Soft, swirled sweet buns with an almond filling – rich in marzipan flavour. The dough is the classic yeast dough, similar to those you may know from Cinnabon-style cinnamon rolls. The almond filling can be enhanced with dried fruit, such as chopped prunes or cranberries soaked in rum. You can also add finely grated zest from unwaxed citrus fruit, small seasonal fruits like cherries or redcurrants, or even chocolate chips. The only limit is your imagination… These marzipan-filled buns, sprinkled with flaked almonds, are wonderfully aromatic and perfect served with warm milk or tea on cold winter days.
Makes 12 buns.
Ingredients for the dough:
- 540 g strong white bread flour
- 80 g caster sugar
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- 10 g dried yeast or 20 g fresh yeast
- 75 g butter, melted
- 250 ml milk
- 2 large eggs
All ingredients should be at room temperature.
Mix the flour with the dried yeast (if using fresh yeast, first prepare a starter). Add the remaining ingredients and knead the dough, adding the melted butter towards the end. Knead for long enough until the dough is soft and elastic. Shape into a ball, place in a lightly floured bowl, cover with a tea towel and leave in a warm place to rise until doubled in size (about 1½ hours).
After this time, roll the dough out into a rectangle measuring 40 × 30 cm, lightly dusting the work surface and rolling pin with flour to prevent sticking.
Spread the prepared rectangle with the marzipan filling (recipe below). The filling may be sticky – you can help yourself with a spatula dipped in water. Roll up tightly along the longer side to form a long log. Using a sharp knife (or thread), cut into pieces about 3–3.5 cm wide (divide into 12 equal portions).
Arrange the buns on a large baking tray lined with baking parchment – they will touch as they rise. Cover with a tea towel and leave to prove again for about 30-40 minutes, until doubled in size. Just before baking, brush with beaten egg and sprinkle with flaked almonds.
Bake in a preheated oven at 180°C for about 20-22 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool slightly, or serve warm.
Ingredients for the marzipan filling:
- 240 g ground almonds
- 160 g icing sugar
- a pinch of salt
- 2 egg whites (from large eggs)
- 20 ml almond extract*
Place all the ingredients for the marzipan filling into the bowl of a mixer and mix until fully combined.
Additionally:
- 1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon of milk, for brushing
- flaked almonds, for sprinkling
Method for Bread Machine Users:
Place all the yeast dough ingredients into the bread machine in the following order: liquid ingredients first, then dry ingredients, and finally the dried yeast. Select the ‘dough’ programme (kneading and first rise). Once the programme has finished (about 1½ hours), remove the dough and knead briefly. Continue according to the main recipe above.
* Instead of almond extract, you can use almond flavouring (1 teaspoon).
Enjoy!
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