Iced buns for Mother's Day

Not yet rated

Who needs flowers when you can have iced buns? Celebrate Mother's Day with these pretty little sweet snacks. They are easy to make and kids will love decorating them. Once made, these buns will last overnight so you could make them the night before for a special Mother’s Day breakfast.

First published in 2015

I have an album full of cards and handmade gifts my girls have made me over the years. I have little portraits and calendars with their hands and feet stamped all over them in different colours. I have pictures they have drawn at nursery and school. I will treasure these because as much as they are gifts, they are also a wonderful record of their development and progress. We look at these together from time to time and it’s surprising how much they remember.

One thing I hope they will treasure is the little recipe books they both received the day they were weaned. These books hold recipes from friends and family and then, over the years, recipes my girls have added themselves. One of their favourites is iced buns.

We’ve been making iced buns, or ‘icing buns’ as Amy, my littlest, called them for years. No matter how little their fingers are, children can get involved with the whole process from kneading to shaping and then of course the fun part which is decorating.

Baking with children is a wonderful learning experience, fun and a great way of building memories you will treasure.

Ingredients

Metric

Imperial

Iced buns

  • 500g of strong white flour
  • 50g of caster sugar
  • 40g of unsalted butter
  • 2 eggs
  • 14g of fast-action dried yeast
  • 2 tsp salt
  • 150ml of milk, warm
  • 140ml of water, at room temperature
  • 200g of icing sugar

To decorate (optional)

  • edible glitter
  • decorative chocolate balls
  • sprinkles
  • sugar flowers

Method

1
Begin by making the dough. Place the flour, caster sugar, butter, eggs, yeast, salt and milk into a large bowl. Add about half of the water and slowly mix everything together with your hands
2
Add the remaining water slowly to make a soft dough. It will be sticky at this stage but it will become smooth as you knead it
3
Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and knead for about 15 minutes, or until smooth and elastic
4
Place the dough back into the bowl, cover with a damp tea towel and leave it to rise in a warm place for 1 hour or until doubled in size
5
Divide the dough into 12 pieces. I do this but cutting it in half, then each half in half and so on until you have 12 pieces
6
Roll each piece into a ball, flatten slightly and then roll the edges over into the middle with your fingers. My girls call this ‘making a flower’
7
Flatten again slightly and then gently stretch each piece into a finger shape about 5 inches long
8
Grease a baking tray lightly with butter or baking paper and place the dough fingers on top. Remember to leave enough space for them to double in size
9
Set them aside in a warm place for 40 minutes and preheat an oven to 220°C/gas mark 7
10
Bake the buns for about 10 minutes, then remove from the oven and leave to cool
11
When they are completely cool, make the icing. Sift the icing sugar in a large bowl and gradually stir in about 5tsp of cold water to form a smooth, thick paste – it should be thick enough so it won’t slide off the bun but not so thick that you need to use a knife to spread it
12
Dip the top side of each bun in the icing to evenly coat and arrange across a tray. Working quickly before the icing dries, decorate the iced tops with your chosen sweets and garnishes
First published in 2015

Urvashi finds food, baking, cooking and eating a therapeutic relief from every day work and family life.

Get in touch

Please sign in or register to send a comment to Great British Chefs.