The Easter holiday is not complete without hot cross buns and I love traditional baking recipes over the holiday period. My homemade hot cross buns are soft, fluffy and oh so delicious. The amalgamation of its sweet and spicy flavour comes from the sweet apricot glaze, cinnamon, cardamom, nutmeg and all spice.
Adding dried fruit to the hot cross buns is really a personal preference. I’m not too fond of raisins and added sultanas instead. Other dried fruit that can be added is cranberries, apricots and currents. If you don’t prefer the fruit at all then a fruitless version is a great alternative as well.
The tradition of the cross on the bun is a symbol of the Easter celebration and dates back to the 12th century. The flour paste cross can be substituted with an icing cross but this should be added after baking. Alternatively omit the cross if you prefer not to add it or want to make it outside of the Easter period.
There is nothing more satisfying than the aroma of freshly baked homemade hot cross buns straight out of the oven. Making it is so simple and easy – so no need for shop bought buns.
Best enjoyed warm with a sliver of butter – just thinking about it makes my mouth water. Of course you can eat it plain or add cheese, jam or honey – we all eat enjoy eating our hot cross buns in our own special way.
TIPS FOR MAKING HOMEMADE HOT CROSS BUNS
- Use fresh ingredients for the best results this include checking the expiry date of yeast and eggs.
- The milk should not be piping hot as it will kill the yeast.
- Yeast is used as a leavening agents and the sugar and milk will activate it – leave to stand for 10 – 15 minutes to bloom.
- Although instant yeast is used for this recipe; I prefer to bloom it with milk and sugar and not to add it to the dry ingredients. At this stage, I will know if the yeast will activate.
- This recipe calls for buttermilk which gives it that fluffy and soft texture.
- A mixture of ground spices gives it that traditional hot cross bun flavour. This recipe includes cinnamon, cardamom, nutmeg and all spice. Additional or alternative ground spices like cloves, ginger and coriander can be included.
- Plump the dried fruit by soaking it in a warm liquid. I use orange juice and brandy but you can soak it in boiling water as well. Make sure that you drain the liquid before adding the dried fruit to the dough.
- Optional flavour add ins – lemon or orange zest as well as nuts.
- When dividing the dough into balls use a kitchen scale to weight each ball so that the buns can be evenly sized.
- Store the baked hot cross buns in an airtight container at room temperature for 3 – 4 days. Freeze unglazed baked hot cross buns for up to 3 months.
Homemade Hot Cross Buns
Ingredients
Bun Dough
- 100 ml warm milk
- 1 pkt instant yeast
- 1½ tsp granulated sugar
- 80 g unsalted butter (room temperature)
- 2 large eggs
- ½ tsp vanilla essence
- 80 ml buttermilk
- 2 tbsp orange juice
- 2 tsp brandy
- 100 g sultanas
- ½ cup brown sugar
- 3½ cups cake flour
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- ½ tsp ground all spice
- ½ tsp ground nutmeg
- ¼ tsp ground cardamom
Egg Wash
- 1 large egg
- 1 tsp water
Floured Cross
- ½ cup cake flour
- 5 tbsp water
Glaze
- 2 tbsp apricot jam
- 2 tsp water
Instructions
- Place the sultanas in a bowl and add orange juice and brandy. Microwave for 30 – 40 seconds. Let it soak in the liquid to plump up.
- Add the milk, granulated sugar and yeast to a mixing bowl – give it a stir and let the mixture sit for 10 – 15 minutes until the yeast blooms.
- Add the dough hook attachment to your stand mixer. (If you don't have a stand mixer then use a mixing bowl and spatula to mix the ingredients)
- To the yeast mixture, add the butter, eggs, vanilla essence and brown sugar and mix.
- Then add the flour, salt and spices and mix until the ingredients are mostly incorporated then add the buttermilk and continue to mix.
- Lastly mix in the drained sultanas and mix for 2 minutes.
- Increase to medium speed and knead for 5 minutes – alternative transfer the dough to a floured surface and knead by hand for 5 minutes.
- Place the dough in a lightly oil greased bowl, cover with clingwrap and a kitchen towel and let it rise in a warm area for 1½ hours.
- Grease and line a 33x22cm baking pan or baking sheet.
- Shape the dough into a 12 equal sized balls (weighing about 90-95g each). Place on the baking pan/sheet leaving enough space in between.
- Cover the shaped balls with cling wrap and a kitchen towel and do a second rise for 1 hour.
- Preheat the oven to 180°C.
- Crack the egg and mix with water and brush each bun with egg wash.
- Mix the flour and water for the cross topping. Place in a piping bag/ziploc bag and snip a small piece off. Pipe a line through the centre of each bun and then pipe another line in the opposite direction to form the cross.
- Bake for 25 minutes until golden brown. Remove from the oven let the buns cool for 5 minutes.
- For the glaze – add the apricot jam and water to a small bowl and microwave for 20 seconds.
- Brush the glaze over the warm buns. Serve warm and enjoy.
