Hot cross buns are spiced sweet buns usually made with fruit and marked with a cross on the top to represent the cross on which Christ died. They are traditionally eaten on Good Friday in the UK.
I love hot cross buns and would happily eat them all year round! These are lovely and soft and not doughy in the middle like the supermarket ones.
I have made these with the classic flavours and they really are worth all the effort.
They can be enjoyed just cut in half with butter or you can toast them!
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To start warm the milk to just above a tepid temperature in the microwave or in a pan then and add the cubes of butter to melt in the milk, mix and set aside.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook add the flour, sugar, salt, yeast*, egg, cinnamon and mixed spice.
*Do not put the yeast near the salt or it could kill the yeast.
Put the mixer on a low speed and add the milk & butter mixture slowly until all the flour is fully combined.
Set a timer for 7 minutes and increase the speed to medium. The dough will be quite wet initially but become smooth and glossy after mixing.
Take a large bowl and grease with oil and place the dough in it. Cover with greased cling film and put somewhere warm for 1-2 hours or until doubled in size. I find in the winter this takes much longer but do not rush this stage.
Leave the dough in the bowl and add the dried fruit and orange zest and work it into the dough with your hands.
On a lightly floured surface take the fruited bread dough and “knock it back”. This means to knock the air bubbles out of the dough. Use your nuckles and fold the dough over and over. You will hear air bubbles popping - continue to do this until all the air bubbles have gone.
Divide the dough into 12 pieces.
Now shape the bread into 12 round shapes by using the palm of your hands keep going around the edges and tucking the dough under until you have round smooth buns .
Place the buns on a baking tray with baking parchment and recover with the cling film.
Leave to prove for a second time until they have doubled in size and are nearly touching each other.
Pre-heat the oven to 200 degrees centigrade (180 fan).
Mix the flour and water into a smooth paste and put in a disposable icing bag.
When ready to pipe the crosses snip off the end and pipe down each row then across each row to make the crosses.
Bake the hot cross buns for 20 minutes.
Finally brush the buns with the apricot jam while hot from the oven then place on a cooling rack
Hot Cross Buns
Sarah’s servings: 12
Sarah's skill: Hard
Baking time: 20 minutes
Ingredients:
300ml Tepid milk
50g Cubed unsalted butter
500g Strong white flour
80g Caster sugar
1tsp Salt
7g Sachet of dried yeast
2tsp Ground cinnamon
2tsp Mixed ground spice
1 Large egg
125g Mixed fruit
Zest of 1 large orange
100g Strong white bread flour
6 Tbsp water
2Tbsp Apricot jam
Method:
Warm the milk to just above a tepid temperature in the microwave or in a pan then and add the cubes of butter to melt in the milk, mix and set aside.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook add the flour, sugar, salt, yeast*, egg, cinnamon and mixed spice. *Do not put the yeast near the salt or it could kill the yeast.
Put the mixer on a low speed and add the milk & butter mixture slowly until all the flour is fully combined.
Set a timer for 7 minutes and increase the speed to medium. The dough will be quite wet initially but become smooth and glossy after mixing.
Take a large bowl and grease with oil and place the dough in it. Cover with greased cling film and put somewhere warm for 1-2 hours or until doubled in size. I find in the winter this takes much longer but do not rush this stage.
Leave the dough in the bowl and add the dried fruit and orange zest and work it into the dough with your hands.
On a lightly floured surface take the fruited bread dough and “knock it back”. This means to knock the air bubbles out of the dough. Use your nuckles and fold the dough over and over. You will hear air bubbles popping - continue to do this until all the air bubbles have gone.
Now shape the bread into 12 round shapes by using the palm of your hands keep going around the edges and tucking the dough under until you have round smooth buns .
Place the buns on a baking tray with baking parchment and recover with the cling film.
Leave to prove for a second time until they have doubled in size and are nearly touching each other.
Pre-heat the oven to 200 degrees centigrade (180 fan).
Mix the flour and water into a smooth paste and put in a disposable icing bag. When ready to pipe the crosses snip off the end and pipe down each row then across each row to make the crosses.
Bake the hot cross buns for 20 minutes.
Finally brush the buns with the apricot jam while hot from the oven then place on a cooling rack.
Sarah’s extra slice……
If you don’t like the peel in mixed fruit just use raisins or sultanas or a mixture of both.