Hot Cross Buns

Q: What do you get if you pour hot water down a rabbit hole?
A: Hot cross bunnies!

Sorry, I couldn't resist!

As Easter is now fast approaching I thought I would share with you the recipe for one my favourite Easter treats, hot cross buns.

So what are hot cross buns? They are spicy, fruity bread buns which are made and sold for Easter. They have a cross marked on top, usually made of flour dough but sometimes icing or pastry is used. Traditionally they were made for Good Friday but these days they are available throughout Easter, some supermarkets have even started selling them year round.Hot cross buns are fantastic toasted, spread with melting butter they are just sublime, in fact I wouldn't eat them any other way.

Of course you can just buy them from any good bakery and I'm sure they would be fine but there's something special about making them yourself, homemade just tastes that bit better. Making your own also means you're free to tinker with the recipe, you can choose your favourite fruits and spices, and you get them at their freshest, straight from the oven. I've adapted my recipe from this one, it's a good recipe, the buns were spicy, fruity and delicious!

They do take a lot longer to rise than the original recipe stated, I left mine for a good 90 minutes before baking. You may also need to add a little more flour than is listed, your looking for a dough that is slightly sticky but you should be able to handle it without it clinging to your hands.

Hot cross buns recipe

Ingredients:

• 2 oz Caster sugar
• 1 sachet (7g) of easy blend yeast
• 1 lb plain flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 heaped teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 2 oz Raisins, sultanas or other dried fruit
• The finely grated zest of an orange
• 2 oz mixed peel
• 4 fl. oz. Water
• 4 fl. oz milk
• 2 oz melted butter
• 1 beaten egg

For the Cross (optional)
Mix these together to form the paste that is piped into the buns

• 4 tablespoons plain flour
• 1 tablespoon caster sugar
• 3-4 tablespoons water

Method:

• In a large bowl add the sugar, yeast, flour, salt and spices. Mix well
• Add the dried fruit, zest and peel to the bowl and mix
• Make a well in the centre of the flour mixture and add the water, milk, butter and egg, bring the mixture together with your hands to form a dough. If it feels too sticky add more flour now.
• Knead the dough on a hard surface for 10 minutes until it fells smooth and elastic.
• Put the dough back in the mixing bowl and cover, leave to rise until it has doubled in size, up to 2 hours.
• Knock the dough back until it is the original size and split into 12 pieces.
• Roll the pieces into buns and place on an oiled baking tray, cover and leave to rise for around 90 minutes or until they have doubled in size.
• To make the cross mix the flour sugar and water together in a bowl, put the mixture into a small plastic bag. Snip the corner off the bag and pipe the mixture in a cross shape onto the buns.
• Bake in a preheated oven at gas mark 7/220c/425f for 15-20 minutes.
• To glaze warm some honey or golden syrup and brush over you buns with a pastry brush

Fruit-packed Rock Cakes / Rock buns

I haven't made rock cakes since primary school. I think everyone made these at some point in their school cookery lessons, probably because they are so quick and easy to make.

Rock cakes are very similar to scones, they have a crisp crust and light crumbly texture and are an excellent recipe to have in your repertoire. Great for teaching children to cook or for when you want to make cakes and don't have the time (or can't be bothered) for anything elaborate.
I like loads of fruit in mine so I put some extra in, I also sprinkled sugar crystals over the top before baking for some extra crunch.

Recipe

• 225 g (8 oz) Self Raising Flour
• pinch of salt
• 100 g (4 oz) margarine
• 75 g (3 oz) mixed dried fruit
• 25 g (1 oz) mixed peel
• 50 g (2 oz) caster sugar
• 1 medium egg
• milk to mix

Method

• Heat oven to 200ºC, 400ºF, Gas Mark 6. Grease two baking trays.
• Mix the flour and salt, rub in the margarine.
• Stir in the dried fruit, mixed peel and sugar.
• Mix to a stiff dough with egg and milk.
• Place in rough heaps on the baking tray and bake for 10-15 minutes.

Sticky Chelsea Buns

In England we are blessed with a long history of baking. Every region has it's own specialities such as the Eccles cake from Eccles, the Bakewell tart from Bakewell and the Bath bun from... well you get the picture!
It seems to me that our history is being lost, I rarely see these regional treats for sale any more. The supermarkets seem to favour muffins and cookies over our traditional baking. As much as I like muffins and cookies I would like to see English cakes as well.
Yesterday I did my bit to keep British recipes alive, I made Chelsea buns.
The Chelsea bun was invented in the 1700's and sold from The Bun House in Grosvenor Row in London. They became incredibly popular, apparently even King George couldn't stay away! Unfortunately the Bun House was demolished in 1839 so I can't sample the original.
I can make my own though, these are deliciously sticky buns made from an enriched bread dough that is rolled Swiss roll style with dried fruit spices and sugar in the middle they are glazed with sugar, syrup or honey.

I used a recipe from BakingMad and modified it a bit, this is my version:
Ingredients

For the dough
250g / 9oz Strong White Bread Flour
5ml/ 1 tsp salt
5ml/ 1 tsp white sugar
5 ml / 1 tsp Dried fast Action Yeast
25g / 1 oz butter, diced
100-120ml / 3-4 fl oz warmed milk
1 egg, beaten
For the filling
125g / 4 ½ oz mixed currants, sultanas and raisins
50g / 2oz Demerara sugar
15g/ ½ oz butter
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground cloves

Method

1.Grease an 18cm / 7 inch square shallow cake tin. Sift the flour, salt, sugar and yeast into a large bowl. Rub in 25g / 1oz butter.

2.In a bowl, mix together the milk and egg. Make a well in the centre of the flour mixture and stir in the liquid. Bring the mixture together with a round bladed knife and knead for 10 minutes on a lightly floured surface until the dough is smooth and elastic. If the mixture is sticky add a little more flour.

3.Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and roll out to a 30 x 23 cm/ 12 x 9 inch rectangle.

4.Prepare the filling: Mix the dried fruit with the soft light brown sugar and spices. Melt the remaining butter and brush over the surface of the dough. Scatter the fruit mixture over the buttered dough, leaving a 2.5cm/ 1 inch border around the edge of the dough.

5.Starting at the long side of the dough, roll it up like a Swiss roll. Pinch the edges together to seal and then cut into 12 slices.

6.Place the rolls cut edges uppermost in the tin. Cover with oiled cling film and leave to rise for 1 hour or until doubled in size.

7.Pre heat the oven to 190ºC/ 375ºF/ Gas Mark 5. Bake for 30 minutes or until risen and golden.

8.Remove from the oven and brush with honey and sprinkle with Golden Caster sugar whilst they are still hot. Then cool on a wire rack.

I've entered this into the I Love Baking event over at what's cooking? check it out here: http://whatscooking.us/forum