Yeast Fruit Scroll with Basil

Something in a recipe caught my eye; Basil in a yeasty fruit bun - no way!

But I tried it and something went horribly wrong with the recipe and what was suppose to be a soft yeast dough turned into cardboard. I followed the recipe exactly, or so I thought. The taste was pretty good, a little too sweet for my palette but the fruit combined with a hint of basil was fantastic.

I wanted this to turn out well, I had been longing for a very fruity yeast bun and it was not going to get the better of me.

A couple of days later, I decided to try again but this time I combined my own sweet dough recipe and a combination of fruit that I liked and just added the basil and sugar to the base of the dough.

My dough recipe allows you to make it and store it in the fridge for between 3 hrs - 3 days ahead of time and providing it is covered and refrigerated it is still very easy to use even after 3 days.

Oh my goodness, I am in heaven. Here is a doughy, fruity, sticky, basily (if there is such a word) bun you can eat by itself or with cream, ice cream or yoghurt. It won't last long once your friends or neighbours get a whiff of this, so get in first and help yourself to the biggest slice.
And yes, I did use a lot of flour and eggs and fruit, but it was well worth it because the second time around it worked a treat.

1. Yeast Fruit Scroll with Basil

Ingredients

1. Make the dough first because it needs to rest in the fridge for a minimum of 2 hours and this will give you time to prepare everything else.

For the  Sweet Dough

1/2 cup of milk
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp salt
60g butter
1/4 cup warm water
1 tsp dried yeast
1 egg
2 cups plain flour, sifted

Scald the milk in a saucepan over a low flame ( Take the milk temperature to 82º C or 180º F) Take it off the heat and stir in the sugar, salt and butter. Cool to lukewarm.
Measure the warm water and put it into a large bowl which has been warmed. Add the yeast and stir until it is dissolved. Add the lukewarm milk mixture, the beaten egg and half the flour. Beat vigorously until the mixture is smooth and stir in the remaining flour. Add this stage the mixture looks a little ragged, but it should be the consistency of a thick batter. Cover with cling wrap and place in the fridge for at least 2 hours.

*Basil Sugar

1/2 cup caster sugar
6 basil leaves

In a pestle and mortar add the sugar and basil leaves, pounding until the leaves and the sugar are well combined and the sugar is green. Set aside.

Filling

zest of 1 lemon
2 tbls lemon juice
4 tbls soft butter
1 cup of fresh or frozen raspberries and blueberries combined
*Basil sugar

Topping
1 cup icing sugar
lemon juice extra

Combine 2 tablespoons of lemon juice, lemon zest and butter with the basil sugar and mix together.
Roll out the dough on a floured surface to measure a rectangle about 45 x 35 cms 18 x 14 inches.

Spread the basil sugar over the entire dough area evenly. Then sprinkle the fruit over the dough leaving a small edge clear all the way around. Once you have done this, start to roll up tightly from the long edge, like a swiss roll. Once you have done this pinch the seam to seal it.  Then place in the fridge for 15 minutes to firm it up.

Using a sharp serrated knife cut it into about 10 even pieces and place in a small pie dish or sandwich tin which has been greased. At this point, it may feel a little strange cutting up the dough and if the filling seems to be seeping out, don't worry because it will leave a lovely jammy kind of crust.

Bake in a preheated oven, 180º  fan forced / 375º and bake for 20 - 25 minutes

Leave it in the tin to cool and then add the icing.

Mix the icing sugar and lemon juice until it is creamy and runny and drizzle on the cool scroll.

Then, take out a slice for yourself before anyone else gets the hint that you have made it. Prepare for the rush of people wanting to taste it.