LEMON ICED BUNS

  She cut some bread and butter, found some honey, brought our a huge chocolate cake and some iced buns, and put the kettle on to boil. 'I say, this is really grand', said Martin. - Five on Kirrin Island Again, Enid Blyton

It's been nineteen days since I last posted which, I fear, breaks every blogging rule in the book. Of course I feel guilty, but the last few weeks have been engulfed with frantic packing and carrying my little life across London. What with the demands of normal life to contend with, it's only this weekend that I have finally finished sorting socks from spatulas and resorting a decade's worth of spilled bank statements (let's not talk about the moment my admin file burst in a taxi).

Today was the first time in forever that I checked my traffic and, by some miracle, my negligence hasn't deterred you loyal lot. I can only say a huge, sheepish thank you to all of you that took the time to check in, even while I wasn't. My KitchenAid and I are now firmly installed in W6, and I'm so excited to be back on Pudding Lane.

There's something of an Enid Blyton ration-time joy about Iced Buns, and the young and old alike will go mad for the beautifully simple sticky lemon fingers. Serving suggestion - friends, family and lashing of Ginger Beer. 

THE RECIPE

250g white bread flour

7g fast action yeast

7g fine salt

25g caster sugar

25g butter
1 egg

zest of 1 lemon

75ml warm milk 

75ml water

juice of 1 lemon

200g icing sugar

THE RECIPE

Weigh the flour into a large mixing bowl, then add the salt and sugar to one side and the yeast to the other. Drop the butter into the middle, then warm the milk until it's just warm. Add the milk, egg, lemon zest and the water, then mix together with your fingers. Once the dough has picked up all the flour, tip onto an oiled surface and knead for 10-12 minutes. Place in a clean bowl, cover with a tea-towel and leave to rise in a warm place for around an hour.

Once the dough has doubled in size, tip it onto a clean surface. Knock the air out by folding the dough inward repeatedly, then divide into eight even pieces and roll each one into a sausage shape. Line a baking tray with parchment, then lay the fingers on top. Cover the tray with clingfilm and leave to rise for a further hour, until the fingers have doubled in size and are nearly or just touching.

Preheat your oven to 180C, then bake the fingers for 16-20 minutes until evenly golden. Transfer to a cooling rack. Once the buns are cooled through, mix the lemon juice and icing sugar into a simple water icing. Dollop on top of the buns, using the back of your spoon to guide the icing over the buns.