Cooking With GFUEL: Chelsea Buns
I’ve had a Netflix account for about a decade now, and I’ve always stayed at the cusp of whatever is new and happenin’ on the platform. So when Great British Baking Show appeared in my Recommended section, naturally I binged every available episode.
Fast forward to Season 6, Episode 3 where we watch the bakers tackle their version of a classic Paul Hollywood recipe: The Chelsea Bun. This Signature challenge was rife with variety and flavor, and it reminded me that you can put pretty much ANYTHING into a Chelsea Bun, so long as it had a little ‘meat’ to it.
Obviously, the next logical step was to include GFUEL. If you’re not familiar with GFUEL, you may have seen other streamers promoting the brand. It’s a powdered energy drink supplement that’s filled with B vitamins and flavor, and comes in a METRIC TON of different varieties. You can learn more at gfuel.com!
Up until about 5:30pm (an hour before the show) I still hadn’t totally decided on a flavor combination. I’d waffled between some of my absolute favorites, but ultimately decided the combination of all the ingredients was king, over picking a favorite flavor.
AND THUS we landed on the killer contrast of Grape and Strawberry Shortcake. Perfect.
The recipe below is modeled after Paul Hollywood’s Chelsea Bun recipe, courtesy of the BBC, but with some much-needed alterations for a better bun. Fight me, Paul. Mine are better.
GFUEL Chelsea Buns
Ingredients (Dough)
500g/1lb 2oz strong white flour, plus extra for dusting
1 tsp salt
1 x 7g sachet fast-acting yeast
250ml/8fl oz Heavy Cream
50ml/1.5fl oz water
40g/1½oz unsalted butter, plus extra for greasing the tin
1 free-range egg
vegetable oil, for greasing
Instructions
Place the flour and salt into a large mixing bowl and stir until thoroughly combined. Make a well in the center of the flour and pour in the yeast packet.
Warm the milk and butter in a small saucepan until the butter is melted and the mixture is lukewarm.
Pour into the flour mixture, add the egg and stir thoroughly until the contents of the bowl come together as a soft dough.
Tip the dough onto a lightly floured work surface and knead well for five minutes, until the dough is smooth and elastic. The texture of the pulled surface shouldn’t be bumpy at all. If your dough isn’t smooth, add more flour to the table and knead another minute or so.
Place the dough into an oiled bowl (preferably glass!) and leave to rise, covered with a damp paper towel, for one hour or until doubled in size. Alternatively, use the proofing setting in an oven set to 100ºF or 37ºC for an hour, or until doubled in size.
Tip the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface. Roll out dough into a rectangle about 12 long x 8in wide.
Ingredients Continued (Filling)
25g/1oz unsalted butter, melted
100g/3.5oz dried pineapple
100g/3.5oz dried cranberries
3 full scoops of GFUEL Powder (Grape)
75g/2.5oz soft brown sugar
Instructions Continued
Brush the melted butter over the surface of the rolled dough. Evenly sprinkle the gfuel over the buttered surface, followed by the sugar, and dried fruit.
Tack down the long side of the dough rectangle nearest to you by pressing it down onto the work surface with your thumb. Roll the opposite long side of the dough towards you quite tightly, until the roll is complete and tight. With a wire or a string (knife not recommended) cut into rounds about 1in-1¾in.
Grease a deep roasting tin or baking tray thoroughly with butter.
Place the buns, cut side up, into the greased baking tray with the edges just barely touching. You want them to be close enough so that when they rise further and then bake, they will bake with their sides touching. They can then be pulled apart and you get a lovely soft edge.
Leave to rise for about 30 minutes in a warm place or in a proofing oven.
Preheat oven to 170ºC Convection Fan. If you don’t have a convection oven, 375ºF in a conventional oven also works.
When the buns are ready, put them in the oven and bake for 20-25 minutes until golden-brown. Check after 15 minutes or so and cover the buns with foil if they are getting too brown.
Remove the buns from the oven and let them cool slightly before transferring them from the tin to a cooling rack.
Ingredients Continued (Glaze/Icing)
1 full scoop of GFUEL Powder (Strawberry Shortcake)
1 cup powdered sugar
2 tablespoons heavy cream
Instructions Continued
Combine GFUEL, sugar and heavy cream in a small bowl.
Whisk thoroughly with a fork until all sugar is dissolved and the mix turns into a thick glaze. Drizzle the icing over the cooled buns or use glaze as a dipping sauce for the pull apart buns.
Never sleep. Ever again. :3
