House-warming Saffron Buns

My sister and her family recently moved house after a very (VERY) long time of trying to do so.  I wanted to bake them something nice to celebrate and decided on Saffron buns.

My Grandma grew up in Devon and even after moving to Shropshire, raising a family here, and confessing to a love for her adopted county, she still thought of herself as a Devonshire lass.  We spent a fair few holidays in that part of the world as children and my sister opted to attend university there.

Pasties, saffron cake, and clotted cream have always been popular not just in our house but with all of the family and whenever my sister came home from university she did so laden with huge boxes of pasties, many tubs of cream and saffron cakes ordered by our many uncles.  I remember one time visiting her at Uni before coming home together and we spent the morning driving round several bakeries and clearing them out of stock in order to get as many pasties as needed!

So saffron cake or buns have quite a special place in my heart, and the warming saffron spice seemed an appropriate choice for a house warming gift.  They are also on my current list of bakes to try.

I used a recipe from The Great British Book of Baking, and while I wasn't expecting them to match up to the standards of Budleigh Salterton (small bakery there many moons ago, hands down best saffron cake I have ever tasted) they looked like a tasty bake.

Unfortunately this house-warming gift did not warm well, my dough did not rise.  Not after the 3-4 hours that was suggested, and not after the 24 hours I left it just in case.

Dough after mixing (left), and dough after 24 hours (right)

I didn't bother baking them, it didn't seem worth it.  Still, I do dearly love saffron buns (and am rather fond of my sister!), so will at some point try again.