Hot Cross Buns
Hot cross bun is a delicious sweet and soft spice bun, filled with juicy fruits.
Ingredients
- 4 cups flour
- ⅓ cup 6 tablespoons sugar
- 2 teaspoons mixed spice
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 lemon zest
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 3 teaspoons active dry yeast
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 1 ⅓ cups milk
- 1 egg
- 1 ½ cups dry fruits
- Topping
- ¾ cup flour
- 6 tablespoons water
- 2 tablespoons golden syrup (honey, sugar syrup etc.)
Instructions
- In a bowl mix together flour, sugar, mixed spice, cinnamon, lemon zest, salt and yeast, set aside.
- In a small pot over medium-high heat, melt butter and milk, allow to cool to hand warm.
- Make a well in the centre of the flour and pour in milk and butter mixture, add the egg.
- Using your hand, pull in the flour and mix to get a sticky dough.
- Pour dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 5-10 minutes until dough is soft, smooth and elastic. An electric mixer with a dough hook can be used.
- Knead in the mixed fruits.
- Lightly grease a bowl and place dough inside, cover with a tea towel or cling film and leave in a warm place to rise until double in size, about 1 hour.
- Divide dough into 24 balls, and roll each ball lightly to form a ball.
- Place balls on a baking tray close together but not touching, flatten slightly.
- Loosely cover with cling film or tea towel, it should not touch the buns and place in a warm place to rise until double in size about 1 hour.
- When poked with a finger, the dough should leave a dent that slowly rises but if it feels firm or dense and does not leave a shallow dent, leave it to prove for another 10-20 minutes more.
- Preheat oven to 200 deg. C.
To make the Cross
- In a small bowl, mix together the flour for the topping with the water, adding a little at a time to form a thick paste.
- Transfer the flour paste into a piping bag, freezer bag or polythene bag (snip off a corner for the paste to pass through).
- Pipe a cross on the top of each bun.
- Bake for 15-20 minutes until golden brown.
- While still hot, brush with golden syrup and leave to cool a little before placing on a wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
- To proof yeast: In 1/4 cup warm water (45 deg. C, hand warm), add yeast and a little sugar. Leave to stand 5-10 minutes. If it foams, the yeast is alive and can be used, if it does not foam, the yeast is dead and should be discarded.
- Knead by holding the dough with one hand and stretching it with the heel of the other hand, then folding it back on itself, hold and stretch.
- You can bake your hot cross buns in muffin tins.
- You can use any mixture of dried fruits and candied peel.
- Depending on the size you want, divide the dough into more or less than 24 pieces.
- In place of golden syrup, you can use other types of glaze: Apricot jam, melt and sieve to remove chunks, then use, sugar mixed with a little hot water to form a syrup, sugar with a little warm milk or honey.
- These buns will keep in the freezer for up to 1 month.
