Cornish splits

Ingredients

For stage one:

• 160g strong plain flour
• 25g fresh yeast
• 250g tepid water (not hot)
• 25g sugar

For stage two:

• 360g strong plain flour
• 60g sugar
• 15g milk powder
• 70g Cornish butter
• A pinch of salt

Method

A slow developing yeast is needed for this, which is started in a ‘sponge’ to counteract the sugar in the recipe.

Stage one:
1. Dissolve the yeast and sugar in the water

2. Pour into the flour and whisk

3. Cover and leave in a warm place

4. This will ferment and rapidly double in size

5. When the yeast runs out of sugar, it will begin to collapse

Stage two:
1. Mix the dry ingredients and then slowly mix in the butter

2. Add the fermented mixture from stage one slowly until absorbed.

3. Increase the mixer speed until the dough clears and becomes glossy

4. Cover and leave for about half an hour

5. Knead the dough and then divide into 15 equal pieces and mould into balls

6. Place on a greased baking tray. Cover and leave until they have doubled their size

7. Cook in a hot oven 180C for about 16 minutes

8. Test to see if they sound hollow

9. Put on a cooling tray and dredge with icing sugar

10. …See how long you can wait before eating one!