Inspiration for this combination of ingredients comes from my love of Moroccan food. Orange blossom water is made from Spain's Seville oranges. It adds an intriguing flavour to recipes and is good for enhancing fruit, particularly apricots.

Ingredients

• 1¼ cups water
• grated rind 2 oranges
• ¼ cup orange juice
• 1 tblsp orange blossom water
• ½ cup caster sugar
• 50 grams butter, softened
• 1 tsp salt
• 4 cups high grade flour
• 6 tsp fast-acting bread yeast
• ½ cup chopped glace apricots (see Cook\'s Tips)
• 70 grams pistachio nuts, roughly chopped
• beaten egg or milk to glaze (optional)

Glaze

• ¼ cup orange juice
• ¼ cup caster sugar

Method

1. Put the following ingredients in a bread machine in this order: water, orange rind, orange juice, orange blossom water, sugar, butter and salt. Top with the flour and yeast and set machine to dough function.
2. Once ready, turn out onto a floured board and deflate gently. Scatter over the glace apricots and pistachio nuts and knead very gently into the dough. Cover and rest for 10 minutes. Divide the dough in half, then divide each half into 8-10 pieces.
3. Roll the pieces into even-sized balls and place 1 cm apart on a greased baking tray. Cover with warm, dry tea towel and leave in a warm draught-free place for 45 minutes or until the balls have almost doubled in size.
4. Brush with a beaten egg or milk to glaze if wished and pipe on the crosses. Allow to finish rising (without covering) until double the original size.
5. Bake at 190ºC for 20-25 minutes until well risen and golden.
6. To make the glaze, heat the orange juice in the microwave, add the sugar and stir until dissolved. Brush the buns with the glaze and transfer to a cake rack to cool. Serve warm.

Cooks Tips

Glace fruits have been cooked in sugar until they become saturated with the syrup. Instead of glace apricots, try Turkist dried apricots. Dice and then soak in a little alcohol until they become very moist.