Hot Cross Buns

It's so close to Easter, and FINALLY I successfully baked some hot cross buns. Light, fluffy and fruity, these buns are like the upgrade of a current teacake. I've always had them at Easter but in the past, the sweet dough has never quite worked to plan. However, on Valentine's day, I received the amazing gift of a stand mixer, which works perfectly for kneading enriched doughs such as these. The dough needs to be fairly wet and sticky and so kneading by hand is a messy job. If you don't have a stand mixer, don't be tempted to add more flour to de-stickify the dough - just cope with having dough covered hands for 10 minutes :)

My hot cross buns are fairly traditional with mixed dried fruit containing raisins, sultanas and mixed peel, and spiced lightly with cinnamon. I added a glaze to give the shiny look that's so appealing - you could add some orange zest in this glaze for a fruity twist, but that's up to you (as it's not that traditional!) However, you can add whatever dried fruit or spices you like, or why not go crazy with the recipe - try adding chocolate chips, nut pieces, or even (though I haven't tried this myself), after the first proving stage, you can roll each dough ball around a ball of chocolate truffle, then prove and bake.

They turned out beautifully and, if left in an airtight container, will stay fresh for a few days.
My favourite way to eat these is halved, toasted, and then slathered with butter.

I hope you enjoy making these as much as I did.

Makes 12 big buns

Ingredients:

For the buns:

• 300ml (1 & 1/4 cups) skimmed milk, warmed until it is tepid
• 7g (1 packet, or 2 tsp) dried, fast-action yeast
• 1 egg
• 500 grams (3 cups) plain flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 90g (1/3 cup + 1/2 tbsp) softened butter or margarine
• 300g (2 cups) dried mixed fruit (I used a mixture of raisins, sultanas and mixed peel)
• 65g (1/4 cup) caster sugar 

For the cross:

• 80g (2/3 cup) plain flour
• 60ml (4 tbsp) water

For the glaze:

• 60ml (4 tbsp) skimmed milk
• 30g (2 tbsp) caster sugar
• 1 tbsp orange zest (optional)

Method:

1. Pour the warmed milk into a bowl and sprinkle over the yeast. Leave for 5 minutes in a warm place until it is getting a bit frothy.

2. Whisk the egg into the milk/yeast mixture and set aside.

3. Sift the flour into a bowl of a stand mixer, and add the salt, caster sugar, cinnamon and softened butter. Start the stand mixer on a low setting (with the dough hook). If not using a stand mixer, rub the butter into the flour mixture with your hands until it resembles breadcrumbs.

4. Slowly pour over the milk mixture, then turn the speed of the mixer up slightly to ensure it is picking up all of the mixture from the sides of the bowl. Leave kneading for 7 minutes. If kneading by hand, knead for 10-12 minutes.

5. Cover the bowl with cling film and leave in a warm place for at least 90 minutes, until it has at least doubled in size.

6. Lightly dust your surface with flour and tip out the dough. Knock the dough back by flattening it. Pour over the mixed dried fruit and knead in until well incorporated.

7. Lightly grease a rectangular baking tray (around 20 x 25cm) and dust with flour. Divide the dough into 12 equal pieces. Roll each dough piece into a ball and place, evenly spaced, in the tray. You want there to be around a 1 inch (2.5cm) gap between each ball of dough.

8. Cover the tray with cling film and leave to rise for a further hour.

9. Preheat the oven to 190c (170c fan)/375f/ Gas mark 5.

10. To make the cross, pour the flour into a bowl and pour over the water slowly, beating with a wooden spoon. Once the mixture is smooth but moveable around the bowl (the consistency of thick buttercream), pour into a piping bag. 

11. Cut the end off the piping bag around 1 cm from the tip. Pipe crosses across each bun (I did these by going across the length of all the buns, then across the width of all the buns).

11. Bake the buns for 15-18 minute, until well risen and golden on top.

12. In the last five minutes of baking, prepare the glaze by pouring the milk, orange zest (if using) and sugar into a saucepan. Heat on a low heat for 3-4 minutes until bubbling and slightly reduced.

13. As soon as the buns are out of the oven, use a heat-proof pastry brush to brush some of the glaze onto each bun.

14. Leave to cool.

15. Enjoy!