Foodie

Sunday, March 15, 2009

Hot Cross Buns







Hot cross buns,
Hot cross buns,
one ha' penny,
two ha' penny,
Hot cross buns.
If you have no daughters,
give them to your sons,
one ha' penny,
two ha' penny,
Hot Cross Buns
Hot cross buns are traditional buns baked for the Easter time celebrations. The fact that they are homemade makes them extra special.Hot cross buns are traditionally served on the Christian holiday of Good Friday and during Lent. They are smallish, slightly sweet buns containing spices and raisins, or currants, and they sometimes contain chopped candied fruit. Their tops are marked with a distinctive white cross made of glazed sugar or lightly cooked dough to symbolize the Crucifixion of Jesus Christ.These festive buns are best served warm from the oven with a butter spread. They taste so good you will want to eat them the year-round



Ingredients:

Bun Crossing Paste
1/2 tbsp vegetable oil
1/4 cup flour
1/8 cup water
Pinch of salt

Bread:
All the Water Roux
100ml water
1 large egg
2 tbsp fine granulated sugar
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp milk powder
2 1/2 cups plus 1 tbsp bread flour
2 1/2 tsp instant yeast
2 tbsp butter

Water-Roux Paste:
2 tbsp bread flour
100ml water

Glazing:
1 tbsp Milk
1 tbsp Apricot Jam

Method:

To make the Water Roux follow Tangzhong Starter-Water Roux.

For the Bread:

Put the bread ingredients into the bread machine bowl according to the order in the list. First the liquids and ending with the yeast.

Select the dough function and press to start. When the dough comes to a ball, add in the butter and continue the function. When a beep is sounded, added in the raisins and mixed peels. Continue the function until the dough has risen, in 1 1/2 hr.

When function is done. Remove the raised dough gently and divide into 8 pieces.

Rest cut dough for 10 minutes before shaping.

Shape each piece into a tightly formed ball and place on greased 10 inch x 6 inch baking pan.
Cover baking pan with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until buns are touching and doubled in size.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Brush buns with milk

Place bun crossing paste in a ziplog bag and snip off one of the ends of the bag.

Pipe crosses over the surface of each bun.

Transfer buns to oven and bake until golden brown, 18 to 25 minutes, rotating baking sheets after 10 minutes.

Transfer to a wire rack and cool to room temperature.

Meanwhile, place apricot jam in a small microwable bowl and nuke on high for 20 seconds, until heated through; (strain through a mesh sieve set over a bowl if jam is very lumpy - in this case, use more than one tablespoon of jam, otherwise it is not worth the effort to strain ).

Brush heated jam over buns.
Serve warm with butter.

Bun Crossing Paste
In a medium bowl, whisk together oil and water. Add flour and salt, and whisk until well combined.
Let stand 1 hour before using.

Serves

10 comments:

Mary Bergfeld said...

Lily, you are a culinary globe trotter :). Hot cross buns have been a favorite of mine since I was a little girl. Yours look delicious.

Big Boys Oven said...

something that we gonna see people baking this april! :)

Anonymous said...

Hi Lily
this is lori, finally garnered all my courage and bake the hot cross bun, followed your receipe and tips to the T. and it turned out nice and soft inside but the exterior crust was slightly browned cos i was trying out my new oven's temperature setting. thanks for sharing receipe, by the way, the cross was so beautifully embedded. thanks again, wishing you n your love ones a happy easter filled with lots of warm greetings and best wishes.regards
lori

Anonymous said...

Hi Lily,
I'd like to make these buns for Easter, but I don't own a bread machine. Would it be possible for me to make these by hand?

Claire

Unknown said...

claire

i am sorry for the late reply.

yes, you could certainly knead by hand. Make sure you obtain the window-pane stage.

Unknown said...

I was wondering if I could have the recipe of potato bread. Do you also know if I can substitute mashed potato flour with potato flour? Thank you. Bee

Bee,

you could use my pumpkin bread recipe substituting the pumpkin with mashed potato.

Potato flour could be a different from mashed potato flour. i would not suggest you using to sub.

Anonymous said...

Hello Lily,

Thank you and I will try it out including your recipe. Bee

tazyspin said...

Hi Lily,

I am curious what does water roux do?? Also, is there any other substitution for bread improver??

BTW, are you u using an Ariston oven?? I am still not very sure how to use my ariston oven for baking.... my bread always turn out hard... :(

Unknown said...

tazyspin

the water roux method make homemade breads retain its soft and fluffy texture. Just omit bread improver if you must, you will still have a soft bread without it.

I am using a GE wall unit. Do not overbake soft sweet bread, then it will not be hard.

tazyspin said...

Thanx, Lily. Will try again and fill you up.

Cheers!
Jackie

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...