Apricot buns with pistachio crumble

These wonderful apricot buns are soft and fluffy, generously filled with delicious, ripe apricots. The tender yeast dough is the same one you may know from my favourite blueberry buns, made with egg yolks only, which makes the buns exceptionally light and delicate. They’re finished with a delicious pistachio crumble. Of course, you can use a classic crumble instead if you prefer. These buns are absolutely fantastic and highly recommended!

Makes 13 buns.

Ingredients for the yeast dough:

• 500 g strong white bread flour
• 30 g fresh yeast or 14 g dried yeast
• 200 ml milk
• 6 large egg yolks
• 100 g butter
• 90 g caster sugar
• 8 g vanillin sugar or 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
• generous pinch of salt

Ingredients for the apricot filling:

• 1 kg apricots
• 5 tablespoons sugar (the amount depends on the sweetness of the fruit; you can use less)

If using dried yeast, mix it with the flour. If using fresh yeast, prepare a yeast starter first. Add the remaining ingredients and knead, adding the melted butter towards the end. Knead for a few minutes until the dough is smooth and elastic. Place the dough in a lightly floured bowl, cover with a tea towel and leave in a warm place until doubled in size, about 1½ hours.

Remove the stones from the apricots and cut the fruit into small pieces. Mix with the sugar and set aside.

Briefly knead the risen dough again, then divide it into 13 pieces, approximately 80 g each. Shape each piece into a round bun, then flatten it slightly (you can also roll it out gently). Place two heaped tablespoons of the apricot filling in the centre. Bring the edges together and seal the bun very carefully, making sure there is no flour on the seam, as this can prevent the dough from sticking and cause the buns to open during baking. Place each bun seam-side down on the work surface and shape it into a neat round. Arrange the buns on a baking tray lined with baking paper. Cover with a tea towel and leave in a warm place until doubled in size, about 45 minutes, or longer if needed. Just before baking, brush with beaten egg and sprinkle with the pistachio crumble (recipe below).

Bake the apricot buns with pistachio crumble at 180°C for about 25 minutes. Remove from the oven and leave to cool on a wire rack. Dust with icing sugar.

Additionally:

• 1 egg, beaten with 1 tablespoon milk, for brushing
• icing sugar, for dusting

Ingredients for the pistachio crumble:

• 90 g ground pistachios
• 50 g sugar
• 50 g plain flour
• 50 g butter, melted

Place the ground pistachios, flour and sugar in a bowl. Add the warm melted butter and mix with a fork until crumbs form.

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!