Earl grey butterscotch buns (scrolls) with Caramilk

Earl grey infused babka dough rolled with a butter and brown sugar mixture and Cadbury Caramilk (caramelised white chocolate).

Scrolls are perfect to make when you have an abundance of bread flour because bread freezes really well and scrolls are the perfect individual size. No annoying pre-freeze slicing. Simply break apart and freeze (if they last that long).

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Why does it seem like most people refer to bread of this nature as 'buns'? To me, buns are round and enclosed, sometimes filled (like a custard bun) and sometimes unfilled (like a cheese topped bun, or one with spring onions in the dough) or plain (like a hamburger bun). I usually refer to bread shaped like this as 'scrolls', but I would also accept 'rolls'.

But never mind the semantics.

I always enjoy the richness of babka dough, and this has been my go-to when I want to make some kind of sweet bread, which is, arguably, not often enough because I still have too much bread flour. In usual 'me' fashion, I also still have too much earl grey, hence this creation. I'm not complaining though, since I love earl grey in baked goods. I also noticed I had a couple of blocks of Caramilk left from when I made the Caramilk cheesecake cake. I personally don't really eat chocolate blocks by themselves unless it's dark dark dark (think 70 - 90% cocoa) chocolate, and even then it's only a little at a time, or a ~special~ chocolate with added goodies in it. Thus, I thought it would be a good idea to use it in these scrolls as the flavours sounded like a good idea to me.

It's even better because the Caramilk gets even more caramelised when it bakes in the oven. Double caramelisation. Bonus.

If anything, I'd ask you to give earl grey infused bread a try. If you're a fan of earl grey flavoured baked goods (earl grey cakes are so good), then you're likely to love it in bread too. I'm not even telling you to use my recipe in particular. Just infuse whatever liquid you use in your favourite bread (I'd suggest a sweet bread recipe over a plainer one) recipe, and empty some tea bags into the dry ingredients for extra measure.

Look at those earl grey speckles......

and those Caramilk chunks

I also infused more milk and made an earl grey icing. Depending on your preferences, you can choose to slather it on, or drizzle it on. As is with any basic icing, add more icing sugar to make it thicker, or use less and/ or add more milk to make it thinner.

I pretty much always double the quantities when I make bread since a) bread freezes well, and b) it takes a little while to make, so may as well make more whilst I'm at it. I've provided the quantities for a doubled recipe so I can give a more accurate answer as to how many it makes. Feel free to halve the recipe, though I'm sure your friends/ family/ colleagues would appreciate some of them, if you feel like sharing that is.

Generally I like to break down recipes into more digestible parts, because having multiple parts in a single recipe with all the ingredients bunched together makes for a confusing read if you're trying to skim through it.

Recipe

Makes ~20 buns.

For the earl grey infused babka dough

INGREDIENTS:

• 1c milk

• 6 earl grey tea bags (approx. 12g loose tea, divided into 8g and 4g)

• 750g bread flour

• 90g castor sugar, divided into 45g and 45g

• 2tsp salt

• 2tbsp active dry yeast (14g)

• 4 large eggs

• 230g butter, softened, cut into cubes

METHOD:

1. In a small saucepan, bring the milk and 4 bags (8g) of earl grey to a simmer. Remove from the flame, cover, and leave to further infuse and cool to a warm temperature.

2. In the bowl of a stand mixer, or a large bowl, combine the flour, 45g of sugar, salt, and the contents of 2 bags of earl grey (4g).

3. Place yeast into a medium bowl with the remaining sugar, and pour the now lukewarm milk over the top of it and briefly stir. Cover and leave for 10 minutes.

4. Pour the yeast mixture into the flour bowl, and add the eggs and softened butter. Beat with a dough hook, or knead by hand, on medium-high for 5 to 10 minutes, or until the dough is soft, elastic, and comes off cleanly from the sides of the bowl. Cover loosely and leave in a warm place to prove for 1 hour or until it has doubled in volume.

For the butterscotch and Caramilk filling

INGREDIENTS:

• 200g butter

• 100g brown sugar

• 180g Caramilk/ caramelised white chocolate

METHOD:

1. Soften the butter in a microwave until almost melted. Add in the brown sugar and mix until fully combined. Set aside.

2. Finely chop half of the chocolate, and roughly chop the rest. Set aside.

To bake and assemble

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 batch of babka dough

• 1 batch of filling

• 1 egg

• 2tbsp milk OR water

• Chopped or sliced almonds to garnish (optional)

METHOD:

1. Line a large tray/ dish, or several smaller ones (I used 2 round cake tins and 1 round tray). Halve the proved dough for easier handling unless using a halved recipe.

2. Roll one half of the dough out to create a rectangle, with a thickness of about 5mm. Spread half of the sugar and butter mixture on, then on sprinkle half of the finely chopped and roughly chopped chocolate.

3. With the long edge facing you, tightly roll it up. Cut off the ends then slice up the roll, ensuring each piece is of the same length. I measured my slices to be 3.5cm. Place each slice in the prepared trays/ tins/ dishes, leaving room between each one to account for rising and spreading.

4. Repeat steps 2 and 3 with the second dough half.

5. Leave in a warm area to prove for 1 hour or until increased in size. Meanwhile, preheat your oven to 180°C. Whisk the egg for the egg wash and loosen it up with some milk or water (you may not need all 2tbsp).

6. Once scrolls have increased in size, brush them with the egg wash and sprinkle with almonds if desired. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until golden. Remove from the oven and leave to cool.

For the earl grey icing (optional)

INGREDIENTS:

• 2tbsp milk

• 1 earl grey tea bag (approx. 2g loose tea)

• 150g - 200g icing sugar/ icing sugar mixture

METHOD:

1. Heat the milk to a simmer in the microwave or over the stove and steep the tea. Strain the leaves or take the tea bag out. Make sure to squeeze or press the life flavour out of those leaves Set aside.

2. Sift the icing sugar. Gradually add the icing sugar, 20g or so at a time, into the milk, stirring to fully combine after each addition. Stop adding sugar when it has reached your desired consistency.

3. Slather over those buns.

These scrolls are best served fresh and warm. If they are to be eaten the next day, zapping them in the microwave for around 20 seconds before devouring is 👌 perfect.

Enjoy!