{"id":1640,"date":"2015-04-23T22:18:07","date_gmt":"2015-04-23T21:18:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thecherryplumkitchen.com\/?p=1640"},"modified":"2015-04-23T23:26:47","modified_gmt":"2015-04-23T22:26:47","slug":"hot-cross-buns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thecherryplumkitchen.com\/?p=1640","title":{"rendered":"Hot Cross Buns"},"content":{"rendered":"
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In my house, Good Friday isn’t ‘Good Friday’ without a Hot Cross Bun. \u00a0In an ideal world I would have posted this during the Easter holidays, but life happened \u2026 and I didn’t. \u00a0Having now downloaded all my photographs – I’ve decided not to worry about it. \u00a0After all, Easter happens annually so you’re going to need this next year. \u00a0Plus, if you leave the cross off, you’re left with a spiced fruit bun. \u00a0Nothing wrong with that.<\/p>\n

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I suspect one of the reasons they’re such an important part of English culinary tradition is that they were ‘restricted’. \u00a0In the 16th century when sugar and spices from the New World were becoming affordable for the middle classes, Elizabeth 1 issued an edict banning London bakeries from selling spiced buns apart from funerals, Good Friday and Christmas. \u00a0I hope it’s been repealed or there are all kinds of people not observing the ‘rule of law’.<\/p>\n

Crossed buns go back far further than that though. \u00a0Pagan Saxons slashed their buns to honour Eostre. \u00a0That’s the goddess of spring and, more alarmingly from my perspective, fertility. \u00a0(That, incidentally, is the linguistic source of our word for Easter. \u00a0The French ‘P\u00e2ques’, the Spanish ‘Pascua’ and the Italian ‘Pasqua’ all have their root in the Jewish Passover – ‘Pesach’.)<\/p>\n

Superstitions abound. \u00a0Personally, I don’t feel any need to hang a Good Friday baked bun in my kitchen to prevent fires – but you must do as you wish. \u00a0Nor do a keep a bun in my corn to keep weevils and rats at bay – but, then, I don’t have a barn of corn and I prefer not to think about rats. \u00a0Share a bun with a friend and your friendship will survive the year. \u00a0Take a bun to sea and your ship will be safe from shipwreck.<\/p>\n

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The cross, it seems, can signify pretty much everything from symbolising the suffering of Christ on the cross to letting the devil out. \u00a0I’m posting this on St George’s Day so I think I’ll stretch a point and say it’s in honour of the day and the English flag.<\/p>\n

Over the years, I’ve fiddled about with pretty much everything. \u00a0I’ve played with the spices (cinnamon, saffron, mixed spice, nutmeg, mace, ginger and cardamon), added grated apple, citrus zests, soaked the dried fruit in both tea and alcohol – until the point I feel I’ve now settled. \u00a0I like my buns traditional. \u00a0Part of the charm for me is that I’m eating something my Great Grandparents would recognise.<\/p>\n

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I start by putting 300ml full-fat milk in a saucepan along with\u00a0\u00bd cinnamon stick and 2 cloves. \u00a0Over a gentle heat, bring it to a point \u00a0where small bubbles are forming around the sides. \u00a0Remove from the heat, put a lid on it, and allow to infuse.<\/p>\n

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Meanwhile, I get my dried ingredients together. \u00a0That’s 500g of strong bread flour, 1 tsp mixed spice,\u00a0\u00bd tsp ground cinnamon and\u00a0\u00bd tsp freshly grated nutmeg. \u00a0I sieve everything together. \u00a0On one side of the bowl I place\u00a0\u00bd tsp salt and on the other I empty a 7g sachet of fast action yeast. \u00a0Then I add 50g caster sugar.<\/p>\n

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Then it’s back to the milk. \u00a0Depending on how distracted I’ve been it will now be gently warm to cold. \u00a0If it’s cold I bring it back to hand-warm and add cubed cold butter. \u00a0It melts immediately. \u00a0This is the moment to fish out the cinnamon stick and cloves.<\/p>\n

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Lightly beat two eggs together in a bowl. \u00a0Mix all the dried ingredients together and make a dip in the centre. \u00a0Pour in the combined eggs and mix together. \u00a0The easiest way is to form your hand into a claw and use small circular movements to bring the dry ingredients into the eggs. \u00a0(Truthfully, I’m right-handed – but needed that to work the camera. \u00a0This blogging is tricky!)<\/p>\n

Once the egg is incorporated it’s time to add the milk.<\/p>\n

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The end result is a sticky dough. \u00a0Tip that out on to a lightly floured surface.<\/p>\n

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And knead. \u00a0At this point the two proteins (gliadin and glutenin) in my flour are matted together. \u00a0In ten minutes time they’ll have formed themselves into ordered straight lines and be the gluten that gives my bun its structure.<\/p>\n

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There are lots of variations in kneading styles and they all work – with subtle differences if you really get keen. \u00a0This is a traditional English kneading style. \u00a0You stretch the dough out with the heal of one hand and then roll it back. \u00a0Give it a 180\u00b0 turn and go again. \u00a0Be careful not to add too much flour. \u00a0It will get less sticky the longer you knead. \u00a0Stop when you’ve got a smooth, elastic dough.<\/p>\n

I tend to spritz a clean pyrex bowl with oil and place my dough to prove, covered, at room temperature. \u00a0If you need to slow things down you can pop your bowl in the fridge.<\/p>\n

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This is where the magic happens. \u00a0Yeast is a living thing and the holes are carbon dioxide supported by a web made up of all that hard-won gluten. \u00a0You know you are done when a gentle poke gives you an indent which recovers halfway-ish.<\/p>\n

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And then it’s the dried fruit. \u00a0I choose sultanas, currants and candied peel.<\/p>\n

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Candied peel can be hard to find it you don’t want to use one of those nasty ready-cut supermarket tubs. \u00a0I get mine (and a whole heap of other good things besides) from here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

I find it easiest to add the dried fruit and candied peel whilst the dough is still in the proving bowl. \u00a0Knead until everything is evenly distributed and set it aside to prove again. \u00a0Another hour or so and you are ready to shape your buns.<\/p>\n

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I weigh my dough and divide between 15. \u00a0It’s about 75g.<\/p>\n

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And shape into balls.<\/p>\n

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Lay them out onto a baking sheet, cover with a clean tea towel, and leave to prove for the final time. \u00a0Another hour – and the buns will just be touching.<\/p>\n

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Then it’s time to pipe the crosses. \u00a0My top tip is to start piping away from the bun. \u00a0Let the paste hug the sides as you work across in a grid. \u00a0I make my paste quite loose, as I prefer a less dominant cross. \u00a0(75g flour mixed with 7 tbsp of water.) \u00a0If you want a more defined cross add less water.<\/p>\n

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Bake in a \u00a0pre-heated oven – 220\u00baC\/425\u00baF\/Gas Mark 7 – for about 25 minutes. \u00a0Aga: \u00a0On the rack on the floor of the Roasting Oven for 15-20 minutes.<\/p>\n

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Warmed and sieved apricot jam is my first choice. \u00a0Second, is 1tbsp caster sugar dissolved in boiling water. \u00a0Glaze the buns immediately they come out of the oven.<\/p>\n

(If you want to get-ahead, it’s better to freeze the buns unglazed. \u00a0Thaw and reheat for 5 minutes. \u00a0Then glaze.)<\/p>\n

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Warm from the oven, all they need now is lashings of salted butter. \u00a0Tomorrow they are better toasted.<\/p>\n

Eat.<\/p>\n

\"Hot<\/a>Hot Cross Buns<\/strong><\/p>\n

Makes 15<\/em><\/p>\n