Easy hot cross buns
There’s nothing better than eating fruit-studded, delicately spiced hot cross buns straight from the oven.
- 1 hr cooking + standing and cooling time
- Makes 16
Ingredients
- 1 cup (250ml) milk
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 2 tablespoons grapeseed or vegetable oil
- 60 grams (2 ounces) butter, chopped
- 1 cup (250ml) apple or pear juice, at room temperature
- 7 grams sachet dry yeast
- 1 egg
- 1 tablespoon finely grated orange rind
- 1/3 cup (55g) dried currants
- 1/3 cup (55g) sultanas
- 5 1/3 cups (800g) bread flour (see tips)
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup (75g) plain flour
- 1 tablespoon caster (superfine) sugar
- 1/3 cup (80ml) cold water, approximately
- 1 tablespoon caster sugar
- 1 teaspoon powdered gelatine
- 1 tablespoon water
Method
- 1Bring milk to the boil in a small saucepan; remove from heat. Add honey, oil and butter; stir until combined.
- 2Whisk juice and yeast in a large bowl until dissolved. Add egg and rind, then currants and sultanas. Add combined flour, cinnamon and salt, then milk mixture; using your hand, mix together until combined. Cover with plastic wrap; stand in a warm place for 30 minutes or until the dough doubles in size.
- 3Lightly knead dough on a lightly oiled or floured surface for 10 seconds. Return to bowl, cover; stand in a warm place for 1 hour or until risen by half.
- 4Divide the dough into 16 pieces (each a little over 90g/3 ounces); shape into balls. Place in a large square cake pan or baking dish lined with baking paper or greased, in four rows of four. Cover; stand in a warm place for 30 minutes or until risen by half.
- 5Preheat oven to 200°C/400°F.
- 6Make flour paste: Combine flour and sugar in a small bowl. Gradually mix in enough water to make a smooth paste. Place flour paste mixture into a small piping bag fitted with a small plain tube. Pipe crosses onto the buns.
- 7Bake buns for 25 minutes or until buns are browned and sound hollow when tapped. Cool in pan.
- 8Make glaze: Combine ingredients in a small saucepan; stir over low heat, without boiling, until sugar and gelatine dissolve.
- 9Transfer buns to a wire rack and brush tops with glaze.
Notes
Cooked buns suitable to freeze. Not suitable to microwave.We used a 23cm (9-inch) square cake pan for the buns. Bread flour is higher in gluten than plain flour, so produces a better-textured bun. Bread flour goes under various names: "strong", "baker's" or "bread". Plain (all-purpose) flour
can be substituted.The perfect warm place to prove yeast dough is a windowsill in sunlight, or on an open oven door, with the oven set at a low temperature.For fresh buns on Good Friday morning, make and shape the dough according to the recipe, place on trays, then cover loosely for their last proving in the refrigerator overnight. Pipe crosses, then bake.