We’ve used fluted Charlotte-style tins to bake these glazed beauties, but dariole moulds would also work well.
Ingredients
Pear and lemon glaze
Method
Main
1.Mix flour, sugar, yeast, lemon rind, vanilla seeds and a pinch of salt in an electric mixer fitted with a dough hook until combined. Add milk, sour cream and eggs, mix until smooth (2-3 minutes), then gradually add butter, scraping down sides of bowl occasionally. Knead on high speed until smooth and elastic (2-3 minutes), then mix in fresh and glacé pear, transfer to a lightly greased bowl, cover with plastic wrap and stand in a warm place until doubled in size (1 hour).
2.Preheat oven to 180C. Knock back dough on a lightly floured surface (the dough will be soft and sticky, so flour your hands well too), and divide into 10 even pieces. Roll into balls, place in buttered and floured 125ml fluted tins, transfer to a baking tray and stand until dough rises just to rims of moulds (15-20 minutes). Brush with eggwash and bake until golden and cooked through (15-20 minutes). Cool in moulds for 10 minutes, then turn out of moulds and transfer to a wire rack.
3.While buns are cooking, make the pear and lemon glaze. Stir sugar, lemon juice and 100ml water in a small saucepan over medium-high heat until sugar dissolves, then add lemon rind and pear slices, bring to the simmer and cook until almost translucent (4-5 minutes). Remove from heat, transfer lemon rind and pear with a fork to a sheet of baking paper and reserve syrup. Sieve icing sugar into a bowl, add liqueur and 50ml syrup and stir until smooth, adjusting consistency with a little extra syrup or icing sugar until it has a thick drizzling consistency. Drizzle glaze over warm buns, top with candied lemon rind and pear slices and stand until set. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Hot tip While the pear in these glazed buns is sure to please, other dried fruit such as sour cherries or glacé peach would work equally well.
Notes
