Monkey Buns

These delicious pull-apart rolls are smothered in butter, sugar and cinnamon before they go in the oven to make them golden and crunchy on top, yet glistening and sticky on the bottom.

My mum used to surprise us on Sunday mornings with these. Waking my brother and I up to the smell of sugary, buttery goodness, we’d saunter to the kitchen in our pyjamas, wide-eyed and wide-mouthed.

The recipe is originally from Canada so uses cups as measurement which is super easy.

Makes 20 buns.

For the dough:

1/2 cup of milk

2 tbsp water

1 large egg

1 tbsp butter

1tsp salt

2 1/4 cups plain flour

4 tsp sugar

1 1/2 tsp dried yeast

1tsp cinnamon

For the sugar and cinnamon coating:

1/2 cup sugar

1tsp cinnamon

3 tbsp melted butter

1. Mix together the milk, water, egg, 1 tbsp butter, salt, flour, 4tsp sugar, 1tsp cinnamon and 1 1/2 tsp yeast to form a sticky dough. Remove from the bowl to a lightly floured surface and knead for 10 minutes, collecting a little flour as you go to make it easier to handle. It’s a really soft dough so don’t panic if you find it sticky. If you find it’s really glued to the worktop, use two spatulas to make it less tricky. 
2. Once the dough is smooth and elastic, put the dough in an oiled bowl, cover with a damp tea towel and leave in a warm place for an hour.
3. When the dough has almost doubled in size, remove from the bowl and knead the air out. Divide into 20 equal-sized balls.
4. Stir the 1/2 cup sugar and 1 tsp cinnamon together. Dip the balls into the 3 tbsp butter and then roll into the sugar mixture. Each ball should be coated liberally.
5. Arrange half of the balls into the bottom of a greased 25cm diameter ring mould before positioning the remaining shimmering globules on top, carefully filling in the gaps to make a complete doughy ring.
6. Drizzle the balls with any remaining butter and sprinkle on any leftover sugar and cinnamon. Cover again with a damp tea towel and leave in warm place for 30 to 40 minutes until the dough has nearly doubled in size. Preheat the oven to 190 degrees Celsius.
7. Bake in the preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes. Leave to cool for a minute before tipping out the sweet, sticky ring onto a serving plate. Eat straight away.

White Chocolate and Strawberry Truffles

Typical Valentine’s chocolates can be a mundane present that a boyfriend buys on his lunch break at work – at a loss as to what else to get for his girlfriend – easily obtainable whilst in the M&S sandwich queue.

These pretty droplets of yumness require a similar amount of time to prepare (minus the cooling time) as a lunch break but are so much more fanciful.

Truffle filling:

200g white chocolate

85g unsalted butter

3 and a half tbsp double cream

Pinch of salt

3 tsp freeze-dried strawberries (for instance, Cake Professional Dried Strawberries, available from Waitrose)

Truffle coating:

400g white chocolate

2 tsp freeze-dried strawberries

A few cocktail sticks

Method:

1. Fill a saucepan with 3 inches of water and place on a medium heat. In a glass bowl, add the chocolate, cream, butter and salt. Place the glass bowl on top of the saucepan, being careful that it doesn’t touch the water, and heat the mixture gently whilst stirring, until the chocolate melts and the mixture become smooth and glossy.
2. Take the bowl out of the saucepan and off the heat. Add the 3 tsp of dried strawberries and mix well. Cover the bowl with cling-film and refrigerate for about two hours, until the mixture is firm enough to scoop.
3. Use a teaspoon to scoop little balls that measure 2cm – about the size of a Brussels sprout. Lay the little globules on greaseproof paper and put back in the fridge for one hour. This step is crucial as you want the truffles to be really cool for dipping into the chocolate later.
4. Melt the remaining 400g of chocolate, either over a saucepan of water on the hob as before, or in the microwave for about 1 and a half minutes. Take the truffles out of the fridge and using a cocktail stick, carefully pick up one-by-one and dip into the chocolate, smothering it completely.
5. Lay the enveloped balls on to greaseproof paper and quickly dust with the remaining dried strawberries, before the coating sets. Leave the truffles at room temperature for two hours and package in cellophane bags, tied with red ribbon or in a cardboard box lined with tissue paper.