I normally avoid days like these. I don't mean days when I cook alot, i mean Easter, Christmas, Birthdays, Valentines etc etc. I generally can't be bothered. But I do love Hot Cross Buns, and I've never attempted to make them before.
The recipe is easy to follow and pretty straightforward - the hardest bit is getting the crosses in neat straight lines!
Ingredients:
600g Plain Flour (+ extra for dusting)
2 x 7g Dried Yeast
55g Caster Sugar
2 Tsp Mixed Spice
Pinch Salt
270g Currants (or mixed fruit)
Zest 1 Lemon
40g Butter
300g Milk
2 Eggs, lightly beaten
Golden Syrup
150g Plain Flour (for the crosses)
Combine all the dry ingredients (except for the last 150g Plain Flour). Melt the butter into the lukewarm milk and add to the rest of the ingredients, as well as the eggs. Knead well, then prove in a warm place until doubled in size. Knock the dough back and form into 12 balls, placed about 1cm apart on a lined baking tray.
Prove again until doubled in size, then mix the 150g flour with about 4 tbsp water to make a thick paste, and pipe over the buns to make the crosses. Bake at 190° for about 20-25 minutes, then glaze with warmed Golden Syrup as you take them out of the oven.
Pretty damn good, although I reckon I managed to overcook mine, and they were probably too big. And I don't have a pastry brush so the drizzled Golden Syrup doesnt quite cut it for me.
I've never made them and probably never will!
ReplyDeleteAdd to shopping list: 1 x pastry brush.
ReplyDeleteCome on Mike, a pastry brush is a staple tool =p
Nothing beats eating these things fresh out of the oven with a smear of butter =)
haha, yeah I've already bought a Pastry brush now. I'm missing many kitchen essentials, after all I did only arrive in Sydney 9 months ago, with just 18kg of luggage! A Pastry Brush didn't quite make the cut :P
ReplyDeletehi there !
ReplyDeleteI have browsed many aussie food blogs and see that these buns are a tradition !! thanks for the sharing!! Pierre de Paris