Hot Cross Buns

It’s nearly Easter so I thought it would be a good idea to try and perfect a hot cross bun recipe. I’ve made two batches so far, but I wouldn’t really call them hot ‘cross’ buns, as they are more like currant buns that have lost their crosses!

Well that’s a bit of a lie, the first batch has crosses, faded, but they’re there. The second batch I kind of forgot about putting the crosses on before they went in the over, so I quickly made glace icing to pipe over the top. These soon melted so they were cross-less. I also made gluten-free currant buns for my colleagues, these were mistaken for large scones by some, but they did retain the hot cross bun deliciousness. I’m still trying to figure out how to make the gluten free ones less dense, I think I will have to play around with different flour mixtures to get it right.

The recipe itself is pretty easy, especially if you’ve made bread before. Even if you haven’t made bread it’s still pretty straight-forward to follow, it’s not a quick recipe as you need to leave time for the dough to proof. Proofing is when you’re testing the yeast to see if it’s active. The dough basically expands in all directions (not just a rise as a soufflé does in the oven) to make your balls double in size.

Before proof number 2.

On the first batch, I did two proofs, one before making the balls and one afterwards. On the second batch, I only did the proof on the baking tray but I waited until the balls were quite big before putting them in the oven. I don’t think there was much of a difference between the two so this might be a good idea if you’re strapped for time. But you must proof! Proofing makes the air pockets and holes in the dough and really makes the dough taste better.

After proof number 2. 

What does make a big difference is how you work the dough. It’s best not to over work the flour. You want to knead the dough, but don’t pound it to death! Try not to knead for too long either. Generally it’s about 5-10 minutes to knead white flour; you want about 3-4 minutes of kneading on these. The reason why? Less kneading creates a softer, lighter bun. This can be dangerous for dieters as they end up being so light you can eat three in a row!

A tip I would definitely give is not to make the balls too small. I think hot cross buns should be toasted and slathered with butter. When using a conventional toaster, the smaller buns don’t tend to reach the top of the toaster so they’re difficult to remove. In terms of size, mine were between 3.5 and 5.5 inches wide (some of them grew much faster than others in proofing). People seemed to shy away from the 6 inch wide beasts that I had, so they were left for the chef and were bloody delicious!

Next up is the glaze. Do you want a crusty dinner roll type top for your buns or the more traditional soft crust? When baking bread, I know you’re supposed to brush milk over your loaves to give it the soft crust. The way you do it for hot cross buns is by brushing a sweet glaze over them when they come out of the oven, this traps the moisture in. The traditional glaze is melted marmalade, but I don’t keep marmalade in the house as I’m not keen on it. So I made a glaze using orange juice, sugar and a bit of orange zest instead, and when combined with the raisins and generally smell of baked dough these buns made my house and the office corridor smell fantastic!

L: Glazed Bun from Batch 2, R: Gluten Free Bun

Ingredients
3 cups strong white Flour*
2 tbsp Sugar
1 tsp dried Yeast (do not use quick yeast!)
1 tsp Salt
1 tsp Cinnamon
1 tsp ground Nutmeg
1 cup Raisins (or other dried fruit, I like dried blueberries!)
55ml warmed Milk
1 Egg
3 tbsp Butter, melted

*For the gluten free version, use gluten free white bread flour. If you can’t get a hold of this the plain white flour blend is also ok. Add a teaspoon of Xanthan gum to keep it all together.

for the glaze
1 tbsp sugar
juice ½ an Orange
orange Zest

for the crosses
icing Sugar
Water

Recipe
Dissolve sugar into 150 ml of warm water, then add yeast and leave for 30 minutes or until the top froths up.

Sift flour, salt, nutmeg, cinnamon into a bowl then add dried fruit (and soft fruit if you’re using). Add water and yeast mixture, milk, egg and butter. Mix until it forms a dough- it should still feel slightly wet and sticky, but this will go away as you knead it.

On a floured surface, knead dough until smooth and elastic for about 4 minutes.

If you’re doing two proofs, put the dough in an oiled bowl, cover with oiled plastic and leave it to proof until it’s doubled in size (depending on the temperature of the place you put it, this will take between 1 and 2 hours). Then punch the dough, take it out knead again for one minute until it returns to its original size and divide into 12 balls. Leave on an oiled baking tray to rise until doubled in size again. It’s ok if the balls are touching when they rise.

If you’re doing one proof, divide your dough into 12 balls. Arrange balls on an oiled baking tray and leave them to rise in a warm place for 1-2 hours, or until doubled in size.

Mix the water and icing sugar until you have a thick paste. Pipe onto the raw balls to make the crosses, then bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes at 220 degrees.

Make the glaze in the meantime by heating the juice in a pan with a bit of water, then adding the sugar. Stir until the sugar has dissolved and add the zest to infuse the liquid. Leave on a low heat for 5 minutes (you don’t want to caramelize the sugar).

As soon as your buns are ready, take them out of the oven and brush with the glaze. Eat immediately, or wait until cooled to halve them, toast them and eat with butter. Yum!