I was home alone a couple of Sundays ago and I decided the best way to spend the day was baking. With Easter getting closer and hot cross buns appearing everywhere I thought I'd better take a stab! I remember cooking these with little Claudy J a few years back and it was so much fun. I don't actually eat hot cross buns but my family love them so we ended up with some for now and some in the freezer for later.
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Bit of an explosion on the end there but I'm told it still tasted good!
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THE RECIPE
Whisk
2x8g sachets dried yeast, 1 1/4 cups warm milk and 1/4 cup caster sugar in a medium sized bowl until the sugar dissolves and then set aside for
10 minutes. In a large bowl, sift
4 cups plain flour, 1 tsp ground cinnamon, 1 tsp mixed spice and 1 tsp salt. Use your fingertips to rub in
60g butter until the mix resembles breadcrumbs. Into this mix add
1 cup sultanas, 1 cup dried cranberries, 2 eggs and the yeast mix and stir to combine. Turn the dough onto a floured surface and knead for
five minutes. Place the kneaded dough into a large greased bowl, cover and leave in a warm spot for
3/4 of an hour.
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| Before... |
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| ...after! |
Give the dough a good punch and then knead again until smooth. Shape into 12 balls and place side by side into a greased baking tray like this...
Set the buns aside for
1/4 of an hour. Preheat the oven to
200c. Combine
1/4 cup SR flour and 1/4 cup water, place the mix in a freezer or snaplock bag, snip off the corner and pipe crosses on.
Bake for
10 minutes, reduce the oven to
180c and bake for a further
15 minutes. Brush the buns while they're still warm with warm and sieved
apricot jam.
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| Tah dah! |
