Hot Cross Buns
An Easter treat to be sure are Hot Cross Buns. I prefer them to Easter Eggs, hot, steamy, slathered in butter and much to the eternal horror of my wife, with a little bit of Vegemite. Hot Cross Buns are not too sweet and I think the fruit lends itself to a savoury application, rather than her preferred Raspberry Jam.
Last night, after flicking through the Ladies, A Plate cookbook which is a tome that I have dismissed after three failures, the decision was made to make up a batch. The recipe gave two options for rising the dough and we took the option of rising in the fridge overnight. This give a wonderful texture and seems to eliminate the yeasty flavour that can happen with other homemade breads.
Ingredients
300ml milk
30g active yeast
510g flour
55g brown sugar
1 teaspoon salt
3 teaspoon mixed spice
55g butter
2 eggs
115g currants
115g mixed peel
For the crosses
2 tablespoons self-raising flour
1-2 tablespoons cold water
For the glaze
3 tablespoons sugar
3 tablespoons milk
Making the Dough
Warm the milk slightly and sprinkle the yeast over and leave to soften for about 5 minutes.
Put the flour in a bowl, add sugar, salt and spices and mix with a whisk to combine. Rub in the butter with your fingers. Then pour in the milk and eggs and mix with the paddle attachment on your mixer then the dough hook. Or use a wooden spoon. Lastly add the currants and mixed peel. The dough will be very sticky.
Cover the bowl with a damp cloth and a lid and leave in a warm place for about 2 hours until puffy or doubled. Or leave in the fridge overngith, take it out in the morningm knead it slightly and leave it to return to room temperature for about an hour before cominuing on the with the recipe.
Turn out the dough onto a floured board. Flour the top, knead a little and divide into 24 pieces. Form each piece into a smooth ball and arrange them in rowsin a shallow greased tray about 1cm apart. Cover with a cloth and allow to rise for about 45 minutes.
Once the buns are shaped, pre-heat the over to 200°C.
Making the crosses
Make a soft batter from the self-raising flour and cold water. Cut crosses in the tops of the buns and pipe the batter into them. Bake for about 25 minutes, rotating the tin after 15 minutes.
Glazing
To glaze the buns and make them nice and sticky: when they are almost done, heat together the sugar and milk, stirring to form a syrupy glaze. Remove the buns when they are browned and brush the tops with the syrup, twice.
This make 24 buns.
Tags: Baking and treats
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