Easter Fare

I should have probably written this post last week when I made these hot cross buns ..... before easter!!! but oh well! I must say hot cross bun making is no walk in the park! It's a bit of a laborious task, good for cold rainy days when you have no plans and have time to wait for extended periods of time for things to rise!

This was my first attempt at the art of hot cross bun making and I was pretty happy with the finished product. They were a little doughy I thought ...... this might have been because I received a rather lengthy phone call from mother dearest (who always manages to call at the best times!!!) and by the end of it I couldn't remember if I had in fact already added the four and a quarter cups of flour required or if I'd only added three and a quarter! I decided to go with three and so added another just to be safe. This extra cup may have been the fourth and final that was necessary to create the buns or it could have been an additional cup which wasn't needed and led to the buns being a tad on the doughy side!! Either way the buns turned out to be packed with flavour (often lacking in the store bought varieties) and tasted good toasted and smothered with good old fashioned butter - none of the healthy cholesterol lowering rubbish!! All in all the recipients of the buns were happy with their Easter goodies so that's what counts :)

To create these hot cross buns I once again turned to one of my trusty donna hay cookbooks. This recipe is from the modern classics book 2.

Hot Cross Buns

1 tablespoon active dry yeast
1/2 cup caster sugar
1 1/2 cups lukewarm milk
4 1/4 cups plain flour, sifted
2 teaspoons mixed spice
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
50g butter, melted
1 egg
1 1/2 cups sultanas
1/3 cup candied mixed peel, (optional but I think it adds a nice flavour)

For the Cross

1/2 cup plain flour
1/3 cup water

Glaze

1/3 cup caster sugar
1/3 cup cold water

Place the yeast, 2 teaspoons of the sugar and all of the milk in a bowl and set aside for 5 minutes.
The mixture will start to foam, indicating that the yeast is active.
Add the flour, mixed spice, cinnamon, butter, egg, sultanas, mixed peel and the remaining sugar to the yeast mixture and mix using a butter knife until a sticky dough forms.
Knead the dough on a lightly floured surface for 8 minutes or until it feels elastic.

Place in an oiled bowl, cover with a tea towel and allow to stand in a warm place for 1 hour or until doubled in size. Divide the dough into 12 pieces and roll into balls.
Grease a 23cm square cake tin (or just put on a baking tray) and line with non-stick baking paper.
Place the dough balls in the tin, cover with a clean tea towel and set aside in a warm place for 30 minutes or until they rise.
Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius or 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
Combine the flour and water for the cross and place in a piping bag or plastic bag with the end snipped off, and pipe crosses on the buns.
Bake for 35 minutes or until well browned and springy to touch.
Meanwhile to make the glaze place the sugar and water in a saucepan over medium heat.
Cook, stirring for 3 minutes or until sugar dissolves and mixture thickens slightly.
Brush buns with the warm glaze while the buns are hot.

Serve warm, makes 12

I had a great Easter weekend, it was very relaxing and as it was such average weather here in Auckland it was the perfect time to rug up, watch movies and eat chocolate! and this is exactly what I did all weekend!! Hope you had a lovely long weekend whatever you got up too : ) simran xx