We’ve just been on one of our short visits back to our old stomping grounds. Well, we’ve been there every month since we moved, so hardly old stomping grounds. There’s an antiques centre space to check on, more stuff to collect from storage… and buns to eat! Do you call them buns, cupcakes or something else? We stay at Justin’s mum’s, where his sister Rachel is also to be found in her role as carer. She’s a great baker and often knocks up batches of these tasty treats.
She has a quick, simple recipe incorporating self-raising flour, sugar and eggs… with the addition of any other suitable ingredients that take your fancy. Sultanas, raisins, cherries, coconut, lemon, cocoa, various essences. The list of Rachel’s easy buns options isn’t quite endless, but could fill a page or two of this post!
I didn’t have any self-raising flour after a mouse got into my dry store, so just added ½ a teaspoon of baking powder to 100 grams of plain flour – a good little tip if you find yourself in the same predicament!
It’s a simple, one bowl mixing job – then spoon the batter into the paper cases and bake. It couldn’t be easier. And another tip that you might like to try; Rachel never cools them on a wire rack. She always puts them straight under a glass dome where they cool slowly and retain their moisture and softness. I made half a dozen with sultanas added to the mix and half a dozen spread (after baking) with damson jam and dipped in toasted coconut. Delicious!
Click here to save Rachel’s easy buns recipe to Pinterest
- 100g/3½oz butter, softened
- 100g/3½oz caster sugar
- 100g/3½oz self-raising flour
- 2 eggs
- Preheat the oven to 200ºC/400ºF/Gas mark 4
- Cream the butter and the sugar
- Add the eggs, one at a time, beating all the time. Add a dessert spoonful of the flour after each egg if the mixture looks like it's going to split
- Mix in the flour until fully combined
- Spoon the mixture into bun cases, put them in the oven and cook for 20 minutes or until the buns have turned a lovely golden brown
- Do not cool on a wire rack. Instead, put the buns under a lidded cake dome or cover with an upturned mixing bowl until cool
- Covering the buns straight out of the oven makes them super-soft