Bernie's Basic Bun Mixture

My mother, Bernie, always had a batch of buns at the ready for any callers and rarely did anyone leave her kitchen without a cup of tea to accompany one. In my own kitchen, I almost always have a few buns in the press. I made these buns with each group of students I taught in the cookery school and they always turned out perfectly, as buns are just so easy to make. I also find children love to decorate the buns with different toppings.

This basic bun recipe is credited to Mother, and in a time when margarine was the choice of bakers, she would often choose Flora Light. My mother, like many in my family, suffered from high cholesterol. Similar to me, she preferred real butter on her bread and potatoes. Hence the Flora Light, that was bought out of the best of intentions, was inevitably left sitting unused in the fridge. However, she did put it to good use and began to bake with it. These buns always turned out so delicious and light that this became a recipe that was used over and over. My sister Fiona and I now always use Mam's recipe for buns. Also one of these plain buns contains less than 100 calories which makes them a good choice as an alternative to biscuits.

Ingredients (makes 24)
225g (8oz) Flora light
225g (8oz) caster sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 free-range eggs
280g (10oz) self-raising flour, sieved
30ml milk

Method
1. Preheat the oven to 200°C / fan 180°C / 390°F / gas mark 6.
2. Place the flora, sugar, and vanilla extract into a bowl and cream together for about 5 minutes, until it is a pale yellow colour.
3. Add the eggs, one at a time with a little flour- to prevent the mixture from curdling. Mix well.
4. Add the flour little by little and gently combine. Stir in the milk. If it drops off easily in a dollop then it is ready.
5. Take a spoonful of mixture, with a dessert spoon, and scrape into the bun case using a teaspoon. Don’t fill the case to the top.
6. Bake in the oven for 20 mins or until golden brown in colour. Cool on a wire tray.