Real Bread Campaign

Hot cross buns

A good, old-fashioned Easter recipe from Suzanne Wynn. Once you've tasted these real hot cross buns, you won't want to go back to factory-made imitations.

First class ingredients will make your homemade hot cross buns better than any you have ever bought.  It really makes a difference to hand-cut candied peel and grind spices just before using rather than buying ready prepared alternatives.  Likewise use organic stoneground flour if you can – it will give the buns more character, flavour and texture.  White stoneground flour is harder to come by than wholemeal so, if you can only find industrial roller-milled white flour, mixing it with a proportion of stoneground wholemeal flour is a good alternative.

Fresh yeast gives the best results, but if you are unable to find it, try to buy traditional active dried yeast, rather than instant (AKA easy-blend or fast acting) alternatives, many of which include flour improvers.  Use half the quantity of dried yeast to fresh, and halve this again if you have to resort to an instant version.

Note that the ferment needs to be made a day in advance.

Makes 16 buns

The Ferment:

140g strong white flour
20g fresh yeast
150ml water

The Dough:

310g stoneground strong white flour (or use 170g industrial white mixed with 140g stoneground wholemeal)
1 tsp salt
3 tsp mixed spice *
55g light muscovado sugar
55g butter, melted
1 egg, beaten
125ml milk
85g hand chopped candied lemon peel
85g sultanas

For the crosses:

50g plain white household flour
Pinch of baking powder
40 - 50ml water
1 tsp vegetable oil

For the glaze:
1 egg
2 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp boiling water

Mix up the ferment 12-18 hours before you want to make the hot cross buns.  Heat the water until it feels lukewarm to the touch then stir into the fresh yeast until it is smoothly blended.  Mix this liquid into the flour, cover the bowl with cling film and leave in a cool place to rise and drop again.

When you are ready to make the dough, mix together the flours, salt, sugar and spice.  Melt the butter and pour it onto the dry ingredients together with the beaten egg and milk.  Stir the liquid with your hand, gradually drawing in some of flour mixture.  When the centre is no longer liquid add the ferment from the day before and mix together to create a homogenous mixture.  Absorption rates vary from flour to flour so be prepared to add more water or flour to get the right consistency - quite moist but manageable.   

It will take the yeast a little while to recover from these additions, so it pays to cover the dough and let it rest for half an hour or so before kneading in earnest.  Whilst the dough is resting you can chop the peel and, if you like, pour a couple of tablespoons of sweet sherry over the sultanas to plump them.

Knead the dough until it is smooth and elastic, then stretch it out as far as it will go without tearing, into a rectangular shape.  Scatter the chopped peel over the dough and then fold the bottom third over, followed by the top third.  Now give the dough a quarter turn and stretch it out again.  This time scatter with the sultanas (minus any excess soaking liquid) and repeat the folding process.  Put the dough into a large bowl, cover with cling film and leave in a warm place, such as an airing cupboard, until the dough has doubled in size.  This will take about 2 hours**.

Briefly knead the dough to knock out the air and then divide it into four pieces.  Further divide each quarter into four and shape each piece into a ball.  Place these onto greased baking sheets allowing a gap approximately the same size as each ball between them for the dough to rise.   It doesn’t matter if the buns just touch as they cook.  Cover and put back in a warm place for the dough to rise again, which this time will take about 45 minutes.

Meanwhile, mix together the ingredients to make the crosses.  The mixture should be quite firm but just runny enough to pipe.  Put the mixture into a piping bag fitted with a broad plain nozzle.  Pre-heat the oven to 210ºC (190ºC in a fan oven)/gas mark 5.

Pipe a cross over each risen bun.  Put the buns into the oven and turn the heat up to 220ºC (200ºC in a fan oven)/gas mark 6.  Bake for 12-15 minutes until lightly golden in colour.  Whilst the buns are baking mix together the ingredients for the glaze and brush over the buns immediately they are removed from the oven.

Notes

* Mixed spice is a blend of predominantly sweet spices that used to be known as pudding spice.  The exact blend varies but almost always includes cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves.  Other additions might include: coriander seeds, allspice berries and ginger, these latter two providing heat as well as flavour.

** If this rising time is inconvenient, for example if you wish to eat the buns in the morning, the dough can be put in a cold place to rise overnight.  The second rising, after the buns have been shaped, should be in a warm place and slightly longer should be allowed for the dough to warm up and begin to rise.

Suzanne Wynn, cook and food campaigner