It wouldn't be Easter without a batch of hot cross buns! Set your alarm for an early start so you can enjoy these doughy delights for breakfast.
Ingredients:
300ml milk
¼ cup caster sugar
4 cups high-grade flour
2 tbsp mixed spice
2 tbsp cinnamon
pinch of ground cloves
1 tsp salt
8 tsp instant dry yeast
1 egg, beaten
50g cold unsalted butter, diced
3 cups sultanas
½ cup mixed peel
For the crosses:
½ cup water
½ cup flour
For the glaze:
¼ cup caster sugar
½ cup water
Method
- Place milk and sugar in a small bowl and stir to combine.
- Place flour, spices, salt and yeast in a large bowl and stir, followed by milk mixture and egg and mix. Add butter and mix.
- Turn dough onto a floured bench, knead for 10 minutes. Pull the dough apart, if it stretches and is transparent, it’s ready to prove. If it breaks, continue kneading.
- Add dried fruit and knead. Cover bowl with a damp tea towel and leave to prove in a warm place for 30-40 minutes until dough doubles in size.
- On a floured bench, roll dough to 4cm thick. Cut dough into 12 x 4cm squares. Cover with a damp tea towel and prove for 20 minutes. Squash air out of dough and roll each piece into a ball
- Place balls 1 cm apart on a lined baking tray and leave to prove until doubled in size, around 40 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 180°C.
- While buns are proving, make the crosses’ flour paste by mixing together flour and water. Place paste in a piping bag and, when buns have risen, pipe a cross onto each one.
- Bake buns for 20 minutes or until golden. In a saucepan boil sugar and water over medium heat until sugar dissolved. While hot, paint buns with glaze.
Makes 12
@littleandfriday | littleandfriday.co.nz
11 McColl Street, Newmarket
