Traditionally served on Good Friday with the symbolic cross on top, this is an easy recipe that can be varied, depending on personal likes and dislikes. One of the very few things I am not keen on is mixed peel, so I leave it out, but if you like it then add it along with the other dried fruit.
For the crosses, you can either make a thick floury paste and pipe it, or make pastry and lay it across the buns. I usually favour the second method, as I am not known for my proficiency with a piping bag. Tara Heron, who runs the brilliant micro-bakery Dainty Monkey in Trinity, Edinburgh, uses strong flour for the crosses for her deliciously spiced buns. For 12 buns, she mixes 50g strong white flour with 50ml water and 10ml olive oil. She leaves this rather thick mixture to sit for an hour or two before piping it onto the buns with a piping syringe.
Eat warm, just as they are – or cold with a tiny smear of butter, freshly baked. After a couple of days, they are wonderful split and toasted. Nowadays you can buy insane-sounding flavours of hot cross buns, from chocolate orange or sticky toffee to goat’s cheese and honey. And though I am more of a purist when it comes to these Easter treats, I was fascinated to learn from our family friends on Bermuda about Easter traditions there. As well as flying kites on Good Friday, they also eat fish cakes in hot cross buns. Made from salt cod, the fish cakes are placed inside the bun and devoured, usually on a delightfully warm Bermuda spring day on one of that island’s fabulous pink sandy beaches. So, weird though it sounds, I know how delightful it must be.
Makes 12
500g strong white flour
1 tsp salt
50g butter, diced
40g light muscovado sugar
½ tsp mixed spice
½ tsp ground cinnamon
100g raisins and currants
25g chopped mixed peel (optional)
7g sachet fast-action dried yeast
300ml (approx.) tepid milk/water (for this, I use two-thirds whole milk, one-third water)
•
For the crosses
3 rounded tbsp plain flour
2–3 tbsp cold water
or
70g plain flour
40g butter, diced
1–2 tbsp cold water
•
For the glaze
1 tbsp golden syrup or honey
Place the flour in a bowl, then stir in the salt. Rub in the butter until it resembles breadcrumbs.
Stir in the sugar, spices and dried fruits (and peel, if using), then stir in the yeast.
Slowly mix in the tepid liquid, then bring it together in your hands to a ball. You may need a splash or two more liquid to combine it in your hands; the dough should be soft but not sticky. Turn out onto a floured board and knead for about 10 minutes until springy and rather smooth. Once it is kneaded enough, place in a lightly oiled bowl and cover. Leave to rise somewhere vaguely warm for about 2½–3 hours or until risen. Houses vary in temperature – my dough takes a minimum of 2½ hours till it is risen, with an enriched dough like this. Test if it is ready for shaping by gently pressing a finger onto the dough. If it leaves an indentation, it is ready.
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Knock back the dough and divide into 12 pieces, each weighing approximately 100g. Roll into balls, tucking the edges under and trying to ensure the dried fruit is not protruding (it will burn), then place them on the baking sheet, side by side (I like to pull them apart so you end up with soft, fluffy edges; if you prefer individual buns, then leave space between them). Score a cross across the top of each bun. Cover loosely and place somewhere vaguely warm for about an hour or until risen again (remember that enriched bread dough takes longer to rise).
Preheat the oven to 220°C.
For the piped crosses, mix the plain flour with enough cold water to make a thick paste. Using a piping bag (or a plastic freezer bag with a small hole, about 1cm, snipped in the corner), pipe a line over each row of buns, then turn the tray and repeat in the other direction to create crosses.
For the pastry crosses, place the flour in a bowl and rub in the butter, then add enough cold water to combine into a stiff dough. Break into 24 pieces and roll out (as if you were rolling plasticine between the palms of your hands). Join two together to form a cross, and place one over each risen bun.
Bake in the preheated oven for about 20 minutes or until golden brown and cooked through.
While they are baking, gently melt the syrup or honey (I do this in a microwave).
When they are ready, remove from the oven, lift them onto a wire rack and brush the tops of each with the glaze, then cool.
