In this recipe taken from new book ORDER UP! — which is packed with recipes from some of London’s favourite eateries — Matthew Jones, Founder of Bread Ahead tells us how to whip up a batch of his divine Chelsea buns.

If you’ve ever had a Chelsea bun from Bread Ahead (branches scattered across London), you already get it. The soft centre, the spiced swirl, that syrupy glaze still warm from the oven. This is baking at its best. It’s classic. It’s comforting. And it’s just really good.

PREP: Two hours
BAKE: 20 mins
YIELD: 12 buns

Ingredients

For the dough

• 500g bread flour
• 3g salt
• 20g caster sugar
• 80g unsalted butter, softened
• 280g full-fat milk
• 10g fresh yeast
• Zest of ½ lemon
• One egg yolk (25g)

For the filling

• 120g soft light brown sugar
• 1 tsp ground mixed spice
• 285g currants
• ½ tsp ground allspice
• 80g unsalted butter, melted

For the glaze

• 200g sugar
• One cinnamon stick
• Juice of one orange
• Juice of one lemon

How to make

1. Mix the flour, salt and sugar together in a bowl until combined. Rub the butter in using your
fingertips.
2. Put the milk, yeast, lemon zest and egg yolk into a bowl and whisk until the yeast has dissolved.
3. Add to the dry ingredients and form a dough using a scraper.
4. Transfer to a flourless surface and knead for eight minutes. Using the scraper, fold the dough over on itself and repeat.
5. When you have a smooth elastic dough, return it to the bowl. Cover the dough and prove for 1 hour at room temperature.
6. For the filling, get your melted butter ready.
7. Mix your soft light brown sugar, mixed spice, currants and allspice together in a bowl.
8. Tip your dough onto a lightly floured surface and use a rolling pin to roll into a square that’s 45cm long, 45cm wide and 2mm thick.
9. Use the rolling pin to create a thin lip (5cm wide) along the bottom edge of your dough – this should be 1mm thick.
10. Brush the whole surface with the melted butter, then sprinkle all except the bottom lip with the sugar currant filling.
11. Roll into a tight roll then, with a sharp knife, cut into 12 equal pieces.
12. Line a tray with baking paper and place the dough onto the tray (make three rows of four).
13. Cover with oiled clingfilm and prove for 40–45 minutes at room temperature.
14. Place your tray in a preheated oven at 200˚C/180˚C fan and bake for 12 minutes. Turn your tray halfway through the baking time.
15. Bake for a further eight minutes.

And for the glaze…

16. While your Chelsea buns are baking, make the glaze.
17. Put all the ingredients into a heavy-based saucepan and place over low heat to slowly dissolve the sugar.
18. Once it has dissolved, turn up the heat until you have a gentle simmer and bring the
temperature up to 103°C.
19. Take off the heat and strain.
20. Once you take the buns out of the oven, glaze straight away and cool.
21. Enjoy alongside a nice cup of tea!

ORDER UP!, published by Penguin Random House. £7.50 from each sale will be donated Hospitality Action, and £7.50 to the restaurant where it’s purchased. Online sales at orderupsquare.com donate 100% to Hospitality Action.

Photography by Marcus Monaghan-Jones (Good Brew Inc).