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Jubilee Iced Buns

Diamond jubilee celebrations have begun here in Britain and whether one is in favour of the royal family or not (I am), it is hard to screw one’s nose up at the prospect of two public holidays. Only two monarchs in British history have had cause to celebrate 60 years of reign, though arguably such a thing meant a little more in the days of Queen Victoria who celebrated her diamond jubilee in 1897. Still, it is clear from the festive atmosphere to be found in Britain, as well as other countries, that the support and excitement surrounding the multi-national Royal Family remains palpable. Clearly, this is a very important time for Britain and failing to mark the occasion with a sweet and very British treat would be a little remiss. So, despite the rather gloomy lighting conditions, I hope you all enjoy my iced buns.

It would seem that recipes are slowly creeping back into my cooking. Indeed, this was my first attempt at making iced buns and I thought a specific method ought to be followed. Iced buns have a very specific set of criteria; they should be soft, ever so slightly sweet and golden brown, but with only a gentle sniff of crust. Luckily, I stumbled across a corking recipe on BBC GoodFood which produced utter perfection. These buns can in no way be improved – you have, rather quickly, reached the pinnacle. Enjoy the festivities!

God save the Queen and all that royalist phlegm.

Jubilee Iced Buns

Makes 8-10

Ingredients:

• 225g plain flour

• 225g strong white bread flour

• 7g sachet of fast action yeast, or equivalent

• 125ml warm water

• 125ml milk

• 2 tsp salt

• 50g caster sugar

• 1 egg, beaten

• 50g butter

• A little oil

• 225g icing sugar

• 1 tsp red food colouring

• 1 tsp blue food colouring

• A little water

Method:

1. Mix together the flours, yeast, water, milk, salt and sugar. Once it has all come together add the egg followed by the butter. Once you have a uniform, sticky dough, turn it out onto a floured surface and knead for 10 minutes. Grease a large bowl, pop in the dough and leave to rise in a warm place for an hour or so.

2. Once the dough has risen knock it back, divide into eight lumps, shape and place on floured baking trays. Leave to prove under a tea towel for 30 minutes.

3. Preheat the oven to 220C. Bake the buns for 20-25 minutes, until golden brown. Leave to cool completely before icing. To make the icing follow the guide on the packaging, divide into three bowls and colour accordingly.

Cost: Every ingredient in these wonderfully simple, yet decadent buns is very cheap; the entire batch should set one back a mere £1.30. Clearly, making these would be an incredibly frugal and cheerful way to celebrate Queen Elizabeth’s Diamond Jubilee.

98 replies on “Jubilee Iced Buns”

Those are so cute! I find that using recipes gives you more experience at combining different flavors and also varies your repetoire. Using a recipe doesn’t mean that you can’t cook but that you are interested in what others are doing. For instance, I’m going to do your Glamorgan sausages, but not exactly 🙂

Yum!!! I’m totally making those- minus food coloring 😉 I was totally ignorant as to what all the hullabaloo was with the Jubilee. Thanks for the education!

The flotilla was totally awesome! Hope you were as glued to the TV as I was. Honestly, I’ve never had an iced bun before. I see them at the bakery’s all the time but they don’t look appetising at all. The ones you’ve made are totally different, think it’s the beautiful golden brown you’ve achieved. Congratulations! Enjoy the 2 days off too, we’re going to the Godalming fireworks tomorrow night. Are there any near you too? Happy bank holiday!

I know, it was magnificent. I was fairly glued, my girlfriend was more so. You should totally make these, they are well worth the effort. I didn’t get 2 days off… I had 2 days on… No, no fireworks here, but there was a beacon lit here.

Iced buns? I don’t think I’m familiar with these. From the recipe and pics, I’m imagining soft, chewy somewhat sweet rolls. Is that right? Help an American out! But they look good. I’ve been catching coverage of the Jubilee all weekend too. Keep calm and Queen on.

An appropriate recipe, methinks! And ‘thank you’ all the way from Australia for mentioning the Jubilee. Hate to tell you I went to school whilst there was still a British Empire and we would spend hours on rehearsals of songs like ‘Dominion over palm and pine’ [remember the ‘sun never set over the British Empire’ 🙂 !] Yes, those days may somewhat be over but credit should be given to the achievements of a great lady who promised way back when to spend her life serving her country and her peoples. She has. God bless! [Hhmm, love the buns, am nor quite sure of the colours 🙂 !]

How fun – yet again another post making me wish I was back in Britain. It’s amazing how much you can get caught up in the atmosphere, I was there for Kate and Wills’ wedding and I even watched the tele movie the nit before. These look very yum, suit the occasion well 🙂

I marked the occasion in the restaurant of a South Bank hotel looking at the Thames as all the boats passed and our dear 86 year old queen passed in the middle of this flotilla where she was expected to stand for three hours waving in the rain. That’s British stoicism at the core! I also marked the occasion with far too much Merlot and am sorry for myself this morning though not quite enough to pass up an opportunity to comment on what lovely buns you have.

Ah, royalist phlegm, just the image I wanted to have in mind when looking at these buns. We barbarians here in the colonies don’t get the holidays but we’re celebrating anyway, so I might give those a try. Minus the phlegm.

Love iced buns and don’t think I have had them since school! If I have a healthy week maybe I can reward myself with a batch of these. Or take a batch to my (relatively) new workplace. I’m sure they would be happy! Thanks for sharing!

What a fun celebration! Watched the festivities on the tv. We’re quite enamored with the royals over here. And I find myself completely enamored with the iced buns. I’ve never had one and will remedy that soon with your tasty recipe. 🙂

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