I made a classic Jam roly poly even better with 1 change

They say don’t mess with the classics; if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. However, when I took one look at the front of August’s edition of Good Food magazine and it claimed to make “British classics… but better”, I just had to see what they elevated.

Bakewell tart, fish and chips, the Scotch egg, Good Food went straight for the jugular. They even dolled up the classic school dinner dessert of jam roly poly. This is just had to recreate for myself.

Instead of a Swiss roll-esque pud, the Jam roly poly was to become buns a la cinnamon buns, if you catch my drift? While the traditional recipe calls for a steamed suet pastry dough, these buns use a yeast-enriched dough.

This swap offers a soft, tender and slightly chewy bite. Of course the custard accompaniment isn’t going anywhere, taking centre stage as the flavour in the dough and the icing.

To make the dough even more sumptuous, Good Food added a tangzhong to the mix. Tangzhong – also known as a water roux – is a pre-cooked mixture of flour and liquid (usually water or milk) that is added to bread dough to create a softer, moister, and longer-lasting loaf.

It’s achieved by heating a portion of the milk and flour together to form a rather unattractive glue-like substance. Honestly, it’s a game-changer.

The recipe is very simple to follow, but requires a stroke of patience for the proving time. Dough is not something you want to mess up. Thankfully, mine worked perfectly.

I’ll admit this isn’t the best recipe for impatient bakers – or eaters – but it’s definitely worth the wait. The buns are unbelievably soft; the tangzhong adds another dimension to the dough.

I’d never heard of a tanzhong before reading this recipe, but I certainly will never forget it, and definitely will be adding it to other recipes for cinnamon buns. What began as a gloopy, Plaster of Paris-esque sludge completely transformed the dough into soft pillows for the jam.

The custard-flavour icing just makes the buns complete, taking me back to days sitting in the lunch hall munching on school dinners. Jam roly poly was one of those desserts that screamed ‘bygone era’, but really, it encompassed everything comforting about British food.

The marriage of sponge, jam, and custard is a combination ingrained into nostalgia. Its flavours are still used in a very retro recipe my mum uses for a steamed jam sponge pudding from an ancient cookbook from Jamie Oliver. It still goes down a treat every Christmas.

Good Food’s playful take on the classic pudding brings it into the 21st century, giving it a new look and modern flair. If you’re craving even more of that nostalgic taste, I don’t think warm custard or a generous scoop of vanilla ice cream would go amiss.

If anyone complains that British classics are bland, boring, beige, and vanilla, this sweet treat will make them think again.

Ingredients

• 400ml whole milk
• 150g plain flour, plus extra for dusting
• Two eggs, beaten
• 300g strong white bread flour
• 7g instant yeast
• Two tbsp golden caster sugar
• One tbsp custard powder
• 100g salted butter, cubed and softened
• Vegetable oil, for proving
• Six to seven tbsp raspberry jam

For the icing

• Two tbsp custard powder
• Five tbsp icing sugar
• One and a half tsp vanilla extract

Method

First, make the tangzhong. Mix 200ml of the milk with 50g of the plain flour in a small heatproof bow.

Microwave for one to two minutes, stirring every 30 seconds, until you have a thick paste. Leave to cool for a few minutes while you make the rest of the dough.

Gently warm the remaining milk in a small pan over a low heat on the hob. Once steaming, remove from the heat and leave to cool to just lukewarm before whisking in half of the beaten egg.

Sift both the flours into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook. Add the yeast, one teaspoon of salt, the golden caster sugar and the custard powder, and whisk briefly to combine.

With the mixer on low, add the tangzhong, then slowly add the milk and egg mixture in a continuous stream. Turn the mixer up to medium and mix for seven to either minutes until you have a smooth dough.

Add the butter, a cube at a time, waiting until the first cube has been incorporated before adding the next; this should take about ten minutes.

It will be a soft dough, so flour your hands and the work surface well before forming the dough into a ball and putting in a large, oiled bowl. Leave to rise in a warm spot for one hour, then cover and chill overnight.

The next day, roll the dough out into a roughly 40x30cm rectangle. Spread over the ham, then roll the rectangle up tightly from one of the longer sides.

Slice into 12 spirals using a sharp, serrated knife, then transfer to a baking tray or tin lined with baking parchment, spacing them slightly apart. Cover and leave to rise for another hour until puffed up and touching at the sides. Brush over the remaining beaten egg.

Heat the oven to 200℃/180℃ (fan)/gas 6 and bake for 20 to 25 minutes until golden and cooked. Cool for 15 minutes.

While the buns cool, make the icing. Whisk together the custard powder and icing sugar.

Combine the milk and vanilla bean paste, then add this slowly to the dry mix in a steady stream, mixing all the white until you have a thick yellow icing. Transfer to a piping bag.

Snip the tip of the piping bag and drizzle the icing over the warm buns before serving.

Best eaten the day they’re made, but will keep at room temperature for two days in an airtight container.