Hot Cross Buns Recipe

Overview
Cook Time
Ingredients
Method

Make the most of this Good Friday special! Serve the spiced buns as is or gently warm and savour them with ice cream or some butter on the side.

Total Cook Time1 hr 10 mins
Prep Time 10 mins
Cook Time1 hr
Recipe Servings4
Medium

Ingredients of Hot Cross Buns

For the dough:
10 gm fresh yeast or 1 1/2 tsp dried active yeast
85 ml milk
250 gm flour
35 gm sugar
3 gm salt
2 eggs
125 gm butter, cold
1 egg, for the egg wash
For the Fruit and Spice Mix:
12 gm candied cherries, chopped
40 gm sultanas, chopped
40 gm candied orange peel, chopped
40 gm almonds, blanched, peeled and chopped
30 ml dark rum
5 ml vanilla essence
2 gm nutmeg, ground
4 gm cinnamon, ground
2 gm cardamom, ground
For the Glaze:
150 gm sugar
100 ml water
2 oranges, zested

How to Make Hot Cross Buns

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For the Fruit and Spice Mix:

This needs to be made atleast a week in advance.

Mix all the ingredients, wrap with a cling-film and leave it in the refrigerator to age.

For the Glaze:

Boil the sugar and water until all the sugar is dissolved. Let it cool, and then add the orange zest and mix well.

For the Dough:

If using dried yeast, warm the milk gently in the microwave for 15 seconds and add the yeast to it. Leave it to rest for 20-30 minutes until bubbles appear. If using fresh yeast, add it directly with the following ingredients.

Mix the flour, salt, yeast, sugar, milk and eggs in a mixing bowl. Knead well until you have a smooth, even dough.

Take the cold butter and chop it into cubes. Add the butter, a couple of cubes at a time, to the dough and continue to knead. Do not add more butter until the previous cubes are absorbed by the dough.

Once all the butter is used up, continue to knead until the dough is smooth, shiny and no longer sticks to your paddle or hands.

Put the dough into a slightly oiled bowl cling wrap the bowl and put it into your fridge for 1 hour.

Transfer the dough from the bowl onto a slightly floured work surface and leave to rest for 10 minutes.

Pat your dough to form a rough rectangle of 1/2 inch thickness. Scatter the fruit and spice mix onto the surface and fold the dough over itself like an envelope. Gently knead the dough for 15-20 seconds until the fruit, rum and spices are well absorbed by the dough.

Roll the dough into a ball and keep it back in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

Using a weighing scale, divide the dough into 50 gm balls until all the dough is used up. Grease an oven tray with a little oil and place the dough balls on it. Make sure they are atleast two inches apart. Cover the tray with a clean, slightly moistened, cheesecloth. Let them sit at room temperature for about 1 hour or if your room is too hot( above 24 degrees C), then put them in an air conditioned room for about 2 hours.

10.

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees C.

11.

Whisk 1 egg in a bowl, then using a pastry brush, brush the egg wash all around the dough balls, which should now be proofed and slightly spring back when pushed with your little finger.

12.

For the cross, make a white dough using flour and a little water. Roll into long, thin strands and use it to make a cross onto the egg washed rolls. Do not egg wash the strands.

13.

Bake in the preheated oven for 12-15 minutes depending on the size and temperature of the oven. Once the rolls are baked, pull them out and allow them to cool slightly before brushing on the sugar syrup to glaze them.

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