A light soft crumb where the flavours of tangy citrus and tart cranberries balance out the sweetness of the bake. These top tea cakes with fresh cranberries are pure comfort food, especially when slathered with butter.
Prep Time35 minutesmins
Cook Time15 minutesmins
Proving Time2 hourshrs
Total Time2 hourshrs50 minutesmins
Course: Afternoon Tea
Cuisine: British
Keyword: buns, cranberries, tea cakes, white chocolate, yeast
Dissolve the yeast in the warm water with 3 tbsp of the wholemeal flour. Stir well, then leave for 15 minutes to ferment. Meanwhile, heat the milk until near boiling. Add the golden syrup, caster sugar, white chocolate, currants, peel, spices and salt. Give it a good stir, remove from the heat and leave to cool.
Break the the eggs into the milk and beat to combine. Place the flour into a large bowl. Add the yeast and milk mixtures along with the cranberries and stir well until everything is combined. Cover the bowl with a clean tea towel or plastic bag and leave to rest for 10 minutes.
Oil your hands and knead the dough lightly on an oiled surface. Leave for a few minutes then knead again. Repeat once more so that the dough has had three light kneads over 30 minutes. Cover with a tea towel and leave to rest for a further 30 minutes.
Divide the dough into twelve equal portions and shape into balls. Roll or pat the balls out to form rounds of about 2 cm high. Place them on two greased baking trays about 3-4 cm apart. Cover with a clean tea towel or place inside plastic bags and leave in a warm place for 1½ hours or until doubled in height.
Set the oven to 200℃ (400℉, Gas 6). Brush the tops with milk and bake for 15 minutes or until the bottoms sound hollow when tapped. Be careful not to over bake as the tea cakes should be soft inside.
Eat with butter whilst still warm or allow to cool on a wire rack. Best eaten on the day of baking or freeze.
Notes
Please note: calories and other nutritional information are per serving. They're approximate and will depend on exact ingredients used.