Wild Garlic Butter Pull-apart Buns

This recipe yields soft, garlic-y pull-apart buns. If wild garlic butter and cinnamon buns ever procreated, this would be their food baby.

Stu and I are grateful to have a home nestled away in the forest. Every spring, I set out to find elusive patches of wild garlic or ramps: no luck so far! Thankfully for me and this recipe, my friend generously accepted to share her patch so that I could finally harvest some delicious wild garlic leaves.

The season for ramps is quite short, so my mission is always to preserve their delicate flavour, which is similar to garlic but without any of that tangy sharpness. I decided to make wild garlic butter because it freezes beautifully; the fat locks in the aromatic compounds; and because butter is freaking good on everything! Pasta, bread, popcorn, eggs, seafood - need I go on?! Having garlic butter in your freezer is a must because it can instantly make any recipe better.

What follows are instructions on how to make wild garlic butter, as well as soft, pillowy buns to serve it on.

Wild garlic butter recipe

150g wild garlic leaves

450g room temperature butter

Zest of 1 lemon

1. Roughly chop the butter and wild garlic.

2. Add to a food processor with the lemon zest and blitz until the garlic leaves are finely chopped and fully incorporated into the butter.

3. Use in the bun recipe below.

4. Leftover wild garlic butter can be kept in an airtight container for 2-3 weeks in the fridge.

5. Alternatively, place butter on plastic film, shape it into a log and freeze for up to 12 months.
   

Pull-apart garlic bun recipe

Yield: 8 buns

115g milk

25g AP flour

150g milk

6g instant yeast

300g AP flour

6g salt

25g sugar

60g butter, room temp

1. In a small saucepan, pour 115g milk and 25g flour and cook on medium-high.

2. Whisk constantly until it forms a smooth paste, and transfer to a mixing bowl.

3. Pour the remaining milk into the warm saucepan and whisk in the instant yeast.

4. Weigh the remaining ingredients and place them in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the hook attachment.

5. Pour in the warm milk mixture and mix on low until the dough comes together.

6. Then increase speed to medium speed and kneed until the dough is smooth, elastic and successfully passes the windowpane test * (approx. 10 minutes).

7. Remove hook and place a dishtowel over the bowl to proof the dough (approx. 1hr).

8. Lightly flour your work surface and stretch the dough out to a rectangle approx. 1.5cm thick, 25cm wide and 30cm long.

9. Evenly spread a generous quantity of the garlic butter, leaving a 2cm wide band along the narrow side at the top.

10. Roll the dough starting at the bottom.

11. Mark the top of the dough using a sharp knife to create 8 equal pieces.

12. Using floss or fishing wire, slide it under the dough and cross it over the top, cleanly slicing the roll.

13. Place rolls in a parchment-lined pan, leaving at least a 2 cm gap between each roll.

14. Cover and proof for approx. 1hr.

15. Bake at 375°F for 18-20 minutes.

16. Enjoy!

* Windowpane test verifies if the gluten has been sufficiently developed. To do this, grab a piece of dough (roughly the size of a golf ball) and roll it into a ball. Then gently flatten and start to pull evenly around the edges. My chef at school said “you should be able to stretch the dough and be able to read a newspaper through it” without it tearing. If it tears, keep kneading the dough.