Fig Jam Buns, and a Slower Autumn
Hello friends :)
We are at the end of April now. The weather in my corner of the world is getting cooler, and earlier this week we had our first proper rain, about 45ml overnight.
It is incredible how quickly the landscape changes after just a few rains. The paddocks have already started to green up, almost overnight, and I love it. Green… they say it is the colour of peace and happiness, and I wholeheartedly believe it to be true.
Maybe that is also why I have been feeling a little out of step with the social media world lately, and why I have not posted there much these past few months. When I first started blogging back in 2015, things on socials seemed so easy. I would share a photo, a recipe, sometimes just a plate of food, and it all felt very simple, in a good way. People shared things they loved, places they visited, and photos of their pets and sunsets. Nothing too serious, unlike now, it has evolved into something else entirely.
Not sure about you, but whenever I log in to my social accounts, I start to feel tense after a few minutes of scrolling. While there are still people I genuinely love to follow and see their work and life ( and cat videos are paramount of course ), all that noise, the drama and rapid-fire talking are scrambling my brain. So I have been spending more time here instead. Writing a little slower and a little longer, which I love, and sharing things properly, without rushing them out into the stream where they will most likely get lost in the noise.
Our truffle trees are slowly growing taller and wider, which means more pruning come the end of winter. Last season we spent a lot of time (mostly Troy) cutting back branches that had grown too close to the ground and pulling up the tree mats, which turned out to be a much bigger job than we thought. We did not quite get through it all before it became too hot to be out in the paddock, and there are still seven rows waiting to be tidied.
Last week I caught myself comparing our young trees in the paddocks to the older oaks near the house. There are about fourteen of them, standing guard, protecting the house and our small fruit orchard from the wind. They are tall and steady with thick trunks covered in fuzzy lichen and moss. The young ones are still so small in comparison. It is strange to think that one day, long after we are gone, they will grow into something just as big.
In the last week of the Easter school holidays, we (mostly Troy again) spent time clearing out the veggie garden, pulling out the spent tomatoes, aubergines and flowers. There are still a couple of pumpkin vines left, with a few pumpkins ripening, but mostly it is ready for the winter veg.
Troy and Scarlett are about to top the beds with composted manure, and I will be good to go with planting garlic next week. This year I am planning to double what we did last year, which gave us around 240–250 bulbs at harvest.
There is a bit of excitement from the chicken yard at the moment. Our spotted Sussex, Fancy, has just started laying, and every time she does, she makes sure the whole neighbourhood knows about it. Quite a few times she has even surprised us with double yolkers, which always feels a bit special.
She and our littlest rooster Frizzle are the funniest to watch, although all our chooks are characters in their own way. Since our Fancy girl is a newbie to laying, her eggs are on the smaller side, with the most beautiful yellow yolks. They are perfect for eggwash and brushing buns.
Delightful Fig Jam Buns
In my last newsletter, I shared our fig picking and the fig jam with ginger I made. My kids are not too fussed about jam on toast, but give them anything with jam and dough or pastry and they are instantly sold. These buns are my version of a “healthier” doughnut… and honestly, I think they are even better!
I added a crumb on top of the buns, mostly because Jasper loves it. It gives a little contrast to the soft dough and the jammy filling, but you can easily leave it off if you prefer.
Makes 15 buns
Ingredients
600g bakers flour ( I use and Australian brand named - Wallabies )
1 (7g) sachet active dry yeast
250ml warm milk
½ cup warm water
2 tbsp sugar ( I used raw sugar
1 egg
90g butter ( I used Woolworth home brand salted butter)
1 tsp vanilla essence
For the Filling
350g fig jam (or any other jam you love)
1 egg for eggwash
For the Crumb Topping
75g bakers flour
50g butter
40g sugar
½ tsp vanilla essence
Method
In a small bowl, combine the warm milk, warm water, sugar and yeast. Give it a stir and set aside for 5–10 minutes, until it becomes slightly foamy.
In a large bowl, add the flour. Pour in the yeast mixture, then add the egg, softened butter and vanilla. Bring everything together into a soft dough.
Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, about 8–10 minutes. You can also do this in a stand mixer if you prefer.
Place the dough into a lightly oiled bowl, cover, and leave it in a warm spot until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
While the dough is rising, prepare the crumb topping by rubbing the butter into the flour and sugar with your fingers until it resembles coarse crumbs. Stir through the vanilla, cover and refrigerate until you will need it.
Once the dough has risen, gently knock it back and divide it into 15 equal portions, about 75g each. Shape into balls, flatten slightly, and place a spoonful of fig jam in the centre of each. Bring the edges together and pinch to seal.
Place the buns onto a lined baking tray, leaving a little space between each one. Cover loosely and leave to rise again until slightly puffed, about 30-40 minutes.
Preheat your oven to 180°C. Brush the buns with beaten egg, sprinkle over the crumb topping, and bake for 20–25 minutes, until golden.
Allow to cool slightly before serving… although they are very hard to resist while still warm.
Cook’s note
Dough will behave a little differently depending on the temperature in your kitchen. On cooler days, it may take longer to rise, so give it time rather than watching the clock too closely.
Any jam will work here, just keep it fairly thick so it does not run too much while baking.
