Hot Cross Buns
Easter would not be complete for me without joyfully consuming several dozen hot cross buns in the weeks leading up to the big four-day celebration. If you’re not familiar, hot cross buns are spiced, slightly sweet, fruit filled buns that are as delightfully delicious fresh out of the oven as they are toasted under the grill the next day. Either way, lashings of lightly salted butter are a must!
This recipe has been a long time coming. Every Easter for the last 4 years I’ve attempted home-made hot cross buns, and each year I stopped short of sharing the recipe. And this year, finally, I have nailed my recipe and I have to say I’m really rather proud of it.
These buns are lusciously light and fluffy – and stay that way the next day – thanks to the extra step of making roux (cooked flour and milk often referred to as Tangzhong) that ensures the dough hydrates exceptionally well. I’ve dialled up the warming spices and, in what may be a controversial move for some, included some gloriously golden mixed peel.
As with all yeasted doughs and recipes, proofing times will vary depending on what the weather’s like where you are. On warmer days the dough will proof quicker, on colder days the dough will proof more slowly, so please use the proofing times below as a guide. Recipes like this ask us to have patience and pay attention to the little things. Good advice for us all.
Ingredients
Soaked Fruit
100g dried fruit – sultanas, raisins etc
125g brandy (heated) or boiling water with 1 earl grey tea bag
2 teaspoons mixed spice
1 teaspoon cinnamon
50g mixed peel (optional)
Roux (aka Tangzhong)
·20g plain flour
100g milk
Dough
350g plain flour
1 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 ½ teaspoons, or a 7g sachet, of dried instant yeast
165g milk, ideally room temperature
1 egg, room temperature
60g unsalted butter, room temperature
20g honey
Zest of 1 orange
1 teaspoon cardamom seeds
1 extra egg, for an egg wash
Cross Mixture
50g plain flour
50g water
15ml sunflower oil
¼ teaspoon caster sugar
Glaze
80ml of total liquid, using the juice from the zested orange and topping up the required amount of water
80g brown sugar
1 Cinnamon stick and/or 4 whole cloves
Method
Start by soaking the dried fruit. Place the 100g of dried fruit into a bowl. If soaking fruit in brandy, bring the brandy to the boil in a small saucepan and then pour over the fruit. If soaking the fruit in tea, add the tea bag to the bowl containing the fruit and pour over the freshly boiled water. Cover the bowl and leave to soak.
Next, make the roux by placing the flour and the milk into a small saucepan over a low/medium heat. Mix with a spatula to combine, and continue mixing until the mixture starts to thicken, eventually forming a thick paste. Keep stirring and scraping for a minute or two before removing from the heat and scraping the mixture into the bowl of your stand mixer and leave to cool for a couple of minutes.
To make the dough, add the flour followed by all the dough ingredients (other than the extra egg for the egg wash) into the stand mixer bowl. Attach the dough hook and mix on a low/medium (speed 3 or 4 on my KitchenAid) for 10-15 minutes, or until the dough comes together as a single, stretchy dough. Use the windowpane test to see if the dough is ready.
Drain any excess liquid from the soaking fruit and then add the mixed peel and spices and mix to combine. Add the spice-covered fruit into the stand mixer bowl and mix on low (speed 1 on my KitchenAid) until the fruit is evenly incorporated into the dough.
Grease a medium bowl with butter. Scrape the dough into the prepared bowl, and then do 4-6 coil folds to shape the dough into a ball. To do a coil fold, simply dampen your hands with some water and then tuck your hands underneath the centre of the dough, slowly lifting it up so the sides of the dough dangle down and coil back under the dough as you lower it back down into the bowl. Spin the bowl 90 degrees and repeat the coil fold steps 1-4 more times until your dough has a smooth and round shape in the bowl. Cover with a clean tea towel or shower cap and leave to proof for 1-2 hours (depending on the temperature in your kitchen), or until doubled in size.
Once the dough has finished its first proof, gently scrape the dough onto a lightly floured bench. Shape the dough into a rough sausage and divide into 12 even portions. Take one portion at a time and gently cup your hand over the dough and apply some gentle pressure as you move your hand in a circular motion to shape the dough into a neat ball. Place the dough ball on a tray lined with baking paper and then shape the remaining portions. Cover with a clean tea towel and proof for 30-90 minutes or until risen by about 30%-50%.
You can test the proofing by gently pressing the dough with a floured finger to create a dent. If the dent springs all the way back right away the dough needs to proof for longer. If the dent springs back slowly, but not all the way back, the dough is ready for baking. If the dent doesn’t spring back at all the dough is over-proofed.
Pre heat the oven to 180 degrees C while the buns are proofing.
When the buns have proofed for the second time, lightly whisk the extra egg to make an egg wash and then brush over the proofed buns.
Next, make the cross mixture by whisking all the ingredients in a small bowl until smooth. Pour into a piping bag, snip a 3-5mm opening in the bag and pipe your preferred cross design on the buns. Bake for 20-30 minutes or until golden brown. If you have a digital thermometer you can test the doneness of the buns by inserting the thermometer into the sides of a bun. The buns are done when they reach about 90 degrees C.
While the buns are baking, prepare the glaze by placing all the glaze ingredients into a small saucepan and whisking over a medium heat until the sugar has dissolved. Bring the glaze to the boil and then lower the temperature and simmer for 5-10 minutes. Remove from the heat.
As soon as the buns are out of the oven generously brush them with the hot glaze. Leave the buns to cool (if you can wait that long!) and then enjoy with lashings of butter.
