Homemade Spelt Belgian Buns with Lemon Icing

Paying homage to one of Britain’s finest bakery treats, these homemade spelt Belgian buns are topped with tangy lemon frosting. The recipe can be adapted to use all-purpose flour in place of the spelt, and there are instructions for making the dough in a bread machine or stand mixer.

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I am going to start off by saying that these are my take on the classic Belgian buns, and they are not quite authentic. I wanted to recreate something similar to what you can buy on a British high street, and they are missing the traditional lemon curd.

What are Belgian Buns?

Belgian buns are sweet, swirled bread buns. They are stuffed with sultanas or raisins, have luscious sweet lemon icing, and the cherry on top is, well, quite literally a glacé cherry on top. 

Despite the name, there is no hard evidence linking the buns to Belgium. However, the Belgians do have a very similar looking swirled bun (albeit with less icing) called a couque suisses. We seem to be falling down a rabbit hole here, as the word suisses means Swiss in French.

The term Belgian bun is used in most parts of the UK, but apparently, they call them cherry boobies in parts of Somerset. I don’t think I need to clarify the reason why. For those not familiar with the a Somerset accent, it has the most delightful twang, and it’s hilarious to imagine them saying cherry boobies!

Belgian buns are immensely popular in the UK. You can’t walk past a bakery without turning to look at their magnificence. They are invariably huge. So big they are virtually impossible to ignore, and even harder to eat a whole one yourself. Well, let’s get truthful, here. It’s not hard for me. There’s going to be no sharing from this end, believe me. 

My spelt Belgian buns are a little more on the modest side. Especially compared to what you’d find in a high street bakery, anyway. They are not so big that you feel 10lbs sliding on to your body, but big enough to satisfy you. 

Aren’t Belgian buns just Chelsea buns?

Yes, they are very similar, but there are distinctions.

The bread dough used in both buns is pretty much the same, with the use of eggs, butter and milk to enrich the dough. There is also a touch of sugar to sweeten it in both recipes. Both recipes include dried fruit. Chelsea buns often have lemon or orange peel, but this is not the case for Belgian buns. Chelsea buns have cinnamon and other spices; whereas Belgian buns do not.

A traditional Chelsea bun does not have icing (although I have seen some Australian recipes where Chelsea buns look more like a cinnamon bun with frosting). Instead, it has a sticky glaze without a cherry. 

I would say that one of the biggest distinctions is that there is no lemon curd in Chelsea buns. This makes my version a bit of a mash-up between the two, but I am perfectly fine with that. 

The filling for my Belgian buns

Although a more traditional Belgian bun has lemon curd in the filling, I chose not to use it. Instead, I replaced it with melted butter and a sprinkling of lemon zest. The reason for this is simple: I don’t like lemon curd. I didn’t want to make a batch for the small amount needed, and then have no use for the rest. However, you could absolutely replace my butter and lemon zest with lemon curd. 

Other spelt sweet bun recipes

Homemade sweet buns have got to be one of my favourite things, ever. Here are some of my best recipes:

• Coffee cinnamon spelt buns
• Raspberry and vanilla overnight buns
• Caramel apple spelt buns
• Giant skillet cinnamon bun
• Sticky caramel spelt buns
• Blackberry iced fingers
• Nutella babka

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Homemade Spelt Belgian Buns with Lemon Icing

This recipe for spelt Belgian buns is made from scratch in a bread machine and uses only spelt flour. The sweet buns are topped with a divine lemon icing.

Course Snack

Cuisine British

Keyword Spelt Belgian Buns

Prep Time 5 minutes minutes

Cook Time 13 minutes minutes

Servings 18 buns

Ingredients

Dough (see note 1):

• 150ml (⅔ cup) milk
• 50g (¼ cup) butter
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 7g (2¼ tsp) dried yeast (see note 3)
• 400-450g (3⅓ - 3¾ cups) white flour (see note 2)
• 2 tbs brown sugar
• 2 tbs white sugar
• ½ tsp salt

Filling (see note 4)

• 25g (1¾ tbs) butter (melted)
• zest of one lemon
• 100g (3½ oz) raisins or sultanas

Icing:

• 200g (7 oz) icing / powdered sugar
• 2-3 tbs lemon juice
• touch of milk (if needed)
• glacé cherries

Instructions

DOUGH

Bread Machine:

• Add the milk, butter, eggs and vanilla to your bread machine pan.
• Then add 400g (3⅓ cups) of flour, and the remaining dough ingredients. 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.

Stand Mixer:

• Add the milk, butter, eggs and vanilla to your stand mixer bowl. If the butter is straight out of the fridge, it won't combine with the other wet ingredients too much, but that's okay.
• Then add 450g (3¾ cups) of flour, and the remaining dough 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 5 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 form into a rough ball.

Continue for both methods:

• When ready, line or grease two large baking trays and pre-heat the oven to 190°C (375℉).
• Roll out the dough into a large rectangle shape. Aim for about 45cm x 55cm (17¾" x 21½") as a rough guide.
• Melt the butter and then brush it all over the dough (see note 4).
• Sprinkle the raisins over the top (leaving about ½ inch all the way round the edge), and then sprinkle over the zest.
• With the shorter side in front of you carefully roll the dough, making sure you keep it quite tight as you go.
• Using a sharp knife, cut the dough into thin slices (you should get 14-18 buns, depending on how big they are).
• Pinch any edges together and use your hands to shape them into circles (they will already be round, but might need a little more shaping).
• Place them on the baking tray with plenty of space between.
• Bake in the lower part of the oven for around 10-14 minutes, just until golden. Do not overbake - they are ready when the bottoms sound hollow when tapped. Too much cooking will result in dry buns.
• Remove them from the oven, pop onto a wire rack, and allow to cool completely.

Icing:

• Add 2 tablespoons of lemon juice to a bowl.
• Start to mix in some icing / powdered sugar, gradually add more until a thick icing comes together.
• Spread over the buns and place a glacé cherry on top of each one. Enjoy!

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.

1. 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!
2. You can use spelt or regular flour for this recipe (just use the same amount).
3. 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 dry active yeast is the most similar to our dried yeast.
4. Traditional Belgian buns often have lemon curd as their filling. If you would like to use lemon curd, omit the butter and lemon zest and spread 50g (1¾ ounces) over the dough.