Although I am not immune to a little Christmas excitement in late October – I am already thinking about how to ice my Christmas Cake this year and if I can hand make Christmas Decorations to give out as gifts. I feel it is still to early for those heavy Christmas spices, ginger, allspice, cloves etc and you need to ease yourself in gently with some autumnal cinnamon first!

Apple and Sultana Iced Buns

To help ease myself in I made these Apple and Sultana Buns, which are based on Paul Hollywood’s Christmas Buns recipe, the dough recipe is an exact copy – it’s just the filling I have changed.

Apple and Sultana Iced Buns


~ makes 9.

  • 1 batch of Paul Hollywood’s Christmas Bun Dough recipe found on the BBC Good Food website.
  • 3 dessert apples, diced
  • 1 teaspoons of lemon juice
  • 1 tablespoon of soft brown sugar
  • 2 teaspoons of ground cinnamon
  • 100 grams of sultanas
  • 50 grams of caster sugar, for the glaze
  • 200 grams of icing sugar, for the icing
Make up dough as per Hollywood’s instructions.

While dough is proving make the filling, it’s best to make ahead and give it time together to steep. Dice the apple into small cubes, and add to a medium bowl. You can peel first if you think it is necessary, I didn’t as I like the hints of colour the peel adds. Stir in the teaspoon of lemon juice. Then add the brown sugar, sultanas and cinnamon.

Apple and Sultana Filling

After your dough has been rolled out into a square, spoon your apple filling over the top, making sure of a fairly even coverage. Especially at the edges.

Roll up the buns, and slice into circles, I got around 9. Then leave them to prove for around 30 minutes in a square baking dish.

Risen Apple and Sultana Buns

Bake for 20-25 minutes at 190oC.

Make the glaze by in a small pot melting the sugar with 4 tablespoons of water.

Once they are starting to look golden and are cooked through remove them from the oven, glaze then allow them to cool.

Make the icing by mixing 200 grams of icing sugar with 2 tablespoons of water and mixing together to form a pourable icing. Serve once the icing as started to harden slightly.

You can see more recipes by Paul Hollywood in his How to Bake book.

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