Not to make you all jealous or anything, but summer is in full swing here in the Southern Hemisphere! So that means aaaaaaaaall the berry and citrus recipes for you guys to try. 🙂 For those not in the Southern Hemisphere, you could totally still make these just to have a small reminder that one day it will again be warm… 😉 These brioche buns are the softest and most buttery buns you’ll ever have and that soft dough is perfectly complemented by a sweet and slightly tart strawberry syrup and very tart lime.
The recipe was inspired by one from a new recipe book my grandma bought me for Christmas called Aimee’s Perfect Bakes. It’s a really cool book and has lots of different recipe ideas and a big section on layer cakes which is pretty awesome! The recipe that she had for brioche though didn’t seem to have a lot of butter and I love super buttery brioche so I changed it up a bit to make sure it was perfect for you guys. It definitely lived up to my expectations! It’s kind of like summer in a bun, but you can easily use frozen strawberries and lime juice from a bottle if you want to make these in winter and they’ll still taste amazing.
I know it’s February and most people are probably on the detoxing and salads for breakfast, lunch and dinner bandwagon but I’m sure there’s still room in your lives for a little bit of naughty right? And with strawberry and lime in these, they’re practically healthy! 😉 What have you guys been enjoying lately, are most of you trying to stay healthy with warm soups and stews or just trying to have more of a balance? I am definitely trying to have more of a balance, even though I still sample everything that goes up here I am trying to eat more fruit and veggies because that’s definitely an area I’ve been lacking in! Summer fruit is great too so I am definitely trying to enjoy that whilst I can! What are your favourite types of fruit? Strawberries? 😉
I hope the return to work wasn’t too awful for you all and that you’ve had a great start to the year! Perhaps a batch of these will tide you over the worst of winter? I know I was excited to have one of these in my lunch! 🙂 Happy baking!
- [b]Brioche Buns[/b]
- 5 cups bread flour
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 1/2 tspn salt
- 2 tspn (1 pkt) dried yeast
- 3 large eggs
- 100 mL milk
- 200 mL water
- 200g butter, cubed
- [b]Strawberry Filling[/b]
- 300g (10.5 oz) strawberries, either fresh or frozen\
- 1 lime, zested and juiced
- 1/4 cup sugar
- [b]Lime Icing[/b]
- 2 limes, zested and juiced
- 50g (1.75 oz) icing (powdered) sugar
- Put the yeast, water and 2 Tbspn of the sugar into a small bowl and whisk together. Leave the mixture for around 10 minutes or until bubbly/puffy to prove the yeast.
- Place the flour, salt and the rest of the sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook (or into a large bowl and using a hand beater with dough hook attachments). Mix together briefly.
- Slowly begin pouring in the water and yeast mixture with the mixer on low. Mix until incorporated. Then add the milk and eggs, one at a time, and mix for around 2 minutes until everything is combined.
- Now add the butter, one cube at a time. Make sure to incorporate each cube before adding the next and once all the butter is in the mixture, turn up the mixer slightly to knead the dough for 5 minutes.
- Place the dough in an oiled bowl, cover with a teatowel and chill in the fridge for 2 hours or up to overnight.
- Preheat the oven to 180°C and grease and line two baking sheets.
- Dust your bench with flour and tip out the risen dough. Roll out into a large rectangle and spread the strawberry filling all over it in an even layer.
- Fold the dough in half and slice across the width (starting from the fold and finishing closest to you) into 5cm (2in) strips.
- Twist and wrap each strip around your finger until it resembles a circular shape (doesn’t have to be perfect) and place each on a baking sheet, spaced around 5cm (2in) apart. Scoop any strawberry filling that falls out back onto the buns.
- Leave the buns to rise in a warm place for 40 minutes or until big and puffy. Bake the buns for 20-25 minutes or until golden.
- Make the lime icing (frosting) whilst the buns are in the oven (hehe) and drizzle the buns with the icing as soon as they come out of the oven. Leave on a wire rack to cool.
- These are best eaten the same day, but they will keep for up to 4 days in an airtight container.
- Blend the strawberries in a food processor or blender (add a little water if needed) until you have a smooth purée consistency. Transfer to a small pan and add the sugar and lime zest and juice.
- Stir together, over a low heat and let the strawberry purée reduce for around 10 minutes, or until thickened.
- Press the purée through a sieve then leave to cool.
- In a small bowl, place the icing sugar, lime zest and juice together then stir until you have a thin icing consistency. Add a little water if needed.
Wow. Love it. Thank you