Tip: Make the dough the night before and allow to prove overnight in the refrigerator. This saves you time in the morning, plus the dough is easier to roll out when it’s cold.
- To prepare the dough the evening before, mix the plain flour with the yeast, milk, salt, sugar and egg until the dough begins to come together.
- Whilst kneading, add the butter a tablespoon at a time until the dough is smooth and comes away from the bowl, about 10 minutes in a food processor.
- Cover with a tea towel, then place the bowl in a plastic bag and refrigerate until the next morning.
- In the morning, mix the butter with the caster sugar and the speculaas spice to make the filling.
- Roll out the dough into a strip 24cm wide and as long as possible. Spread with the speculaas filling, keeping the edges free. Cut strips 3 cm wide, leaving you with approximately a 3 cm strip on both sides with no filling, which can be discarded
- Roll up the strips and place (with the roll facing up) on a baking tray lined with baking paper. Allow the buns to prove at room temperature until doubled in size, about an hour.
- Preheat the oven to 200 degrees and bake the buns for 15 minutes.
- In the meantime, make the topping by beating the cream cheese with the icing sugar and vanilla extract. Add the softened butter and mix well.
- Allow the buns to cool slightly and serve with the topping.