Remember when I made a fruit cake for Christmas? It's been 20 years since I made a fruit cake. It's been even longer since I made Hot Cross Buns. I'm pretty sure it was in a home economics class at Geilston Bay High School. I usually buy my Hot Cross Buns from the supermarket.
Hot Cross Buns are traditionally baked and eaten on Good Friday. Mine were baked on Thursday, and will be eaten for many days afterwards. I did have one for breakfast this morning.
I used a recipe on page 168 of the March 2010 edition of The Australian Women's Weekly. I can't find it online but it's pretty much the same as this recipe.
Ingredients for Buns:
- 2 x 7g packets of granulated yeast (my packets were 8g, because that was what they had at the store)
- 1/3 cup caster sugar (I used regular sugar)
- 1 cup of warm milk
- 4 cups plain flour
- 1 tsp mixed spice (I didn't have mixed spice, so I used 1/2 tsp nutmeg, 1/4 tsp cloves and 1/4 tsp cardamon
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 80g butter
- 1 and 1/2 cups chocolate chips
- 1 egg
- 1/3 cup warm water
Combine the yeast with one tablespoon of the sugar and all of the milk in a small bowl; whisk until the yeast is dissolved. Cover bowl and stand in a warm place for about 10 minutes until the yeast mixture is frothy.
Mix the flour, spices and salt into a large bowl; rub in the butter. Stir in the remaining sugar, chocolate, yeast mixture, egg and enough water to make a soft dough.
Cover your dough with plastic wrap and stand in a warm place for about one hour or until mixture has doubled in size.
Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead for about 10 minutes until the dough is smooth and elastic.
Divide the dough into 20 portions and roll each portion into a ball. Place the balls, almost touching, on a large greased oven tray. Stand in a warm place for about 20 minutes or until dough has doubled in size.
Preheat the oven to 425 F or 395F if using a convection oven.
Ingredients for Flour Paste for Crosses:
- 1/4 cup plain flour
- 1tbsp cocoa powder
- 2 teaspoons caster sugar
- 2 tbsps of cold water, approximately
Sift flour, cocoa & sugar into a small bowl; gradually stir in enough water to make a smooth thick paste.
Place the flour paste into a piping bag with a small tube or put in a zip lock bag and snip off the corner. Pipe crosses.
Bake Buns for 15 minutes. Transfer to a cooking rack.
Make Glaze
Ingredients for Glaze:
- 1 tablespoon caster sugar
- 1 teaspoon gelatine
- 1 tablespoon water
Combine all the glaze ingredients in a small saucepan and stir over low heat, without boiling, until the sugar and gelatine dissolves.
Brush buns with glaze.
Verdict? Once I had put the balls of dough on the baking tray, I forgot to let them sit for 20 minutes to rise, so mine are a little small. Also my flour paste for the crosses was too runny. It was was too thick after adding 2 tbsps of water, so I added another 2. I should probably have only added another 1.
They are time consuming. Only because you have to let the yeast do it's thing. But apart from that they are quick and easy to make. Because of my lack of finisse with piping that part was pretty messy, and my crosses look more like blobs.
However they still taste pretty good. I had one, hot out of the oven last night and another for breakfast this morning. They freeze well, but that's not gonna happen. These will get eaten in no time. Anyone want one?
Oh and did you know:
- sharing a hot cross bun with another is supposed to ensure friendship throughout the coming year
- if you take a hot cross bun on a sea voyage it's supposed to protect against a shipwreck
- hang a hot cross bun in your kitchen to prevent fires