Hot Cross Buns
I baked this plate of buns on a whim, before I decided on talking about buns in the blog, and I couldn't resist sharing with you.
So, in order to be fair, I'll share a recipe, too.
Makes 13 (a baker's dozen)
Put 1lb/450g of strong flour in a bowl - I'd recommend 2/3 white + 1/3 wholemeal, add a couple of tablespoons of sugar, some salt, about 6 oz of dried fruit (I use 2/3 sultanas 1/3 currants) and spice. I used about 2 tsp mixed spice and 1/2 each of allspice and cloves. Dissolve about a teaspoon of dried yeast (or use the fast yeast) in a cup of warm milk and add to the mix. Melt about 3 oz/75g of butter (make sure it is cool) beat in a large egg. Add to the mix and knead until doughlike and sticky (add a little water if necessary). leave to prove. Knock back and make up into buns. Leave to rise. Mix 1 tbsp oil with 2 of flour and some water, pipe into crosses. Bake in a hot oven for 5 minutes (220C or thereabouts) then reduce to 180 for 15. Take out of oven and glaze with honey with enough boiling water to make it brushable (2:1 Honey:water) Job done.
Even if you are not used to baking, can I urge you to give this a try? You will love it. I'm happy to answer any questions you may have. Read this and thought "I must thing about baking a bit more"? Checkout Breadchick
posted by Ham @ 12:18 am
3 Comments:
Thank you! I'll definitely try these...next Easter.
Ham, your buns look awfully sweet ;-)
Thanks for the lovely link back to Breadchick!
I do hope you get a starter going again. Yes, yeast is quicker but there is something about a starter and the tang of a good bread made from one, no?
I'm going to take this recipe and even if when my mum is here next weekend it isn't Easter, I think I'll be making these as she loves hot cross buns.
I made hot cross buns again this year, but with a new recipe. I even went so far as to use my bread machine to make the dough. Ach, am I getting lazy or what?
More to the point, I enjoyed reading the directions - just enough different baking terms to be fun. We Americans call it "whole wheat" instead of "wholemeal" and call them raisins instead of sultanas. To "knock back" is to "punch down". As a technique, we apply the icing crosses after they come out of the oven and cool a bit - the icing is typically confectioner's sugar (finely ground sugar - powdery, in fact) mixed with just enough milk to make it a thick liquid (usually something like a couple of teaspoons of milk to a quarter-cup of sugar). Often the buns are glazed with egg whites before they go into the oven.
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