It’s tradition in Switzerland, to serve flower shaped buns at the 6th of January. In the middle of one bun a plastic king is hidden. Who will be the king today?
Flower shaped buns filled with lemon curd
To make dough, place flour, sugar mixed with vanilla sugar and salt in a huge bowl. Melt butter or plant based butter on low heat. Add butter or plant based margarine, soy milk and yeast. Combine all ingredients, leave the almond flakes and the decoration sugar. Knead well. Cover dough with a humid tea towel and leave for 1.5-2 hours. Allow the dough to double in size. Fold the cubes into the dough and knead well.
Cover a baking sheet with parchment paper. Form with one third of the dough one roll and with the remaining dough seven smaller ones. Spoon in the middle of each roll lemon curd and form the dough into rolls again. Place the center roll on the middle of the baking sheet. Arrange the rest around the center part. Cover the flower with a humid tea towel. Leave for another 20 minutes.
Chef’s Handyman tip: I keep the plastic kings of the last seasons. Every year the kings will be hidden in the middle of one roll. Especially for kids it will be fun to grab the right roll.
Apply soy milk on top of the buns or egg for the vegetarian version. Sprinkle with decorating sugar and flaked almonds. Bake in preheated oven at 190°C or 375°F for 22-25 minutes or until golden. Take out and cool on a wire rack.
Shopping list for the flower shaped sweet buns, about 800-900 g or 25-28 oz.: 500 g or 16 oz. flour, 100 g or 3.5 oz. sugar, 1 tbsp. yeast, 2 tbsp. decorating sugar, 2 tbsp. almond flakes, 70 g or 2.5 oz. butter or plant based margarine, 1 cup soy milk, 1 tsp. salt, 12 tbsp. lemon curd, 1 egg for the vegetarian version.
Have a great start, yours Chef’s Handyman team!