Holiday Dreams

I think it must have been the grey skies on Sunday afternoon, coupled with the discovery of a packet of saffron whilst clearing out some spice jars,  that made think of holidays.  No, not so much the jetting off to sunnier climes, but the several family holidays we have had in Cornwall (beautiful place but very changeable weather!).

I have had saffron buns several times in Cornwall but wasn't bowled over.  I am pretty sure what I have eaten has been mass produced and may have had only a passing relationship with real saffron.  So I dug out my Great Book of British Baking and found a recipe for the real deal.  I confess that the only packet of mixed dried fruit I had at home was the exotic kind.  I was pretty sure that cherries and pineapple weren't original to the recipe so spent a happy few minutes picking them out of the mix.  Much more fun than trudging to the shop.

This recipe makes a very rich dough and you need to put aside an afternoon to make sure you have tine for the three hour proving that the book recommends.  I made the mistake of starting these a bit late in the day and they didn't hit the oven until 9.30 p.m.

The result was an almost cakey bread bun, quite dense and smelling musky and exotic with the saffron and a beautiful golden colour.  A world away from the commercial ones I had tasted before.  Well worth the effort.