Recipe | Rustic Hot Cross Buns
It's that time of year again where hot cross buns are had for breakfast, lunch and dinner in my house! We'll eat them cold, warm or lightly toasted with a light, evenly spread layer of butter. They're perfect with a coffee or even a good ole' British cuppa - so they can be enjoyed by everyone, no matter what your preferences are! So what if I told you that homemade ones are quick, simple and easy to make? Oh, and they're also a thousand times more delicious than shop-bought ones. If that's not enough to convince you to make your own, I don't know what is!
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Serves: 15
Ingredients
For the dough...
*500g strong bread flour
*50g butter
*300ml whole milk
*75g caster sugar
*1 egg
*1 tsp salt
*1 tbsp sunflower oil
*7g fast-action yeast
*75g sultanas
*50g mixed peel
*1 finely chopped apple
*Zest from 1 orange
*1 tsp ground cinnamon
For the cross...
*75g plain flour
For the glaze...
*3 tbsp apricot jam
The Method
1. Bring the milk to the boil then remove from the heat
2. Add the butter to the hot milk at this point and stir until melted
3. Leave the liquid to cool to room temperature
4. Put the bread flour, salt, caster sugar and yeast into a bowl and give it a stir
5. Make a well in the middle
6. Pour the milk and egg mix into the centre
7. Break an egg and beat it, then pour that into the centre as well
8. Mix it all together with a wooden spoon then combine the rest with your hands until a stick dough forms
9. Tip this onto a lightly floured surface and knead for approx 5 mins or until the dough is smooth
10. Grease a bowl with oil and then tip the smooth dough into it - cover the bowl with oiled cling film
11. Put the bowl in a warm place to rise for one hour (it might rise quicker than this, it just needs to double in size)
12. Once risen, tip the sultanas, mixed peel, orange zest and chopped apple into the bowl with the dough and knead it all together - make sure it's well-distributed - then recover with the oiled cling film and put the bowl back into a warm place to rise once more for one hour (again, it could be quicker, but it will need to double in size)
13. Once done, cut the dough into 15 even pieces (approx 75g each) and roll them into smooth, round balls
14. Set the balls out over two/three baking trays lined with grease-proof paper - be sure to leave enough space for them to rise even further!
15. Cover the trays with oiled cling film - do not wrap the dough up with it - then leave to prove for one hour
16. Preheat the oven to gas mark 7/220C/200C fan
17. Mix the plain flour with around 5 tbsp of water (or enough to make a paste)
18. Spoon the mixture into a piping bag with a small, narrow nozzle on the end. Once the dough has risen, pipe small thin lines over the top to make a cross
19. Put in the oven for 20 minutes or until golden brown
20. Put the apricot jam in a pan and heat until it has melted into a liquid.
21. Take the buns out of the oven after 20 minutes (or until golden brown) and brush the melted jam over them while both the jam and the buns are warm - leave to cool
22. Make a coffee, grab a plate and sit back and relax with a freshly baked hot cross bun
***
I hope you enjoyed this post. Let me know if you gave it a go and I will see you again soon with a brand new blog post!
***
WHERE TO FIND ME
PREVIOUS BLOG POST
COPYRIGHT INFORMATION
Comments
Post a Comment