A perennial favourite, sausage rolls never fail to make an appearance especially at a party table laden with various calorie-loaded food. However, with our palates evolving and crying out to try different versions of old staples, it was a treat to try the new Sausage Banis created by Dush Ratnayake. 

The founder of Bellissima, Sri Lanka’s first dessert store is a man of many talents. With the demands of the new normal, Dush has introduced a range of his very own Sausage Banis. As its name implies it is a sausage encased in the softest bread bun. The sausage banis thanks to the sauce which is slathered on the encased sausage is full of flavour. The sausage banis is very filling and after I ate one I had to stop and hand over the other bun to my colleague who equally enjoyed it.

Very similar to the Chinese sausage buns you see in Asia, made from Tangzhong, a dough made with flour and milk, Dush’s buns include heavy cream, butter and eggs which make them very soft and fluffy. He goes one step further and rubs the buns with garlic butter prior to baking to give a luxurious texture.

Each sausage bun uses a premium sausage with its own unique sauce. The Onion and Cheese Chicken Sausage Bun (halal) is paired with a Kewpie Pepper Mayo. The Pork Sausage Bun with high-quality local mustard is made into a traditional Burgher recipe. The Kochchi Sausage Bun contains a homemade naimiris hot sauce. Dush says “with the Kochchi Bun I wanted to play with colour as well as I haven’t seen coloured savoury buns in the local market and find the idea quite fun. I’m also working on a vegetarian sausage bun.”  Although Dush is partial to a sausage roll with its crumbly flaky pastry, he decided to create the Sausage Banis because “you don’t find good quality sausage buns for sale” he says.  

Explaining the timely birth of his sausage banis he explains “it was completely random. I made it for tea one day for a friend and we loved them so much I thought why not sell them. A few days after I started, the lockdown happened. This was quite serendipitous as I had to halt my regular business operations at Bellissima as it’s next to impossible to source ingredients for my puddings during the lockdown.”  

Perfect for a teatime treat, be warned that these sausage banis are good bundy fillers!