Strawberry 'n' Crumb Buns

One thing I'll miss out due to my time in London is my family's annual strawberry-picking-and-jam-making-marathon.. My grandma's birthday is in the middle of June and as they have got a pick your own field close by every birthday visit wouldn't be complete without picking at least 6 lbs of fresh, ripe, red, flavour bursting strawberries, driving them all the 200km way home and then finishing the day off by cooking countless glasses of gloriously bright red and flavoursome jam. No question that the plamned evening salad always ALWAYS gets replaced by a proper slice of toasted bread, good butter and the still warm strawb jam. Or two, maybe three or even.. Well lets leave it at that. 

This year I faithfully leave the jam making duty to my family and enjoy punnets full of british strawberries instead. I can't complain!

Apart from the jam we hardly ever have cooked, baked or in any other way heated up strawberries at home. Grilled strawberries are nice and I wouldn't complain about a cake dotted with some fruity red pieces yet they always disappear before those thoughts even reach my mind. Last year my sister and I were about to go on a holiday and leaving my mom with 4 pounds of strawberriesat home just didn't seem to be fair. A bit of taste testing, day dreaming and oven-heating later these buns were born: Roasted Strawberry Brioche Buns w/ a Streusel topping. A super handy way to enjoy strawberries away from home without red stained hands, shirts or the mess and disappointment of eating mushy strawberries involved - ticking all the boxes! The brioche dough is soft, buttery and melts in your mouth. Wrapped inside you'll find roasted strawberries with a hint of cinnamon, sweet and full of flavour. You know I can almost never go without some crumbs and the crispy streusel topping is a welcome texture variation, helping the strawberries and their soft sweetness even more.

So enjoy the sun folks and preserve those strawberries a little bit different this time round! (Don't forget to make your jam though!) 

Strawberry 'n' Crumb Buns
- makes eight buns
- for the dough:
- 400g all purpose flour
- 1 tsp salt
- 50g sugar
- 7g dry active yeast
- 1 egg
- 160 ml milk
- 40 g butter

- for the filling:
- 250 g strawberries, washed, halved and hulled
- 50 g sugar
- 100 g creme fraiche
- 1 Tbsp flour

- for the crumbs:
- 200g (whole wheat) flour
- 30g sugar
- 1 tsp salt
- 70g butter

1. Prepare the dough: mix the flour, salt and 40 g of the sugar in a large bowl. Heat the milk and butter together until warm to the touch and butter has melted, add remaining sugar and yeast, mix well and set aside for a few minutes until foamy. Mix the egg into the milk, then pour the mixture into the flour and start kneading with your kitchen machine until dough is soft and smooth (about 10-15 minutes). Once a smooth ball is formed cover and set aside for 1-2 hours to rise until doubled in size.
2. Meanwhile prepare the filling: mix all ingredients until well combined and set aside.
3. Combine all the ingredients for the crumbs and knead them until just combined. Set aside.
4. Once the dough is risen divide it into eight identical pieces. Take one piece, roll it out until about 1,5 cm thickness. Do the same with the remaining dough portions. Now divide the filling among the flattened dough pieces: put a good dollop in the middle of each. Take the corners of one dough piece and fold into the centre to cover the filling, pressing lightly to seal all holes. Once all buns are done place them seam side down in a baking dish about 20x25 cm in size. Sprinkle the crumbs on top.
5. Preheat your oven to 180 °C. Cover the buns loosely with cling film and let them rest for another 30 minutes. Uncover and bake for 20-30 minutes until crumbs are golden brown and the bottom of the buns sounds hollow when tapped. Remove from the oven and let cool for 20 minutes, remove from the pan and enjoy!