Pecan Chelsea Buns

I've been messing with Paul Hollywood's buns.  Unfortunately they were only the Chelsea kind.

I did plan just to make the recipe that was on the GBBO Masterclass on Thursday, which is here, but I can't help myself; I have to play around with recipes.  Now don't go thinking I'm daft enough to change the basic dough recipe.  This is, after all, a master baker's tried, tested and trusted one, so I left well alone there.

This was the first time I'd made dough like this since I was at uni, and I have to admit it was incredibly therapeutic and very enjoyable!  I'm also chuffed to say they rose extremely well, so a gold star to me thankin' ya kindly  ;)

So instead of making Chelsea Buns filled with sultanas, apricots and cranberries, topped off with apricot jam then orange icing, I created said buns filled with pecans and cinammon, topped off with maple syrup then cinammon icing.  Uh oh, they're dangerous.  Take a looksie...

Pecan, maple & cinammon chelsea buns
(I couldn't resist this picture with the dribbling icing!)

And just in case you need proof of the delectable soft dough, here's another...

There are two things I'd do differently next time.

First I would use less pecans.  I substituted the total 300g of dried fruit in the original recipe with 300g of pecans.  Now, it tastes fantastic but they don't hold together as well as they perhaps could have.  So next time there'll be fewer nuts (there's a sentence I've definitely said before!).

Second I would use two tins to give them more proving space.  There should have been about a 1cm gap between them before the final proving, but these had less than half that, and it shows a little on the end result, most noticably with the buns in the centre.

All that said, they're incredibly tasty and moreish!  Really.  I had a small tester of one of the offcuts (because you have to, it's one of the most important laws of baking!), and they do taste good!

I've already picked out my favourite and I'm saving it for after dinner, after soaky hot bath, and with a good strong cuppa in front of the TV.

Tomorrow I intend to attempt Mary Berry's Fondant Fancies (not a euphemism), but of course you know there's a twist to those too!