I bring you one of my most favourite among breakfast buns, the poppy seed bun.

Notice the strawberry cake photo in the magazine on the left? One of my photos and recipes published in the June issue of a food mag "Oma Maitse".

I will be sharing it with you over the course of the summer.

It's strawberry season! Weather has been cool and unbelievably rainy but it hasn't stopped the berries from growing :)

Poppy seed buns
            and
Rhubarb and custard buns

pastry cream
3 egg yolks
50g sugar
20g flour
250ml milk
vanilla pod
1 tbsp butter


Combine egg yolks with half of the sugar and whisk to a light ribbon consistency. Next mix in the flour, no lumps please.
In a saucepan scald milk with vanilla and the rest of the sugar. Pour hot milk over the egg yolks, stirring all the time. Mix well and return to the saucepan.
Bring the mixture to boil over medium-low heat, stirring continuously. Allow to bubble for a couple of minutes then tip into a bowl and stir in the butter. Cover with cling film to prevent a skin from forming.


dough
30g butter, melted
1 small egg white
160ml milk
15g fresh yeast
50g sugar
1/6 tsp ground cardamom
1/8 tsp salt
300g flour
milk and a bit of sugar, for brushing
75g poppy seeds
4 stalks rhubarb, sliced and poached in light syrup for about 8 minutes


Sieve flour into a bowl. Heat milk to 38°C. Mix yeast with sugar and warm milk. Pour into the flour, add cardamom, salt, egg white and butter. Mix it all together and knead into a smooth dough. About 7 minutes with a machine or a bit longer by hand. Cover and let rise in a warm place for about 50 minutes.

Divide the dough in half.

For the poppy seed buns:
Roll half of the dough into a shape of a rectangle. Spread with one-third of the pastry cream and scatter with plenty of poppy seeds. Now, with the longer side facing you, roll it up into a log. Using a clean wet knife, cut the log into slices, about 2cm thick. Should yield about five or six. Place the slices on a baking tray, pressing them into shape with your fingers. They might look lopsided after cutting. Drop a spoonful of pastry cream in the centre of each bun, cover and let rise. After rising, brush edges with sweetened milk and sprinkle with additional poppy seeds.

For the rhubarb buns:
Divide the other half of dough into five equal pieces. Briefly kneading each piece between your palms, roll the bits of dough into beautiful spheres and press into a flat circle, leaving the edges just slightly thicker. Scoop a good portion of pastry cream on top of each dough circle, about two-three tablespoons. Top with poached rhubarb. Place on a baking tray, leaving enough space between them. The buns will be double the size after rising and baking. Cover the tray and leave to rise in a warm place for 30-40 minutes. After rising, brush the edges of the buns with sweetened milk.

Preheat the oven to 210°C. Bake buns in the oven for 8 minutes. Do keep an eye on them as they will brown quickly. If the buns are not done after about eight minutes, then the oven is not hot enough. If the buns seem to get burnt then the oven is too hot.