One a penny, two a penny, hot cross buns!

Week 15, Bake 15.

It is quite obvious what this weeks bake was going to be... hot cross buns! I really don't know about the rest of the world, but in England we traditionally have these tasty buns on Good Friday (however they are sold all year round). So as it is Good Friday today here is my recipe for hot cross buns. This recipe is slightly adapted from Paul Hollywood's Hot Cross Bun recipe, it takes a while as the bun have to prove three times but it is well worth it.

Ingredients:

• 300ml of semi-skimmed milk
• 50g of unsalted butter
• 500g of strong white bread flour
• 1 teaspoon of salt
• 75g of caster sugar
• 7g sachet of fast action dried yeast
• 1 egg (beaten)
• vegetable oil
• 80g of sultanas
• zest of one orange
• 1 apple, peeled, chopped, cored
• 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon

For the cross:

• 100g of plain flour

For the glaze:

• 3 tablespoons of plum jam (apricot is used traditionally)

Method:

1. Bring the milk to the boil, this will happen very quickly. Remove it from the heat and add the butter into the milk to let it melt, whilst the milk cools.
2. In a mixing bowl, sift the flour, salt, sugar and yeast.
3. When the milk is cool enough to touch, make a well in the centre of the flour and pour in the milk/butter. Now add the beaten egg and using a wooden spoon bring the ingredients together in a dough, using your hands if needed.
4. Tip it onto a floured surface and knead it for 5 to 10 minutes, until it is smooth and elastic. Add more flour if necessary.
5. Using a pastry brush, lightly oil a bowl and place the dough inside. Cover with some oiled cling film (I used an oiled clean shower cap as this allows the dough to expand) and leave it to rise in a warm place for 1hr or until it is doubled in size.
6. Now turn the dough out again onto a lightly floured surface and add the sultanas, orange zest, apple, and cinnamon. Knead the dough until well distributed.
7. Now pop it back into the bowl and leave it to rise again for a further hour.
8. Divide the dough into 15 balls, each weighing 75g and roll them until they are smooth.
9. Arrange them on baking trays with baking parchment under the rolls, place oiled cling film over the top and let them double in size again in a warm place for an hour.
10. Pre-heat the oven to 190c.
11. Mix the flour and about 5 tablespoons of water together, making sure no lumps form to create a thick paste.
12. Now pipe the paste over the risen buns in a cross shape and bake in the oven for 18-20 minutes (or until golden brown).
13. Meanwhile melt the jam.
14. Once the buns are out of the oven, avoid temptation and do not eat them, but use the pastry brush to brush over the plum jam.
15. Now leave them to cool and there you have it hot cross buns!

And finally a lovely British Pathe video about Hot Cross Buns... Happy easter everybody!

HOT CROSS MACHINERY