Hot Non-Denominational Cross Buns

So I have a confession. I've never made Hot Cross Buns before. Never. Every Easter I say "I'm going to make hot cross buns this year. I really am." And Mum says "That will be nice I'd like hot cross buns." And then I don't make them. This year I went as far to get extra butter and eggs at the market. And then I never made them. So today, three whole days after Easter, once and for all, I made Hot Cross Buns. Booyah. And you guys they are so easy and so fun and I'm going to make them forever after.

Since the distinctive cross on the tops of the buns is, when baked in our house, definitely not a cross in the Jesus sense of the word I thought about naming this post "Hot X Buns" but then that might have indicated a very different kind of post, and I didn't want my nice delicious post-Easter baked goods showing up in a porno search or anything. So I settled on "Non-Denominational Cross Buns."

I used the recipe from The River Cottage Bread Handbook by Daniel Stevens and Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall. The River Cottage is on my list for the next time we go to England, Hugh F-W runs it as a culinary school, restaurant, and champion of sustainability and yummy things to eat. And boy do they know bread.

Here is the recipe, which can be found in the cookbook or at epicurious.com:

POST EASTER HOT NON-DENOMINATIONAL CROSS BUNS

• 2 cups (8.8 ounces/250g) white bread flour, plus extra for dusting
• 2 cups (8.8 ounces/250g) all-purpose white flour
• 1/2 cup warm water
• 1/2 cup warm milk
• 1 1/2 teaspoons (0.18 ounce/5g) instant yeast
• 2/3 cup (3.5 ounces/100g) raisins, currants, or golden raisins (or a mixture)
• Finely grated zest of 1/2 orange
• 1/4 heaping teaspoon each of cinnamon, nutmeg, and allspice
• 2 teaspoons (0.35 ounce/10g) fine salt
• 3 1/2 tablespoons (1.8 ounces/50g) superfine sugar
• 1 medium free-range egg
• 3 1/2 tablespoons (1.8 ounces/50g) butter
  
• 6 tablespoons (1.8 ounces/50g) all-purpose white flour
• 7 tablespoons water
  
• 1 tablespoon apricot (or other) jam, sieved
• 1 tablespoon water

If you have a stand mixer, combine the flours, water, milk, yeast, salt, and sugar in the bowl and fit the dough hook. Add the egg and butter and mix to a sticky dough.

Add the dried fruit, orange zest, and spices and knead on low speed until silky and smooth. (You can do this by hand, but it will be sticky to handle.) Cover the dough and let rise in a warm place for about 1 hour, until doubled in size.

Deflate the risen dough and divide into 8 equal pieces. Shape into rounds and dust with flour. Place on a floured board, cover with plastic wrap or linen, and let proof for about 30 minutes, until roughly doubled in size.

Preheat the oven to 400°F. To make the crosses, whisk together the flour and water until smooth, then transfer to a pastry bag and snip off the end to make a fine hole (or use a plastic food bag with a corner snipped off, as I do). Transfer the risen buns to a baking sheet and pipe a cross on top of each one, then bake for 15 to 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, melt the jam with the water in a pan. Brush over the buns to glaze as you take them from the oven. Transfer to a wire rack to cool. Serve warm, cold, or toasted.

 

 

 

BEETLE NOTES:

 

We had no oranges or orange zest in the house, so I bumped up the spices a little bit. And I did add raisins even though Mum hates them because she said she wanted them. I don't think I added 2/3 of a cup, though, I just threw in a couple of handfuls. The dough was a bit dry so I ended up adding probably another 1/3 of a cup of milk to make it stickier.

 

I read in the comments that one woman had made them in a brownie pan, all jumbled up next to each other, and I'd read that once before for cinnamon buns, so I decided to try it (see left.) It worked quite well. The sides stay soft and unbrowned that way, and there's something incredibly satisfying about pulling two hot buns apart, isn't there? And of course then promptly stuffing both into your face. 

The Just Baked View.

 

 

 

 

 

 

For the glaze, the recipe above calls for just flour and water brushed on in a cross shape, which I was alllll set to do, considering that under normal circs, the less sugar the better. However, my sainted mother informed me that since they were traditionally made with a frosting cross, she figured that, "for tradition's sake" hers should have a frosting cross too. So. Frosting. I eschewed the flour/water cross and the jam (though definitely trying that one again soon it sounds delicious) and went for the Classic Simple Icing. Standard formula, FYI, 1 cup of powdered sugar to two large tablespoons milk. Convert up or down accordingly, and add a little bit of vanilla extract if you have it. Whisk away and you're done! Easy peasy lemon squeezy. (which you could totally add for lemon icing, it's delicious.)



Niiiiice and thick. As icing was in the beginning.
And ever shall be. World Without End. Amen.



I decided that I didn't want to dig through my moving boxes (btw, 75% of my life is still in boxes in the ballroom waiting to be unpacked) for my pastry bag and tips, so I used the ever-popular sandwich bag with one end snipped off. In a pinch, it's just a valid. It does get messier faster, but looking at these photos you can't tell, can you, that finishing up my hands were coated in icing and the bag had been reduced to a sticky, white, sugary monstrosity? Exactly.

What you didn't see can't hurt you, or make you laugh uproariously. I will dig out the pastry bag next time.

 

So there you have it. Hot Cross Buns. Hot Non-Denominational Cross Buns. With Icing. Waiting for brecky or tea or coffee or what have you.

 

 

There are flowers INSIDE.
OUTSIDE ON THE OTHER HAND it snowed yesterday. Again.
I'm ready for Spring, you guys.