Cranberry Orange Chelsea Bun Tree Recipes

CRANBERRY & ORANGE CHELSEA BUN TREE

Steps:

• Warm the milk in a saucepan until steaming but not boiling. Remove from the heat and add the butter, swirling to help it melt, then set aside to cool a little. Meanwhile, mix the flour, yeast, 50g sugar, the cinnamon and 1 tsp salt in a large bowl, or the bowl of a tabletop mixer. When the milk is warm, add it to the dry ingredients and combine to make a sticky dough. Tip onto your work surface and knead for 10 mins by hand, or for 5 mins in the mixe r until the dough is smooth and stretchy. Return to a clean oiled bowl, cover with oiled cling film and leave somewhere warm to rise for 1-2 hrs until doubled in size.
• Line your largest baking sheet with baking parchment. Tip the dough onto a lightly floured work surface and roll to a rectangle about 30 x 40cm. Grate the marzipan over the surface and scatter over the orange zest, fresh cranberries, 75g dried cranberries, 25g pistachios and 3 tbsp caster sugar. From one of the longer sides, tightly roll up the dough into a sausage, pinching the dough together at the other end to seal the open edge.
• Use a large, sharp knife to divide the sausage of dough first in half, then into quarters, then cut each quarter into three pieces, so you're left with 12 equal pieces of dough. Turn them all cut -side up and arrange on the baking sheet in a tree shape, using one piece for a trunk and leaving space between each bun for them to expand. Make sure the pinched edge on the outside of each bun is facing towards the centre of the tree, otherwise it may come unstuck and unravel as it cooks. You should have one bun left over - bake this alongside (treat for the cook!) . Cover the sheet in one or two pieces of oiled cling film and leave to prove for 30 -40 mins, or until doubled in size and just touching
• Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/ gas 4. Bake in the middle of the oven for 20-22 mins until golden brown. While the buns cook, heat the apricot jam with 2 tsp water until runny, then set aside to cool a little. Mix the icing sugar with enough orange juice to make a thick icing and transfer it to a small disposable piping bag or plastic sandwich bag. You can spray the pistachios with gold spray at this point, if you like.
• When the buns are cooked, leave to cool for 15 mins, then brush all over with the apricot glaze. Snip the corner off the piping bag and drizzle icing over the top of the buns in random lines. Scatter over the remaining pistachios and dried cranberries and leave the icing to set for 10 mins before serving. Will keep in an airtight container for up to three days.

CRANBERRY-ORANGE SAUCE

Steps:

• Put all the ingredients into a saucepan over medium heat and simmer until the cranberries burst and the sauce thickens, about 15 to 20 minutes. Serve at room temperature or cool and refrigerate. Remove the cinnamon stick before serving.

ORANGE CRANBERRY CINNAMON ROLL TREE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
• Align the sweet rolls on the baking sheet, placing them close together in rows, forming a tree shape. You want to decrease the number of rolls as you go up with each row starting with one at the top, then two below, then three below, then four below, then five. Place the last roll on the bottom row in the center.
• Insert a few cranberries into each roll. Bake until golden brown, about 10 to 12 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool completely.
• In a medium bowl, whisk to combine the powdered sugar, butter, vanilla, and as much milk as needed to make a smooth pourable glaze. Top each roll with the glaze and let set, about 5 minutes.
• In a medium bowl, combine buttercream frosting with 2-3 drops green food coloring and mix to combine completely. Transfer to a piping bag fitted with a small tip.
• Pipe the green buttercream frosting onto the tree. Place red and green candied fruit on the buttercream to decorate and top with sprinkles.

CRANBERRY ORANGE ROLLS

Steps:

• Mix warm milk, sugar, and yeast together in a small bowl until dissolved. Set aside and allow yeast to proof until foamy.
• Whisk eggs and cooled melted butter together in a bowl and set aside.
• Whisk 2 cups all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour, sugar, and salt together in a large bowl. Pour yeast mixture into flour mixture and stir gently to combine. Mix in egg mixture and continue to stir until a sticky dough forms.
• Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead in remaining 1/2 cup all-purpose flour a little at a time until dough is no longer sticky. Continue kneading until dough is smooth and elastic, 8 to 10 minutes, using additional flour if necessary. Place dough into a greased bowl and turn to coat. Cover and place in a warm, draft-free area. Allow dough to rise until doubled in size, 1 to 2 hours.
• Meanwhile, combine cranberries, brown sugar, orange juice, orange zest, cornstarch, vanilla extract, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, and salt in a saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture begins to bubble and thicken slightly, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and allow filling to cool to room temperature.
• Line a 9x13-inch baking pan and a 6-inch cake pan with parchment paper and lightly grease both pans.
• Turn risen dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Roll out into a rectangle approximately 21x14 inches. Place cranberry filling on the dough leaving a 1/2-inch border on all sides. Roll dough up starting at a long side. Pinch ends to seal dough and lay seam-side down on a cutting board. Use a very sharp or serrated knife to cut into 15 rolls, each about 1 1/4-inch thick. Place rolls cut-side up in the prepared pans, 12 in the baking pan and 3 in the cake pan.
• Loosely cover pans and allow rolls to rise until doubled in size, 30 to 45 minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Bake in the preheated oven until buns are golden brown on top, 22 to 27 minutes. Allow to cool in the pans for several minutes before transferring to a serving plate.
• Whisk confectioners' sugar, heavy cream, vanilla extract, and salt together in a bowl until smooth. Add more cream to thin or more sugar to thicken, if needed. Pour glaze over slightly warm rolls before serving.