Blackberry and white chocolate iced finger buns - soft enriched yeast dough buns filled with white chocolate ganache, blackberry jam and topped with a blackberry icing.
Sticky, gooey and ohh so delicious! The classic iced finger bun has been given a seasonal make over.
Iced fingers are made from an enriched bread dough, which has the basic ingredients of milk, butter and sugar added to the flour, yeast and a little salt. It makes a gorgeous dough; it's really lovely to work with being so smooth and silky once it's been kneaded for a few minutes.
Raspberries are often teamed with white chocolate and given that we still had a box or two of foraged blackberries in the freezer we decided to see if they worked as well as raspberries with the white chocolate. They certainly did.
A plain white enriched dough was made (using Paul Hollywood's recipe though I used a little more flour as I found it a very wet dough - which is reflected in the recipe below) and once baked they were filled with a white chocolate ganache, which had been whipped to lighten it, and a homemade blackberry jam.
The fingers were then glazed with a water icing flavoured (and coloured - no artificial colouring here!) with the blackberry jam
The blackberry jam and blackberry icing cut through the richness of the cream filling beautifully. The blackberries provided a lovely clean flavour and wonderful colour to a simple bread finger. The bread was also beautifully soft and full of flavour. Quite a treat!
📖 Recipe
Blackberry and White Chocolate Iced Finger Buns
Equipment
- piping bag and nozzle
Ingredients
Buns
- 275 g (10oz) strong white bread flour plus extra for dusting
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon fast action yeast
- 25 g (25g) caster sugar
- 25 g (1oz) butter softened
- 1 medium egg lightly beaten
- 75 ml (3floz) tepid milk
- 70 ml (3floz) tepid water
Blackberry Jam
- 175 g (6oz) blackberries
- 75 g (3oz) granulated sugar
- 100 ml (3½floz)water
- 1 lemon juice of
Chocolate ganache
- 150 g (5oz)white chocolate
- 300 ml (½pt) double cream
Icing
- 50 g (2oz) icing sugar
- 2 teaspoon water
- 1 - 2 teaspoon blackberry jam
Instructions
To make the buns
- Place the flour into a good sized bowl. Add the salt to one side and the yeast to the other side. Add the sugar and butter. Rub the butter into the flour mixture a little. Make a well in the centre and add the egg. Pour in all of the milk and ¾ of the water. Using your hand, mix the flour with the liquid, adding more water to bring the dough together and cleaning the bowl as you do so. Place the dough onto a lightly floured clean work surface and knead for 10 - 12 minutes. The dough is quite a soft structure but will become less sticky and more elastic and stretchy as it is kneaded. Perform the 'window pane' test to ensure the dough has been kneaded sufficiently.
- Place the dough back in the bowl. Cover the bowl with cling film or a shower cap used purposefully for baking and set aside until it has doubled in size. This will depend on the temperature of the room.
- Once risen, tip the dough onto a lightly floured work surface and knock back. Divide into 6 equal pieces, ours weighed about 85g. Shape each piece into a ball and then roll into a sausage, all being the approximate same length (ours measured 14cm).
- Place on a greased baking tray side by side with about 2cm between each bun. Cover the baking tray or sit inside a large plastic bag. Set aside to rise for the second time, to allow the fingers to increase in size again, this will take about 40 - 45 minutes.
Make the blackberry jam.
- Place the berries, sugar and water into a small heavy based pan. Place over a low to medium heat and allow to cook. Add the lemon juice once the mixture has heated through. Stir regularly with a wooden spoon. To test the jam, remove the pan from the heat and place a teaspoonful of the mixture on a tea plate. Put the plate in the fridge for a few minutes to chill. Once chilled, run your finger along the plate to touch the edge of the chilled jam. If the jam crinkles when touched it is ready. If not ready, replace the pan on the heat and cook for a few minutes longer and retest. Once ready pour into a bowl and set aside to cool.175 g (6oz) blackberries, 75 g (3oz) granulated sugar, 100 ml (3½floz)water, 1 lemon
Make the ganache.
- Place the chocolate into a good sized bowl and break it up into small pieces. Pour the double cream into a small heavy based pan and heat gently until it is hot but not boiling. Pour over the chocolate and leave for a couple of minutes. Stir the mixture thoroughly and set aside to cool. Once fully cold use a balloon whisk or hand held electric beaters to whip the ganache until it is thick and creamy. Avoid over beating. Set aside.300 ml (½pt) double cream, 150 g (5oz)white chocolate
Bake the buns
- Preheat the oven to 220℃ (200℃ fan)/425°F/gas mark 7. Bake the buns for about 12 - 13 minutes, turning the tray around after about 10 minutes. Once baked, and the underside is a nice golden colour, remove from the oven and set aside on a cooling rack.
Make the icing.
- Place the icing sugar in a cup and mix with a little water, adding a tiny bit at a time. Add the cold blackberry jam and mix again. Add a little more icing sugar if necessary. You're aiming for a very thick mixture which won't run when applied to the fingers.
To complete
- Cut the bread fingers on the diagonal with a bread knife. Pipe the ganache mixture into the fingers. Using a pallet knife (or similar) spread the blackberry icing to the top surface of the finger, spreading it out carefully. Place half of the jam mixture into the second disposable piping bag, cut a small opening for the jam to come through. Pipe a line of the jam across the ganache filling.
- Enjoy!
Have you made this recipe? I would love to hear from you. Did you enjoy it, did you change anything? Leave a comment and rate the recipe. Comments may be held for moderation before publishing.