Marmalade Chelsea Buns


The Chelsea bun was apparently invented in the 18th century at the Bun House in Chelsea. I have a special affection for them because I live in a town home to a bakery famed for its Chelsea buns: Fitzbillies in Cambridge. For me, they tick all the boxes required for the perfect piece of confectionary: filling enough for that late-afternoon, pre-dinner hunger gap, squishy and fluffy in the middle yet crusty on the outside, sticky and delicious, and featuring cinnamon. I particularly relish the bit where the buns have stuck together during cooking and been separated from each other; it's doughy and soft as a feather. That said, my favourite bit is the middle, where all the sugar and fruit has concentrated together: I save that bit until last. They're a bit like those cinnamon swirl danish pastries: the fruity, sticky, spicy epicentre should always be the final mouthful.




Another Dan Lepard recipe, this one. (The more I bake his recipes, the more I am thankful that I am not his wife. I am sure I would actually be breaking the record for world's fattest woman if I was). It's a triumph: the marmalade means you don't need too much sugar and stops it being overly cloying. Really easy to make as well. I'm finding it hard not to keep going back to the tin and breaking more pieces off. Must wait until teatime...