Iced Fingers

Do you ever crave the simple foods of your childhood? I know I do. The other day I fancied baking, but I wanted to make something unusual. After a bit of searching the internet for some inspiration, I decided on Iced Fingers (or buns, whatever you prefer to call them). However, finding a recipe wasn't particularly easy so I took several and put my own spin on them. I settled on these little fingers not only for their appetising appeal, but also because they could be made using ingredients I already had in my cupboard. A no obscure ingredient kind of recipe is simply the best.

I was far too impatient to let them cool before applying the simply scrumptious icing and so their presentation was lacking, however they tasted incredible!

So here is the recipe:

Ingredients

For the Dough

500g strong white flour (don't worry about using bread flour, plain flour works perfectly well)
60g caster sugar
40g unsalted butter, softened
14g instant yeast (I used2 of the 7g packets I had hiding at the back of my cupboard)
2 eggs
150ml warm milk
140ml water

For the Icing

200g icing sugar
7 tsp of cold water

Method

1. Place all ingredients (but not all of the water, perhaps around half) into a bowl and mix with your hands or spatula to combine. Gradually add the remaining water as you mix.

2. Once the mixture has come together, knead in the bowl for approx 10 minutes with your hands.

3. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and continue to knead for a further 10 minutes. The dough should be sticky and have an elastic feel to it. Return the dough to the bowl, cover with a damp tea towel and leave in a warm place for 1 hour to rise.

4. Divide the dough into 12 equal pieces, if you're using a set of digital scales I think I worked out that each piece should roughly weigh 75g. Roll into balls in the palm of your hand and then into fingers shapes. You can leave them in balls if you would prefer though, whatever is easiest!

5. Place the dough shapes onto a greased baking tray, leaving plenty of space for them to double in size. Do not cover them. Leave to rise in a warm place for 40 minutes.

6. Before your 40 minutes is up, heat the oven to 220 C, or 200 C fan. Once risen, bake for 10 minutes before removing from the oven to cool.

7. Sift your icing sugar and mix in the water. Be careful when adding the water as you want to make the mixture as thick as possible for a strong coating of icing. If your mixture is too thin, simply add more icing sugar and similarly if it's a bit too thick, add a few drops of water.

8. Try not to eat them all at once.

Let me know if you give them a go on Instagram, i'd love to see some photographs!