The Art-Full Dodger turns ONE with Iced Buns!!!

A year ago I decided after spending time in Italy and realizing how much I loved food to start a blog.
Thus The Art-Full Dodger was born (thankfully the name hasnt come under as much criticism from friends as I thought it would!)
Initially I was using the blog as more of a record for recipes and disasters, but after speaking to my friend Isabel who also started her own blog it became more of a way to cultivate my baking skills (which havent come as far as I would like. The macaron still eludes me),  but also for friends and family to appreciate the things I did outside of Architecture.

So I raise an Iced bun to The Art-Full Dodger!! Happy 1st Birthday!! :)

What better way to celebrate than with a recipe from Paul Hollywood, the silver fox of The Great British Bake Off. I love his passion for traditional baked goods I remember from my childhood, and nothing used to make me happier (other than a happy meal. Don't judge me) than an iced bun with lashings of whipped cream and jam.
Funnily enough the buns are actually incredibly easy to make and come out so well. However dont try and be a smarty pants like I was and ice your buns after filling them. Do as the mighty Paul says and ice them first, letting them dry and then fill.


Iced Buns
(adapted from BBC Food recipe by Paul Hollywood)


Ingredients

For the dough
500g strong white flour
50g caster sugar
40g unsalted butter, softened
2 eggs
14g instant yeast or 2 x sachets instant yeast
2 tsp salt
150ml warm milk
140ml water

For the icing
200g icing sugar
5 tsp cold water

For the filling
200ml double cream
100g strawberry jam
Icing sugar for dusting

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 220C/ 425F. For the dough, place all the ingredients in a large bowl, holding back 35ml of the water. Stir the mixture with your hands, then slowly add the remaining water to form a dough and knead in the bowl for about 5 minutes.
2. Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead well for 10 minutes or until the dough is smooth and elastic. Put the dough in the bowl and cover with a tea towel, leaving it to rise in a warm place for about an hour.
3. Once risen, divide the dough into 12 pieces (if you want to be GBBO accurate they should be bout 70g each), rolling them into balls and then shaping them into fingers about 13cm/ 5in long.
4. Place the dough fingers onto a greased baking tray, leaving enough space for them to double in size, then put them in a warm place to rise for about 40 minutes. They should just touch each other when risen.
5. Bake in the oven for about 10 minutes.
6. For the icing, sift the sugar into a bowl and gradually stir in the water to form a thick paste.
7. Slice the fingers down the middle, leaving one side intact. Dip the top of the cooled fingers into the icing smoothing it with your finger and leave to set.
8. Whip the cream and place into an icing bag, fitted with a small nozzle. Pipe a generous line into the middle of each finger, then piper a line of jam ontop. Dust with icing sugar and gobble down!!