Hot Cross Buns
The recipe you need, and a world 1st, Mum and Dot X Buns. This really is a strange old school holidays. With two teens knee deep in revision, we are stranded at home, me working at the kitchen table with Dot here to help me with much of my cooking this week. Dot is going to be an excellent cook one day, all this cooking is going in, she knows exactly what she’s doing in the kitchen, and I couldn’t be more proud. Today we thought it was about time we made some hot cross buns for the family, they have gone down very well. Dot asked if we could make some yesterday and I convinced her the raisins would be that much better if we left them to soak overnight in some earl grey tea, with the marmalade glaze, these are two flavours that work beautifully together. Don’t get me started on the more wackier shop bought varieties we are staunch old school hot cross bun fanatics in this house.
INGREDIENTS
Makes 10 - 12 depending on size!
Handful of raisins, soaked overnight in strong earl grey tea
500g strong white bread flour
80g butter, cold and cubed
220g milk
80g soft brown sugar
1/2 tsp salt
7g fast action dried yeast
2 small eggs, or use 1 large egg
1/2 tsp each of ground nutmeg, clove and ginger (or use mixed spice)
Marmalade to glaze, or use apricot jam
METHOD
Put flour and butter in a mixing bowl and use your fingers to rub the butter into the flour. See reel.
Warm milk, add sugar to melt. Remove from heat, it should be just warm. Add the yeast to the warm milk and mix well and leave for 5 mins.
Add flour and butter mix to the bowl of a food processor, I used the dough hook on my KitchenAid, though you can do this in a large mixing bowl and knead with your hands. Drain the raisins and add these to the flour and butter in the bowl, add the eggs and the warm milk mixture. add the spices and the salt. Turn the motor on and mix well for around 4- 5 minutes on a medium speed.
Turn the dough out into a lightly greased bowl, cover and set aside somewhere warm for around an hour or more until nearly doubled in size.
Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and cut in half, then cut to size, see reel, the dough will be sticky, but to be honest, the softer and more hydrated the dough, the better the hot cross buns will be when baked.
Shape your buns to size, see reel, and arrange on a baking tray lined with baking paper, leave a gap between the buns to prove again for around 30 mins covered and somewhere warm.
Meanwhile make your flour paste, in a small bowl mix some plain flour with some water to the consistency of fairly thick double cream. Use a piping bag to pipe crosses or whatever! over the tops of your buns.
Bake in hot oven (mine was at 200C and is not fan) for around 25 minutes, until the tops are nicely coloured and the bases are too. The bigger the bun, the longer the cook time. The buns should be soft if you poke them, but not doughy in the middle.
Remove from oven and immediately brush all over with marmalade, or use apricot jam. Leave for at least 5 minutes to cool on a wire rack.