So, after a number of requests for last year’s traditional hot cross bun recipe, here it is!
I quite like my buns slightly larger than what you would buy, so when I’m baking for myself I’ll divide the dough into nine pieces. If you prefer them closer to the shop bought version, you can get 12 buns out of this recipe. One more thing to note is I have swapped out the mixed peel for fresh zest. I might be a bit old school but that's too old school for me!
I feel soaking the fruit here is essential (see step 1) to keep them juicy, and prevent them from tightening up the dough. And as always there are SO MANY factors contributing to the speed of the rise, so this time is a guide only.
Have fun and if your baking these let me know how it goes. Happy Easter :-)
Hot Cross Buns
Difficulty: Medium
This recipe makes 9-12 Buns in around 4 hours
Ingredients
For the dough
500g Strong white bread flour
8g Salt
60g Golden Caster Sugar
10g Mixed spice or 2tbsp
2g Ground cinnamon or 1tsp
Zest of 1 orange
Zest of 1 lemon
50g Soft butter
1 Medium Egg
25g Fresh yeast or 2 x 7g sachets of dry fast action yeast
250g Room temperature milk
For the filling
100g Raisins
100g Sultanas
For the Cross
50g Strong white bread flour
50g Water
Pinch of sugar
For the Glaze
Juice of 1 orange and 1 lemon
Caster sugar
Method
First, soak your raisins and sultanas in boiling water from the kettle for 10 minutes, drain and set aside to cool. If you are well organised, soak them overnight in just enough cold water to cover and drain.
Measure your flour, sugar, salt, and spice into a large bowl. Add the orange and lemon zest, mix everything together with your dough scraper. Next, add the egg to the bowl, and the butter broken up into pieces.
Weigh the milk into a jug, and pop in the microwave for 30 seconds or so to take the chill off. If you are using fresh yeast you'll need to dissolve it into the milk before moving on to step 4. If you are using dry yeast, pop it into the flour bowl.
Pour the liquid into the bowl and mix everything together until it comes together into a dough, turn it out onto the table.
Knead the dough on a clean table for 8 minutes resisting the urge to dust it with flour. It will be sticky at first but use your dough scraper to have a tidy every now and again, and to loosen the dough from the table.
Next, dust the table lightly, spread out the dough and sprinkle over the soaked fruit. Roll them up inside and continue kneading until they are evenly dispersed.
Shape the dough into a ball, using a light dusting of flour, and place it back into the bowl. Dust again, cover with a proving cloth, and leave to rest at room temperature for 90-120 minutes.
When your dough has puffed up nicely, dust the table with a little flour and turn the dough out onto it. Divide the dough into nine to twelve pieces. Nine pieces for LARGE buns and 12 pieces for more traditional size. Roll each piece into a ball and arrange on a large parchment lined tray. Place them a finger width apart, and they will join each other as they prove.
Cover very loosely with cling film and allow 60-90 minutes for the buns to prove up.
While your buns are proving, you have two tasks to keep you busy. First, the cross. Mix up the cross ingredients in a bowl until smooth. Fit a piping bag with a very small nozzle, or use a disposable one, and fill it with the mixture ready to go. Next, the glaze. Weigh the juice of your zested orange and lemon into a small pan, then add the same weight of caster sugar. Bring to the boil and simmer for 10 minutes until thickened. Leave to cool, it should be a jam-like consistency.
Towards the end of the proving stage, preheat the oven to 180°C Fan/Gas Mark 6, and pipe the crosses on the top of the buns.
Bake for 20-25 minutes. Remove the buns from the oven, and when they are cool enough to handle, transfer them to a wire rack.
Use a pastry brush to glaze the top of each bun with your orange and lemon syrup, warm it up slightly if it’s become too thick, then leave to cool.
