Hot Cross Buns

Bun Ingredients

Cross Ingredients

Glaze Ingredients

The aroma of cinnamon and mixed spice wafting through the kitchen is enough to persuade you to make hot cross buns at home rather than buy store made ones.  The recipe does take a while to make but most of this time is taken up with the dough sitting quietly in a corner rising rather than with a lot of hands on attention.  It does call for some therapeutic kneading of the dough and piping skills for the crosses – Just follow the step by step photos!

1. Put the milk and butter into a small pan and gently heat until the butter has melted. Take the pot off the heat and allow the liquid to cool so that it is tepid (lukewarm).
   
2. Mix the flour, mixed spice, cinnamon, salt, sugar and lemon zest together in a large bowl and make a hole (a well) in the centre using a spoon.
   
3. Put the yeast into a small bowl and pour over the butter/milk mixture.  Give it a good stir to combine then pour it into the hole in the flour.  Beat the egg and add this too.
     
4. Carefully stir the liquid into the dry ingredients, using a circular motion and gradually drawing in the dry ingredients around the outside of the hole.  The mix we eventually come together into a ball.
     
5. Lightly dust the bench with flour and tip the dough ball onto it.  Knead the dough for 10 minutes (you might want to set a timer for this).  You may need to add a further sprinkle of flour or two if you find the dough is too sticky and sticking to the bench but try not to use too much.
      
6. When you have a nice smooth ball of dough at the end of the 10 minutes, put it back into a large bowl that has been lightly sprinkled with flour and cover the bowl with clingfilm.  Put the bowl in a warm place and leave it for 1 hour.  During this time the yeast will get to work and the dough will rise, possibly doubling in size.
   
7. At the end of the hour, the dough will have risen and be a bit “puffy”.  Tip the dough out onto the bench again and knock the air out of it by punching down on the ball and flattening it a little.
   
   
8. Add the dried fruit to the dough and give it a knead for 2-3 minutes to distribute the fruit evenly.
    
9. Now shape the dough into 12 roughly equal sized buns.  You can weigh the dough and then cut it exactly into 12 pieces of the same weight if you want to be precise but as long as the buns are roughly the same size and shape so that they cook in the same time, that is sufficient.
   
10. Take each piece of dough and cupping your hand over the top of the dough, move it around in a circular motion to form a bun-like shape.  Then pat the sides of the bun to square them off so you end up with a more cube-like shape.
    
11. Wipe the oil over the base of a baking tray or baking sheet so that the buns don’t stick and then put each bun onto the tray so that they are in a 4/3 formation and just touching.
     
12. Cover the tray with a clean cloth or tea-towel and put the tray in a warm place for 30 minutes to let the buns rise a second time.
    
13. Preheat the oven to 170°C Fan or 180°C.

    To make the crosses

14. When the 30 minutes is up, put the cross ingredients into a small bowl and stir until you have a smooth paste.
    
15. Put the mixture into a piping bag, or if you don’t have a piping bag, into a plastic zip-lock bag with one of the corners snipped off. Squeeze the paste through the piping bag or zip lock bag to form horizontal and vertical lines on the top of the buns.
       
16. Put the tray in the centre of the oven and cook the buns for 20-25 minutes.

    To Glaze the Buns

17. While the buns are cooking, put the glaze ingredients into a small pot and heat them, stirring to dissolve the sugar.  Bring the pot up to the boil and boil for 3-4 minutes so that it slightly thickens.
    
18. When the buns have finished cooking, remove them from the oven and brush the glaze over the top of the buns.  (You might not need all of it).