GBBO Mak Patel's recipe for cinnamon buns

It still embarrasses me that I’m referred to as a ‘TV star’ and ‘celebrity’.

What I am extremely fond of are the opportunities that have come my way. The Bolton News team have been extremely generous in giving me a space in the paper to share recipes with you.

I have been lucky enough to be invited by schools to participate in their learning activities.

This week I was invited by Olive Primary School to share a delightful few hours with children and make bread together.

My hats off to the teachers who were a pillar of support for the morning.

The stars though were the kids.

The enthusiasm each one possessed was incredible and it cheered me to see how they all got stuck in. In my day we would have started to chuck flour at everyone and generally become a right nuisance. Not these kids. They were so well behaved and professional in every way.

The difficulty with making bread though is yeast. Results aren’t instant and there is a lot of proving to be done. It’s all dependent upon, what’s the word? Atmosphere. Too cold and you’ll be waiting ages. Too hot and it will kill the yeast. Having said that I still love working with the stuff.

Here’s a yeast recipe that will be on everyone’s favourite list; cinnamon Buns. For some reason I’m going through a phase of making them. Rich and truly delicious with a cup of tea.

Use good quality cinnamon powder for the best aromatic flavour.

Cinnamon Buns

Prep time. 30 minutes, plus proving. Cook time. 20 minutes. Makes 6 big-uns.

125ml warm milk (hand hot)

1 egg

2 tablespoons caster sugar

4g dried yeast

250g Strong white flour

½ teaspoon salt

35g soft butter

1 tablespoon oil for greasing

Filling

100g soft brown sugar

1 tablespoon powdered cinnamon

Small pinch of nutmeg (optional)

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

60g soft butter

Frosting

100g cream cheese

75g soft butter

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

2 tablespoons icing sugar, sieved

Method

Make the dough

1. Pour the warm milk in a 1 litre glass bowl. Add the egg, sugar and sprinkle in the yeast. Mix it all together

2. Stir the flour and salt into the milk mixture with a spoon then with our hands gently knead into a ball of dough. Add the soft butter and continue kneading in the bowl until the butter has been incorporated.

3. Take the dough and firmly knead on a lightly floured surface. Add half a tablespoon of flour if the dough is too wet and difficult to handle. Keep kneading until the dough is smooth, springy and sticky to the touch. This will take approximately 5-7 minutes. Shape into a ball

4. Grease your bowl with oil and place the dough back in, ensuring the dough is all covered in the oil. Cover a damp cloth or cling film and leave in a warm place to prove for an hour at least, until doubled in size.

Make the filling

5. Mix all the filling ingredients together. It should be a smooth evenly coloured sugar paste. The nutmeg I have found lifts the whole flavour. Leave the mixture in a warm place.

Make the frosting

6. Mix the cream cheese, butter and vanilla. Sieve the icing sugar in and mix again. Put to one side

Make the rolls

7. Once the dough has been proved and doubled in size, knead it again on a lightly floured surface to knock the air out. Roll out into a rectangle, 18 inches by 12 inches. The short edge should be facing you (portrait).

8. Spread the filling evenly across the whole surface. From the short edge at the top tightly roll towards you. Pinch the finishing edge firmly to close.

9. Trim off the rough ends. Cut the roll into 6 pieces. Place in a greased and lined oven proof dish. Cover and prove for another half an hour (sorry but you are working with yeast). The buns will be soft and plump.

10. Turn oven onto 180°C. and bake for 20 minutes. Leave to cool for 15 minutes then spread the frosting evenly on top.

Be creative. Add chopped nuts to the filling and sprinkle on top of the frosting. They keep well in the fridge but warm them up for a few seconds in the microwave before serving.