Preferment:

100g sourdough starter

220g Canadian White Flour

220g tepid water

Initial dough ingredients:

540g preferment (above)

925g Canadian White Flour

100g tepid water

50g sugar

315g warmed milk

2 eggs

20g sea salt

To add later to dough:

50g sugar

3 tabs mixed spice

splash of water

100g butter (softened to room temp)

300g mixed dried fruit

Cross mixture:

100g plain white flour

100g water

30g neutral vegetable oil

Pinch of salt

Eggwash:

1 egg beaten with a tablespoon of milk

Glaze:

Maple syrup

Directions and my rough timings:

• Day 1 07:00 - Mix preferment ingredients, cover bowl and leave at room temperature for about 24 hours until bubbling well.
• Day 1 19:00 - Mix initial dough ingredients until combined. Cover and leave to prove, stretching and folding every now and then. Put in fridge overnight.
• Day 2 07:00 - Add sugar, spice and a splash of water. The water helps to combine the spice into the dough. Slap and fold until well combined .
• Gradually add butter, working well until you have a smooth, elastic dough. As the dough starts to resist and tear, rest it for a few minutes then it will relax and be easier to work again.
• Day 2 08:00 - Stretch out into a rough rectangle, cover half of it with a quarter of the dried fruit then fold in half to cover the fruit. Repeat this until all the fruit has been added.
• Cover and prove until light and soft to touch. Then put into the fridge for an hour, this will make it easier to handle at the next stage.
• Day 2 14:00 - Grease well two 24cm square baking tins.
• Working on a lightly floured surface, split the dough, shape it into 18 buns and place in 3 x 3 rows in the prepared baking tins.
• Cover and prove until light and puffy to touch. I proved mine in the fridge overnight. This lengthens the proving time but means we get freshly baked buns for breakfast!
• Day 3 07:00 - Preheat oven to 200c
• Mix cross mixture ingredients together, put in piping bag and pipe a line across all the buns in one direction then turn the tin and pipe in the other direction to form the crosses.
• Carefully dab eggwash over the buns.
• Bake for 15 mins then reduce temp to 175c for a further 15 mins until golden.
• Brush with maple syrup to glaze as soon as removed from oven.
• Leave to rest in baking tin for 5 mins then move them on to a wire rack to cool