Redcurrant buns with streusel

Redcurrant buns with streusel are the taste of summer. They are worth making at least once during the redcurrant season, so you can really enjoy these lovely fruits. You can use black, red or white currants, or a mixture of them. Out of season, use frozen fruit (do not thaw it beforehand). Thanks to the generous amount of egg yolks, the dough is delicate and rich, and remains soft and delicious even the following day. Highly recommended!

Makes 13 buns.

Ingredients for the yeast dough:

• 500 g strong white bread flour
• 24 g fresh yeast or 12 g dried yeast
• 80 g caster sugar
• 250 ml milk
• 3 egg yolks, from large eggs
• 1 large egg
• 50 g butter, melted and cooled
• ½ vanilla pod (or 8 g vanilla sugar)
• a large pinch of salt

Additionally:

• 1 egg, beaten with 1 tablespoon water, for brushing
• 350 g blackcurrants or redcurrants
• streusel from the recipe below

Sift the flour and mix with the dried yeast (if using fresh yeast, first prepare a yeast starter). Add the remaining ingredients and knead, adding the melted butter towards the end. Knead for several minutes, until the dough is smooth and elastic (I recommend using a mixer fitted with a dough hook or a bread machine). Place the kneaded dough in a lightly floured bowl, cover and leave in a warm place until doubled in volume (about 1½ hours). After this time, knead briefly.

Prepare two baking trays and line them with baking paper. Divide the dough into 13 equal pieces (about 75–80 g each), shape them into balls and arrange on the trays, leaving plenty of space between them. Flatten each bun firmly with your hand and brush with the beaten egg. Place a handful of blackcurrants on each bun, pressing them gently into the dough. Brush with egg again and sprinkle with streusel. Cover with a linen tea towel and leave to rise in a warm place until doubled in volume.

Bake at 180°C for about 17 minutes, until baked through and golden. Remove from the oven, leave to cool slightly on the tray, then transfer to a wire rack.

The blackcurrant buns can also be decorated with icing.

Ingredients for the streusel:

• 50 g butter
• 60 g plain flour
• 50 g sugar

Melt the butter in a small saucepan. Add the remaining ingredients and mix together, rubbing the mixture between your fingers, until streusel forms. If the streusel is too wet, add another tablespoon of flour.

Ingredients for the icing:

• 1 cup icing sugar
• 2–3 tablespoons hot water or lemon juice

Mix the icing sugar thoroughly with the water using the back of a large spoon. If it is too thick, add a few drops of water; if it is too runny, add more icing sugar.

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 yeast. Select the ‘dough’ programme (kneading and first rise). Once the programme has finished, remove the dough, knead it lightly, and continue according to the main recipe above.

Enjoy!