Blackberry Iced Finger Buns

These blackberry finger buns are so easy to make, and topped off with a delightful, simple blackberry icing. The recipe can be adapted to use either all-purpose (plain) or spelt flour, and there are instructions to prepare the dough with both a stand mixer and bread machine.

A similar recipe to these blackberry iced finger buns first appeared on my former blog, The Culinary Jumble. The only difference is that these do not have whipped cream.

These blackberry iced finger buns are the bomb. Or is it da bomb. Or, am I really showing my age? Apparently so. The Urban Dictionary confirms: an old but cool way of saying something’s awesome. Old but cool? I am liking the sound of that. Anyway, I digress. However you describe them, they are so good. Really good.

Believe it or not, I based these finger buns on my hot dog buns. I just added a swish of sugar and a liberally dose of blackberry icing, and Bob’s your uncle.

I actually have a go-to recipe for bread dough. It’s the same whether it’s for naan bread, sticky caramel buns or pizza crust. I just tweak it here and there to add a little more sweetness, garlic or spices. For these blackberry iced finger buns, I just added a touch of nutmeg and some vanilla sugar.

What are finger buns?

Iced finger are made from simple sweet bread dough and topped with sickly sweet icing. You can buy them from any high street bakery, and we love them, especially as kids.

The mention of iced finger buns were first recorded in New Zealand, as far back as the late 19th century. They are still popular to this day, especially in Australia and the UK. I love that in Australia, bakeries have taken the humble iced bun and used it to raise awareness for cancer. You could say they gave cancer the finger. Love that.

Although the Australian and UK versions look similar, the Australian buns have dried fruit in the dough (rather like a Belgian bun), but this isn’t common in the UK. Both versions are topped with a vibrant icing, usually pink but sometimes white. The icing on most shop-bought finger buns is just icing sugar mixed with water and food colouring. However, I decided to create a deep pink, almost purple hue, by using blackberry juice. And they taste as pretty as they look.

The dough is easy to whip up in a bread machine or stand mixer. The recipe has been adapted to use both spelt or regular all-purpose (plain) white flour.

Great sweet bread recipes to try:

If you’re here, it’s highly likely you are a big fan of sweet bread like me. Here are some of my faves:

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Simple Blackberry Iced Finger Buns (from scratch)

Course Snack

Cuisine British

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 10

Bread machine 1

Ingredients

Dough (see note 1):

1 egg (medium)
250ml (1 cup) milk
50g (3½ tbs) butter
1 tsp vanilla extract
400-450g (3⅓ - 3¾ cups) spelt flour (see note 2)
7g (2¼ tsp) dried yeast (see note 3)
2 tbs sugar
⅛ tsp nutmeg
1 tsp salt

Icing:

200g (7 oz) icing / confectioner's sugar
30g (1 oz) blackberries (see note 4)

Instructions

DOUGH

Bread Machine:

Add the egg, milk, butter and vanilla to your bread machine pan.
Then add 400g (3⅓ cups) of flour, and the remaining dough ingredients, taking care to keep the yeast and salt separate as much as possible.
Set your machine to make dough.
On a very well-floured surface (the dough will be very sticky) work in just as much flour as you need to make a soft, pliable, but still a little tacky, dough. Form into a rough ball.

Stand Mixer:

Add the egg, milk, butter and vanilla to your stand mixer bowl, and mix together. If the butter is straight out of the fridge, it won't combine with the other wet ingredients too much, but that's okay.
Add 450g (3¾ cups) of flour, and the remaining ingredients. The dough should be sticky, but if you need more flour, just add a little at a time. Be careful: too much flour will result in dry bread.
Switch to a dough hook (if you have one) and allow the mixer to knead the dough for around 10 minutes, just until soft. The dough will still feel a little tacky to the touch, but will be able to slowly drop off the hook.
Cover the dough and leave to proof (until it has doubled in size - usually about an hour).
When the dough is ready, knock it back, and on a floured surface, form into a rough ball.

For both methods:

Pre-heat the oven to 200°C (400℉). Line a large baking tray with baking paper.
Divide the dough into 12-14 pieces of roughly the same weight.
Roll each piece into a "hot dog roll" shape of around 10cm (4").
Place on a large baking tray lined with grease proof paper.
Make two lines of buns (see my pictures above), giving them a space of around 2cm between them (when they bake and merge together, it makes for a softer bread).
Bake for 10 minutes, just until the tops are nice and brown and they sound hollow when knocked on the bottom.
Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely.

Icing:

Heat the blackberries in a small pan for a couple of minutes (just until they start to soften).
Strain the berries through a sieve until you have around 2 tablespoons of juice.
Add as much icing (powdered) sugar as needed to make a thick paste.
Pour or spread over the buns. Enjoy with a cup of tea!

Notes

I have converted grams to cups/ounces/tablespoons using online converters. Although I have no reason to believe they are inaccurate, please be aware that I have not made this recipe with imperial measurements.

I have made the dough using both a stand mixer and bread machine with identical results. I have not made the dough by hand, but I see no reason why you couldn't do so!
You can use spelt or regular flour for this recipe (just use the same amount).
In Sweden we have something called dried yeast. It is used both in warm liquid and allowed to proof, and it is also added directly to flour. I am aware that the US has two options for dried yeast, and I believe instant yeast is the most similar to our dried yeast.
You can use fresh or frozen blackberries. If using fresh, add one tablespoon of water to the pan when heating. It is possible to use raspberries (or another kind of berry), although this will naturally affect the colour of the icing.