Hot cross bun

Hot cross buns date back to the 6th century where the Greeks marked a cross on their bread or another version being a monk in the 14th century prepared a sweet, spiced bun called "Alban bun" and distributed them on Good Friday.

Ingredients

Bakers flour 370gm

Instant yeast 8gm*

Caster sugar 45gm

Sea salt 9gm

Whole eggs 185gm

Milk 65gm

Butter unsalted (Room temperature) 165gm

Vanilla extract 10gm

Currants 100gm

Cranberry dried 60gm

Cinnamon powder 5gm

Nutmeg powder 1 pinch

* You can use 1/3rd the amount of fresh yeast instead of instant yeast.

For the cross mark

Flour 50gm

Milk 50gm

Caster sugar 50gm

Egg wash

Whole egg 1

Milk 20ml

Salt 1 pinch

Neutral glaze/Apricot jam (For Glazing)

Method:

1. Pre heat the oven to 200 degrees centigrade, line a flat tray with baking paper and place aside.

2. Place the currants and cranberry in a bowl, pour in hot water just to cover them and set aside for about a hour. In the meanwhile prepare the dough.

3. Combine the dry ingredients (Flour, spices' powders, sugar and yeast) in a mixing bowl, in a separate bowl combine the milk, vanilla and eggs. Gradually add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, if using a stand mixer start with a slow speed on a hook attachment. If using hands, start kneading the dough by mixing from all sides. After about 3-4 minutes, add the salt and mix on a higher speed or continue mixing till a well formed dough is formed.

Note: You will have to keep scrapping the sides and combining all the parts of the dough as it tends to be a sticky dough.Continue kneading.

4.Gradually add the butter slowly and continue kneading until a homogenous dough is formed. There should not be any lumps of butter left in the dough. The key is to keep the butter at room temperature if it is hard it will not incorporate into the dough.

5. Slightly oil a bowl, place the dough in it and allow to rest for 45 minutes, meanwhile strain the currants and cranberry and dry them on a tea towel to remove any moisture.

6. After resting for 45 minutes, combine the currants and cranberry into the dough by slowly working your way through the dough. Once combined, rest again in an oiled bowl for 30 minutes.

7. After the second resting, portion the dough to about 70gm each and shape to form an even round piece. Arrange them next to each other on the tray leaving about 2cm distance between them.

8. Allow to prove in a warm/humid environment, covered with a thin moist cheese cloth to prevent drying out. In the mean while prepare the egg wash and place aside.

9. Combine the flour, milk and sugar with a whisk and place the mixture in a piping bag.

10. Once the buns have doubled in size about 45 minutes to an hour, when you slightly poke with your finger they tend to spring back this is a sign which indicates it has proven to its optimum level. Lightly coat them with the egg wash using a brush and pipe the mixture from one end to another moving continuously covering all the buns in one row. Similarly move the other way around and over lap the first piping creating a cross effect on them.

11. Bake them for approximately 20 minutes until golden brown.

12. Once you take them out of the oven, set them aside and glaze them with the neutral glaze or apricot jam diluted with water. (You will have to heat the neutral glaze/jam with a little bit of water in a saucepan or microwave oven). Glaze the buns with a brush covering every bun evenly. Allow to cool.

Enjoy😋

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