Hot Cross Buns

Easter time is upon us and although I have been making hot cross buns at work now for the last month, I decided it was time to give them a go at home. Every year my mum makes Hot Cross Buns on Good Friday and we compare results. Hers usually turn out pretty perfect and mine are a bit of hit and miss. I use a different recipe every year just for something new but I really should learn to stick with one I know will work.

The buns we make at work are just basically a sweet bread dough with spice and fruits added. Don’t get me wrong they are delicious, but I wanted to make a rich dough with eggs and butter galore! I came across such a recipe on the Guardian website. In the article “How to cook perfect Hot Cross Buns” Felicity Cloake trialled several methods and concluded with her perfect recipe.

I cheated a bit when I made these as I didn’t want to go out and buy too many ingredients and there are quite a few spices in her recipe. Instead of infusing the milk with whole cinnamon sticks and cloves, I just added some ground cloves and cinnamon to the mix (boring I know but its what I had in the cupboard). I also decided to make a batch with chocolate instead of fruit (predictable!). I used Cadbury Mini Drops because they look like little coloured eggs and well, it is Easter after all.

I had a few problems with this recipe, simple things that I should have known better than to do. The yeast I used was a bit old, not past its use by date but pretty close. I should have bought fresh yeast. Also when I added the yeast to the milk it was still pretty hot, I convinced myself that it was an alright temperature but I was clearly wrong. If yeast is exposed to too high temperatures it dies. So with these two issues combined I didn’t get the best lift out of my buns. They did not rise as well as I would have liked, but I promise you if you follow the recipe properly (UNLIKE ME!) your buns will be light and rich and delicious!

Hot Cross Buns

Adapted from Felicity Cloake at Guardian.co.uk

What you will need

200ml milk, plus a little more for glazing
3 cardamom pods, bruised
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground cloves
¼ tsp ground nutmeg
20g fresh yeast or 7g dried active yeast
50g caster sugar
450g strong white flour ("00" flour)
100g butter
½ tsp salt
½ tsp ground ginger

1 tbsp mixed spice
3 eggs
150g currants
150g sultanas

For the cross
2 tbsp plain flour

1 tbsp caster sugar

water

For the glaze

2 tbsp caster sugar

1/4 cup boiling water

What you will need to do

Heat the milk in a saucepan with the cardamom pods and bring to the boil. Turn off heat and leave to infuse for an hour. Bring back to about 28*C, strain milk and add 1 tsp caster sugar and the yeast. Set aside.

In a large bowl place the flour and add the butter. Combine by either rubbing with fingertips or using a dough hook in a mixer. Add the rest of the sugar, salt, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, ginger and mixed spice. Beat two of the eggs together then add to the flour mix along with the yeast mix. Combine using the dough hook until you get a soft dough. Either continue mixing with the dough hook or knead the dough by hand until it is smooth and elastic. Place the dough in a lightly greased bowl and cover with plastic. Place in a warm spot until dough doubles in size. This could take hours, be prepared for that!

Tip the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and punch out the air. Flatten it out into a rough rectangle shape and scatter the sultanas and currants all over. Fold dough over and knead until fruit is evenly dispersed throughout. Place back into the bowl and leave to sit and rest for another 20 minutes.

Tip the dough out and cut it into 80g pieces (I got about 13). Roll the pieces into rough ball shapes and place them on a greased tray, cover with plastic and rest for another 20 minutes.

Re roll the balls into tight, neat buns and place back on a tray lined with baking paper. Give them about one centimetre gap between each bun. Cover with a tea towel until doubled in size and touching each other. Preheat the oven to 200*C and place an empty tray on the bottom rack. Make up the cross mix by combining the flour and sugar with enough water to make a thick paste. Beat the remaining egg and brush over the tops of the buns (I forgot this step, but I think it will make your buns turn out a lot more golden and delicious). Fill a piping bag with the bun mix or use a teaspoon and make crosses across the top of the buns. Place buns into the oven and throw a handful of ice onto the empty bottom tray. Bake for about 25 minutes or until golden.

Remove from oven and place on a cooling rack. Make the glaze by adding the sugar to the boiling water and stirring until dissolved. Brush over the tops of the buns.

Sticky Glazed Cinnamon Scrolls

Being an apprentice baker I thought it was about time I made something from a dough! Immediately I thought of warm delicious sticky glazed cinnamon scrolls. Straight from the oven these make the perfect afternoon tea snack.

Making dough can be tricky business, but as long as you mix it until its soft and leave it to rest you should be right. Using a bench mixer with a dough hook is the best way to go. If you don't have one, you are probably better off kneading the dough by hand.

Sticky Glazed Cinnamon Scrolls

What you need

300g plain flour
3g salt
30g sugar
20ml oil
20g yeast
150ml water
10g butter, melted
¼ cup cinnamon
¼ cup sugar
½ cup icing sugar
1tbsp hot water

What you need to do

Place flour, salt, sugar, oil and yeast into a mixing bowl. Add the water and using a dough hook mix on slow for a minute or until ingredients are just combined. Increase the speed and mix for about 5 minutes. Mixing time will vary so after the 5 minutes check your dough, it should be soft and pliable without being sticky. When you are happy with the consistency remove the dough and roll into a ball. Place back into the mixing bowl and cover with plastic. Leave to sit until dough doubles in size.

Punch down the dough in the bowl and place on a floured surface. Using a rolling pin roll the dough into a rectangle shape approximately .5-1cm thick. Brush the melted butter onto the dough. Sprinkle the cinnamon and sugar evenly over the dough. Roll the dough tightly from the long side to form a log shape. Pinch the seam so the dough does not unwrap. Cut the roll into approximately 4cm thick pieces. Turn the pieces on their side and squash down with your hand. Place pieces on a baking tray lined with baking paper.

Set the tray in a warm place and cover with a tea towel for approximately 30minutes. The dough needs to prove and increase in size. Preheat the oven to 200*C. Bake for 15minutes or until golden on top. Remove from oven and place on cooling rack.

Make up the icing glaze by mixing the icing sugar and hot water together until smooth. Spoon icing over scrolls. Serve warm.