Ingredients

• 500g/1lb 2oz strong white bread flour
• 2 tsp salt
• 40g/1½oz caster sugar
• 2 x 7g sachets fast-action yeast
• 40g/1½oz unsalted butter
• softened
• 150ml/5fl oz full-fat milk
• 2 tsp ground green cardamom
• 2 tsp ground nutmeg
• 250ml/9fl oz full-fat milk
• 40g/1½oz caster sugar
• 2 medium free-range egg yolks
• 20g/¾oz cornflour
• ¼ tsp fine sea salt
• 1 tsp almond extract
• 50ml/2fl oz whipping cream
• 300g/10½oz sour cherries (drained weight)
• 300g/10½oz jam sugar
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• cherry essence flavouring
• Morello cherry essence flavouring
• 1 pasteurized egg white
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 250g/9oz icing sugar
• sifted
• 400ml/14fl oz double cream
• 4 tbsp icing sugar
• sifted
• 50g/1¾oz slivered almonds
• toasted
• green cardamom powder
• for dusting
• icing sugar
• for dusting

Directions

• For the dough
• put the flour into the bowl of a freestanding mixer fitted with a dough hook. Add the salt and sugar to one side of the bowl and the yeast to the other. Add the butter
• milk and 150ml/5fl oz water. Mix until a dough forms then knead in the mixer for 5 minutes. Cover the bowl with cling film and leave to prove in a warm place for 1 hour
• or until doubled in size.
• Once the dough has proved
• divide it into 2 equal parts. Flatten each piece of dough out and add the cardamom to one and the nutmeg to the other. Knead to distribute the spices and knock out the air.
• Divide each piece of dough into 8 equal parts. Roll the cardamom dough into balls and the nutmeg dough into fingers. Place on baking trays
• cover and leave to prove for 30 minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 200C/180C Fan/Gas 5. Bake the bread for 10 minutes.
• For the almond custard
• warm the milk and sugar in a saucepan. In a bowl
• whisk together the egg yolks and cornflour. Slowly add the hot milk to the egg mixture stirring all the time. Return to the pan and heat
• stirring all the time
• until thickened. Remove from the heat and add the salt and almond extract. Cover the surface with cling film and leave to cool completely.
• Whip the cream until soft peaks form
• then fold into the cooled custard.
• For the sour cherry jam
• drain the cherries and blend them to a paste in a blender. Transfer to a saucepan and add the sugar and lemon juice. Boil the mixture until it reaches 105C on a sugar thermometer. Remove from the heat and stir in the cherry flavourings. Pass through a sieve and leave to cool completely. When cool transfer to a piping bag fitted with a small plain nozzle.
• For the royal icing
• beat the egg white and lemon juice using a wooden spoon until frothy
• then add 3 tbsp icing sugar and beat again. Keep beating and adding a few tablespoons of icing sugar until all the icing sugar is incorporated and you have a smooth paste (if the icing is too thick add a little water to slacken). Transfer to a piping bag fitted with a plain nozzle.
• For the Chantilly cream
• add the cream and icing sugar to a large bowl. Whip until soft peaks form when the whisk is removed. Transfer to a piping bag fitted with a large star nozzle and leave in the fridge.
• To assemble the cardamom and almond buns
• cut the buns in half horizontally and fill them with the almond custard. Pipe icing on top of the bun
• top with toasted almonds
• a sprinkling of cardamom powder and a dusting of icing sugar.
• To assemble the nutmeg and sour cherry fingers
• make a deep slit lengthways in the top of the bread fingers. Pipe icing on both sides of the slits and leave to set.
• Pipe some cherry jam in the bottom of the slit. Pipe the cream neatly on top and pipe two stripes of cherry jam at either side of the cream.