Giant s’mores bun

For the tangzhong:

In a pot off the heat, add all the ingredients and whisk until combined. Place the pot over a medium high heat and cook the mixture until it forms a very thick paste. Place the paste into a bowl or plastic container to cool.

While the tangzhong cools, prepare the yeast. Warm the 120g of milk until slightly warm* then add the yeast and a spoon of sugar. Mix everything together and allow the yeast to rest for 5 minutes, until foamy.

*Chef’s tip: The liquid should feel neither hot nor cold when you pop your finger into it. Careful, as too-warm environments can kill yeast.

To a bowl, add the flour, remaining sugar, salt and yeast mixture. Knead everything together for 10 seconds, or until just coming together, then add in the tangzhong and egg.

Knead the dough by hand or in a stand mixer until it’s smooth and elastic. This should take about 10 minutes in a machine on medium, or 15 minutes by hand, kneading vigorously.

Once the dough is ready, add the room temperature butter blob by blob, kneading in between each addition until the butter is incorporated.

Proving:

Quick method: Place your finished dough into a lightly oiled bowl, covered with a damp tea towel to prove until doubled in size.

Tastiest method: If you have the time, place your dough into a large Tupperware with a lid and pop it into the fridge overnight. This slows down the yeast and rise, creating a delicious, complex and more flavourful dough.

Once the dough has risen, punch it down to deflate it.

Lightly flour a work surface and roll out the dough into a large rectangle until 0.5cm thick.

Pop the chocolate spread into a microwave safe bowl and heat until it warms enough to be easily spreadable. Use a spoon or spatula to spread the mixture all over your dough.

To finish, lightly dust 1-2 tbsp of flour over the chocolate spread using a sieve. The dusting of flour will help prevent the spread oozing out while baking.

Line a 25cm cast iron pan or cake tin with a circle of baking paper.

Using a pizza cutter, cut the dough rectangle into long 5cm wide strips.

Roll the first strip into a spiral. It will look like Swiss roll slice. Place the spiral onto the next strip and roll it over, creating an even bigger spiral. Repeat until the bun becomes too cumbersome to roll (you will have a few strips left). At this stage, pop the bun into your lined pan.

Finish the giant bun by wrapping the remaining strips around the bun while in the pan.

Once finished, allow the bun to prove at room temperature in a shady spot for 1-2 hours, until doubled in size. Don’t prove your bun in a very hot and sunny room, as the butter may start to ooze from the dough.

Chef’s treat: If you have any awkwardly shaped offcuts, roll these into mini buns and prove and cook them in a small ramekin for a sneaky chef’s treat. Yum!

Once the bun has doubled in size, preheat the oven to 180⁰C on the fan setting. Brush the bun lightly with a beaten egg then pop it into the oven to cook for 25-30 minutes, or until lovely and golden brown.

If you’re using mini marshmallows instead of marshmallow frosting, add these to the top of your bun about 4-6 minutes before it’s finished cooking. The time will depend on how brown you want the mini marshmallows.

While the bun cooks, mix up half of the marshmallow frosting as per the packet instructions. Set this aside until needed.

Once the bun is out the oven and has cooled slightly, spoon the marshmallow frosting over the bun. Light your blowtorch and toast the marshmallow until deep golden brown.

If you don’t have a blowtorch, heat your oven until very hot on the highest grill setting. Cover the entire bun with marshmallow frosting (any exposed bun will burn) and pop it under the grill to get nicely coloured. Be sure to watch it like a hawk.

To serve, slice the bun into wedges like a cake and enjoy!

Reprinted with permission from The Culinary Cartel. For more recipes, check out their website or follow on Instagram.