Remember that song we sang during childhood? Hot cross buns, hot cross buns, one a penny, 2 a penny, hot cross buns! But did you know that hot cross buns are traditionally served during Easter? Well actually they are served during Good Friday and the cross on the buns signify the crucifixion.
But set that morbid thought aside, other than hot cross buns, simnel cakes are also served during Easter. You can usually find simnel cakes in the UK, which usually is a light fruit cake with marzipan on top with 11 marzipan balls to signify the true apostles. Guess Judas has no place on an Easter cake. Hot cross buns are usually baked in Australia and the US. But I like buns so get your ovens hot, we’re going to make some for Easter.
Ingredients:
2tsp dry yeast
2tbsp sugar
1 cup warm water
3 cups flour
1/3 cupful cream milk powder
½tsp mixed spice
40g butter
1 egg
1/3 cup sultannahs
1½ tbsp mixed peel
2 tablespoons apricot jam
Method:
Put yeast with 1tsp of the sugar in warm water
Whisk yeast until it dissolves and bubbles
Sift flour with milk powder and spice
Rub in the butter until it forms crumbs
Rub the butter quickly into the flour before it melts too much
Next add in the rest of the sugar, egg, jam, peel, sultannahs and yeast
Mix it with a fork until it forms a soft and sticky dough
Tip the dough onto a smooth floured surface
Now knead it using strong, even strokes
Don't worry if it sticks a little, you'll get the hang of it the more you do it
Knead it until it’s elastic
Left is the dough after kneading, right is after it's risen for an hour
If it's a hot day, 45 minutes will do, make sure you cover the bowl with cling film when you leave it out to rise
Knead it again until smooth and divide it into 8 portions
Knead each portion into a ball, put it in a greased pan and let it rise for another 20 minutes
Now you need to make the flour paste for the crosses
"If you have no daughters, give them to your sons!"
Ingredients for flour paste:
½ cup of flour
1tbsp sugar
½ cup water
Method:
Combine all the ingredients until it forms a paste
Pour it into an icing bag
Pipe out the crosses on the buns
Bake it in a preheated oven of 190 degrees for 20 minutes or until it turns golden brown
Results:
The crosses will actually sink into the buns and form a faint line (I like it this way).
You are more than welcome to pipe chocolate or vanilla icing on top to accentuate the cross.
The texture of these buns are dense. This is because we did not use bread softener. However it tears beautifully and you MUST eat it while it’s hot. These are the sort of buns that will get a little stodgy when cold
Chef Says:
Now the thing about baking is to not be afraid to substitute ingredients for things you have in your larder. Of course essentials like flour, sugar, butter and eggs should remain constant but items like mixed spice, peels and sultannahs can be subbed for other things depending on what’s in your cupboard.
In this instance I did not have any milk powder so I substituted it for 1/3 cup Nestum 3 in 1 oats. You can even use baby milk powder because buying a whole tin of powder just for one recipe is quite a waste.
Also I just put 1/2 tsp of cinammon instead of mixed spice (because I love cinammon), you can also use nutmeg or a combo of both. Instead of apricot jam you can also use marmalade (just don’t use marmite!) Instead of mixed peel, I actually used candied ginger because I had a nice bag of it in my fridge
It’s up to you, just put a little thought into the mix of flavours and if it makes sense and you like it, it should be fine.
I eat these buns like scones, drowned in butter and jam.
You can also dip it in a nice cup of milky coffee. Happy Easter!
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