season.
Ingredients
For the dough
250g plain flour
150ml milk
7g yeast sachet
40g butter
25g caster sugar
1 tsp cardamom
For the filling
60g soft brown sugar
60g butter
40g brambles chopped
1 tsp cardamom
For the topping
50g icing sugar
A few extra brambles
Method
Melt the butter and milk together then leave to cool to body temperature. Add the yeast and set aside for a few minutes. Combine the wet mixture with the dry ingredients and knead until a dough forms then continue kneading for about 10 minutes until smooth and elastic. Leave to rise until doubled in size.
Preheat the oven to 180°C fan. Cream the butter sugar and cardamom for the filling. Roll the risen dough out to roughly 15 x 20 cm. Spread the filling over the dough and scatter the chopped brambles pressing them in lightly. Roll the dough into a tight sausage and slice into rounds about 2 cm thick. Space them on lined trays and leave to rise again.
Bake for 18 to 20 minutes until golden. Brush with a little warm golden syrup for shine. Make a glaze by mixing the icing sugar with the juice of one or two brambles until you reach a thick dropping consistency. Drizzle over the buns and serve warm or cooled.
A Seasonal Note
These buns belong to Mabon the Celtic season of ripening fruit abundance and gathering in. Brambles capture this moment perfectly bursting with late Summer richness while cardamom brings warmth for the turning of the year. A sweet soft bake to welcome the first hints of Autumn.
