Hot cross buns... All year round!

Hot Cross Buns – they’re so delicious. Most people get pretty excited when they come in to the shops (even though they arrive in January!) and then lament when Easter is over. It’s two weeks after Easter now, and yesterday my local Bakers Delight made its last Hot Cross Buns of the season for sale. So today is a great day for me to tell you how to make your own.

Hot Cross Buns

I’ve been making Hot Cross Buns for a lot of years now. When I was back in New Zealand I had standing orders from a lot of friends to make a batch or two for them every Easter. And there’s nothing quite like a fresh one made with all your favourite spices.

Lots of people are afraid of baking with yeast, but it’s really very easy. All you need to do is remember a few simple rules.

First never EVER put your yeast into a mixture which is hotter than blood temperature. This is really important, because yeast is a living organism, and will die if it gets too hot. When bread rises and goes into the oven, the yeast feeds on the sugars in the bread and makes lot of carbon dioxide which makes the bread rise, but eventually the cooking process will kill the yeast. So you can see why if you put yeast straight into liquid which is too hot, it will never survive in order to make nice fluffy bread.

Second, it’s a really great idea to make sure that your bread mixture is as moist as possible, without being sticky. As I have learned over the years, this is one of the secrets to having a great lift in the bread, and a lovely soft texture.

Third, never ever let your bread rise too much before you bake it. This is called “over proving”, and it’s almost as bad as letting your yeast to die at the beginning by putting it into really hot liquid. Generally speaking, when you are rising your bread for the last time before you bake it, lightly pressing the dough with your finger should make a small indentation which does not quite spring back.

Anyway, enough with the lessons because these Hot Cross Buns are pretty much foolproof! I really mean foolproof because I first made this recipe at a campground in the outback of Australia, using only a cast iron camp oven and coals from an open camp fire for cooking. They turned out pretty much perfect. Flavourful, fruity, chewy inside and a crunchy crust. And the good thing for those of you who don’t like mixed peel, these buns don’t have any! Instead some finely chopped orange rind is added to the mixture and it’s amazing!

Campfire Hot Cross Buns

The other great thing about this recipe, is that you do not need to just make buns. You can also use this mixture to make a big loaf, and slice it to make fruit toast (one of Melbourne’s favourite breakfasts). And if you don’t feel in the Easter mood, you can omit the flour paste crosses from the top of buns, or you can make different patterns! Think about hearts and daisies on top of your buns!

Hot Cross Buns

These buns are glazed with a lovely sugar syrup, flavoured with vanilla. It is also nice to flavour the sugar syrup with star anise, cinnamon or saffron for a more exotic taste.

Hot Cross Buns

Makes 16 buns or a 25 x10cm loaf (bake the loaf about 35 minutes). By the way, if you want to try making these buns on a campfire, it takes about 45-55 minutes to bake them. I found as baking progressed it was necessary to move the hot coals to the edges of the camp oven to ensure good browning on the top of the outer buns.

Spiced fruit dough

ingredients

250mL apple sauce (home made or purchased)

250mL water

50g butter

2 tbsp sugar

2 tbsp sunflower oil

7g sachet dried yeast

5 1/3 cups flour

2 tbsp ground cinnamon

2 tbsp mixed spice

1 tsp ground ginger

1 tsp salt

1 cup sultanas

3/4 cup currants

Rind of half an orange, peeled with a potato peeler, and chopped finely.

mixing

If you are making the applesauce, peel, core and dice two apples, place and small saucepan about a quarter of a cup of water, and cook until the apples are very soft. Purée and let cool.

Place the water and butter in a microwave proof bowl, and cook on high for one minute until the butter has melted. Add the sugar, oil and apple purée. Let this mixture cool until it is at blood temperature. Add yeast and stir to combine. Let this mixture sit for about 15 minutes until the yeast starts to froth.

Meanwhile, combine with the flour, spices, salt and fruit in a large bowl of a stand mixer (as you probably know I love my stand mixer, but you can make these buns by hand too – just mix with a wooden spoon until the dough starts to come together and then knead on a lightly floured surface until the dough is smooth). Pour the yeast mixture into the flour mixture, and using a dough hook, mix until a smooth dough forms. You should be able to handle the dough without it being too sticky. Cover the bowl with a plastic bag and a couple of tea towels and stand in a warm place until the dough has risen slightly (about half an hour).

While the dough is rising, prepare your pan. I like to use a 25 x 25 cm lamington pan, but you can also use a flat baking sheet. If you are using a lamington pan, line this with bake paper. Otherwise, just lightly grease your baking sheet.

Punch the dough down, and knead it lightly on a clean dry surface. Make an even lump, and cut into quarters. Cut each quarter of the dough into four, making 16 pieces.

Left to right from top left, kneaded dough, quartered dough, making 16, shaping buns.

Shape each piece of dough into a round bun by pulling the outsides of the lump around and pressing them into the centre, as shown in the video below.

Once each bun is nice and smooth on top, put in the tin (or if using a baking sheet, place the buns with about a half centimetre space between them). When you have shaped all the buns, cover with a large clean plastic bag or cling wrap and a tea towel, and place in a warm spot until the buns have doubled in size.

All risen!

While the buns are rising, make the flour paste and sugar syrup (recipes below), and preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius.

When the buns have risen, pipe the flour paste crosses across the top of the buns as shown in the picture, or go crazy with your own designs.

Left to right from top left, good paste consistency, making the first stripes, finishing each line, buns ready for the oven!

Bake at 200°C for about 25 minutes. The buns will be well risen, and golden brown.

Remove the buns from the oven, and using a pastry brush, brush the tops immediately with the sugar syrup. Let cool – if you can! They are so delicious when they are still hot.

Flour paste

ingredients

1/3 cup flour

1 tbsp sugar

3 1/2 tbsp water

mixing

Mix the flour and sugar. Add enough water to form a smooth paste (start with about 3 tablespoons of water and add the rest of the water as required. You might need a little more or less than 3 1/2 tbsp- it depends on the flour).

When the paste is the right texture (see photo above), tip it into a small piping bag. You can make one of these using a folded rectangle of baking paper as I have done, but another trick is to use a small snap lock bag which you can cut the corner off in order to make the nozzle!

Vanilla sugar syrup

You can make as much or as little of this as you like. This recipe makes much more than you need (the buns use less than 50mL) but it is a convenient size to handle. You can keep the rest of the syrup in a bottle in the refrigerator indefinitely. It’s great for cocktails also!

1 cup sugar

1 cup water

1/4 tsp vanilla powder

Combine all ingredients in a small saucepan. Heat, swirling occasionally until the mixture comes to a boil. Boil for one minute and remove from heat. Once cool, the syrup is ready to use.

Still steaming 🙂

Enjoy your eternal Easter! Xxx

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Hot cross buns… All year round!