Sprinkle the 50g of caster sugar and 8g of vanilla sugar over the yeast, pour over the warm milk and stir well to dissolve
In the bowl of a stand mixer, sift in the flour
Add the salt, egg and melted butter
Pour the yeast mixture over it and, using the dough hook, mix on the lowest speed until it begins to come together. Turn the dial to the highest setting and knead for about 5 minutes. The dough should form a large lump around the dough hook in the mixing bowl (if the dough is still a little too damp, sprinkle some flour and work it in well)
Cover and allow the dough to rise in a warm place for about 15 minutes
Knead the dough by hand and let it rise for another 15 minutes
Meanwhile, grease & line a high-edged baking sheet with parchment paper and spread the dough out evenly across the sheet. Cover the dough again and let it rise well
Press indentations into the dough about 5cm apart, the easiest way to do this is with your thumb or index finger
Place knobs of the chilled butter into the indentations and sprinkle with sugar (amount depending on taste). Then distribute the almonds and vanilla sugar evenly over the sugared & buttered dough. The whole thing then has to rise again until the dough has visibly enlarged. (Note: don’t cover the dough at this point, otherwise the butter will stick to the cover)
Preheat the oven to 200ºC/400ºF/Gas mark 6
When the dough has risen, bake for 15 minutes and the top has turned a golden brown
Allow to cool on the baking sheet and then cut into portions