Ingredients

Step by step

1. Heat the butter until melted then remove from the heat and add the milk. In a large mixing bowl or stand mixer, stir together the flours, yeast, salt and caster sugar. Make a well in the centre and pour in the egg, vanilla, the milk mixture and 100ml water. Mix to a soft dough, adding up to 25ml extra water if the dough has any dry patches.
2. Knead by hand for 10 minutes, or in a stand mixer for 5 minutes on low speed, until the dough is smooth and springy to the touch. Return the dough to the bowl, cover with a damp tea towel and set aside in a warm place to rise for 1 hour, or until doubled in size.
3. Knock the dough back and divide into 12 equal balls on a lightly floured surface. Roll into fingers, about 12cm long. Place on a lightly greased baking tray (about 25cm x 30cm) in two rows of 6, leaving space in between. Cover the buns and set aside to rise for 30-45 minutes until they have roughly doubled in size and feel soft and pillowy.
4. Preheat the oven to 200°C, fan 180°C, gas 6. Bake the buns for 12-15 minutes, until risen and golden, turning the tray after 10 minutes. Remove to a wire rack to cool and cover with a clean damp cloth to keep the outsides soft.
5. To make the icing, push the 150g raspberries through a sieve into a bowl, to make a coulis. Set aside a tablespoonful of this coulis in a cup, then sift the icing sugar into the bowl, and mix until thick and smooth. Add the rose water, to taste, plus the reserved coulis if needed, to give a smooth, fairly thick spreadable icing. Pull the buns apart to separate from one another and dip the top of each in the icing. Scatter over the rose petals and top with 3 raspberry halves. Leave the icing to set; these are best eaten on the day of baking.