Hot Cross Buns!

We’d only made hot cross buns once before and, to be honest, they were disappointing. The texture of the bread just wasn’t right let alone the spicing and balance of fruit. This time, I decided to find a tried and tested recipe from one of the knowledgable posters on the BBC Food Chat board. When I say “I”, what I really mean is “we”, since Pete is definitely the master baker in this household! In the end we couldn’t decide between two recipes (by users X and Cherrytreeagain), so we amalgamated both. We also halved the amounts to make just 6 rolls instead of 12.

Well, we must have done something right, as the resulting hot cross buns were delicious! If I’d known they’d come out this well we’d have made the full 12!

I’m providing the recipe amounts doubled back up again to make 12. Note, we didn’t bother with crosses (though we probably will next time) or a glaze (which neither of us like).

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Hot Cross Buns

Cook Time 20 minutes minutes

Servings 12

Ingredients

• 7 g easy blend yeast
• 40 g caster sugar
• 1 tsp salt
• 450 g strong white bread flour
• 1 level tsp mixed spice
• ½ tsp cinnamon
• 1 pinch nutmeg
• 50 g unsalted butter
• 140 g currants, sultanas and/or raisins (dried weight)
• water (to soak dried fruits)
• 50 g chopped mixed peel
• ¼ pint milk
• ¼ pint liquid reserved after soaking dried fruits

For crosses:

• 75 g flour
• milk enough to make a pipable paste

For glaze:

• 2 tbsp milk
• 2 tbsp sugar

Instructions

• Soak the currants, sultanas and/or raisins overnight in just enough water to cover.
• Drain the dried fruits, reserving the liquid, just before making the dough.
• Mix the spices into the flour.
  
• Rub the butter into the flour until large crumbs form.
  
• Add the sugar, fruit, peel, yeast, milk and the reserved soaking liquid and mix until the mixture combines into an elastic ball and leaves the side of the bowl easily. Note: it is better for the dough to be slack (wet) rather than tight (dry). Knead for a few minutes.
  
• Cover and leave to double in size.
  
• Knock back and knead again.
• Shape into 12 rounds and put onto a baking tray lined with non-stick paper or silicon baking sheet.
  
• Cover and leave to double in size.
• Optional: mix the flour and milk into a paste and pipe crosses onto the buns.
• Back at 200C (fan oven) for 20 minutes.
• Optional: A few minutes before the buns are ready to come out, mix the milk and sugar and heat until the sugar has dissolved. Brush over the cooked buns and return to the over for just a minute before removing.
• Leave to cool briefly or you'll burn your fingers like we did!
  

Happy baking!