Real hot cross buns have the cross baked into them not piped on afterward These are studded with rumsoaked currants I based my recipe on one I found on Anson Mills website
Prep Time
4 hrs 50 mins
Dificult
Medium
Servings
5 hrs 50 mins
Ingredients
Instructions
Make the dough: Heat rum in a small saucepan until steaming. Place currents into a small bowl and pour steaming rum over top; let sit for about 2 hours to soften. Drain; reserve liquid for another use.
Whisk warm milk
1/4 cup bread flour
and yeast together in the bowl of a stand mixer. Let stand until small bubbles start to rise to the surface
about 15 minutes. Add sugar
beaten egg
lemon and orange zest
cinnamon
salt
cardamom
and nutmeg. Add melted butter
then spoon in most of the remaining bread flour (you might not need it all). Mix with a dough hook attachment until dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl and becomes slightly elastic
5 or 6 minutes. Continue kneading until dough is soft and shiny
about 10 minutes. Remove dough from dough hook and shape into a ball. Transfer to a lightly floured work surface.
Flatten dough into a large oval about 1/2-inch thick. Sprinkle strained currants evenly over the surface. Fold dough into thirds
then turn and fold into thirds again. Reshape dough into a round ball. Transfer to a lightly oiled mixing bowl. Cover and let rise in a relatively warm
draft-free place until doubled in volume
about 2 hours.
Poke dough down a bit with your fingertips. Transfer to a lightly floured work surface and flatten out into an even shape. Divide into 16 equal pieces using a bench scraper. Roll each piece of dough into a round ball. Arrange evenly on a silicone-lined baking sheet. Let rise for 15 minutes.
Mix 1/3 cup all-purpose flour with 1/4 cup water in a mixing bowl until mixture is thick enough to hold its shape but thin enough to pipe. Transfer to a piping bag and pipe a cross on top of risen bun. Let rise until doubled in volume again
another 15 or 20 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C).
Bake the buns in the preheated oven until golden brown
about 15 minutes.
Meanwhile
make the glaze: Bring sugar and water to a simmer over medium heat. Cook until sugar dissolves and mixture starts to thicken
or until it reaches a temperature of 225 degrees F (110 degrees C). Remove from the heat.
Let buns cool on a rack for 5 minutes before glazing. Brush glaze lightly over the tops of the buns.
Chef's Notes
Any sweet dough will work with this easy technique
especially rich
fragrant examples like my Italian Easter Bread dough. Times may vary
but regardless of the dough
simply wait for the dough to double in size and proceed.
When adding the flour
hold back a little of it until you're sure you need it all. You can always add
but you can't remove!
If you want to get all your buns the same size
weigh the total amount of dough in grams and divide by 16. Then
weigh each of your dough balls to that exact amount
and boom
your tray of buns will look like the ones you saw on that magazine cover.
