I came across a hot cross bun recipe from the Sydney Morning Herald a few days ago and decided to give it ago.ย I was rushing around to get myself ready for my cooking class and I foolishly didn’t let the dough rise enough. I should never bake in hurry! Anyway, my first attempt ended in disaster. ๐
After researching a number of different magazines I bought in Sydney, I decided to use an Apricot & Almond Chelsea bun recipe and then modify it to make my own Hot Cross bun creations. You should have seen my husband’s face when he had his first mouthful. It was a Kodak moment… ๐
Almost like the ones you buy from a bakery but better, don’t you think?
My version of Hot Cross Buns:
- 3 cups plain flour
- 14g dried yeast
- 1/4 cup caster sugar
- 1 tsp salt
- 150ml warm milk
- 50 mil warm water
- 1 egg, beaten
- 50g unsalted butter softened, 1 extra tbsp of melted butter to brush
- a handful of sultanas
- 1 tsp mixed spice
For piping crosses over the dough balls:
- 50ml water
- 50ml milk
- 90g self raising flour
Let’s get started!
- I put plain flour, yeast, sugar and salt in a mixing bowl and mixed well. (If you have a bread machine or electric mixer/food processor, you can almost let the machine do all the work.) I used my bread machine.
- I added the flour mix into my bread machine bowl and poured in warm milk, water, egg and butter and pressed the dough function on the machine and let it mix for 30 minutes.
- Once the mixing was done, I left the dough in the machine for one hour (or until it doubles in size).
- I set my oven to 200’C (or 180’C fan). I used one ofย baking trays lined with baking paper.
- I knocked back the dough and cut into 8 pieces. I rolled them into balls and placed the balls so they just touched. I let it to rise for another 30 minutes.
- Now the final touch! I brushed melted butter over the dough. Then I mixed the water, milk, self raising flour and piped over the dough balls to form crosses except two balls which I made heart shaped for my husband. โฅ
- I baked it for 10 minutes and then reduced the oven temperature to 180’C(or 160’c fan) and then cooked for another 10 minutes (or until golden brown).
- It looked like I didn’t brush the butter evenly so I put another coating and put it back in the oven for a few more minutes.
Ready for steaming hot cross buns? My husband gave me an evil eye when I asked him to wait for a few more minutes while I was taking some photos. Sorry! ๐
It was perfect for our Easter Friday afternoon snack. We cut the bun in half and spread a bit of butter while it was still hot and had it with our caffe latte! Happy Easter everyone!
