One a penny, two a penny

So the other day I sat around whinging. I could not fathom how other food bloggers were so organised and managed to bring out delightfully festive treats before the holiday itself while the best I could do was say "oh well" as holiday after holiday passed my by. Afterall, no one wants to eat Christmas cake on New Years.

The first time I realised I should probably post themed food before the date was St. Patrick's Day a few weeks ago. Even while spending days planning a green outfit and a night out with the girls, I had completely forgotten about green food and it wasn't until my inbox was bombarded with green cupcakes and homemade baileys irish cream did I realise I was too late.
"So? Easter's coming up."

All my ingredients in the bread maker

And I realised that Jason was right. Easter was coming up and Hot Cross Buns were a order. And look -it's even before the holiday!


End result

The annoying thing about this recipe is the need for a bread maker or a food processor with dough hooks. Unfortunately, I hadn't fully read the method and stood around like an idiot once I had mixed my wet and ingredients together. Luckily, Jason's mother had one tucked away in her kitchen and totally saved my butt!


A hot cross bun is a sweet, spiced bun made with raisins marked with a cross on top as a symbol of crucifixion. Traditionally made on Good Friday, they are a favourite around Easter and have become so popular now that they are sold throughout the year in disguise as "spiced buns" (no crosses).

Step 6: Turn onto a floured board and divide into 16 portions

 One thing that always puzzled me was batter for the crosses. As far as I can tell, there is nothing in the ingredients list that appeals to me. Why is there no sugar? Can someone please answer me this? 

Step 7: Brush each bun with milk and pipe crosses to each bun.

A quick look through google tells me that you can actually make this without the aid of a breadmaker and I now feel a little silly for panicking. I must admit, though, it made life a lot easier and even gave me time to study while it worked its magic kneading my dough.

Pull it apart, add butter and enjoy

Next time I shall try making them by hand-aka feign weakness and ask Jason to do it. He's great like that.

Hot Cross Buns (makes 16)

Bun Ingredients:

4 cups flour
1 tsp salt
2 tsp spices – combine your choice of mixed spice, cinnamon and nutmeg
¼ cup brown sugar
1 ½ tsp yeast
1 cup milk, warmed
100g butter, softened
2 eggs
1 cup mixed dried fruit

Cross Batter:

½ cup flour
1 Tbsp butter
¼ tsp baking powder
Milk
 
Glaze:
Sugar
Water

Method:

1. Blend flour, salt, spices and brown sugar. 2. Stir yeast and milk together, and leave to stand for 15 minutes in a warm place (mixture should be frothy).

3. Beat eggs and softened butter into the yeast mix, then add to blender with dry ingredients.
4. Add dried fruit and blend until mixture is a dough consistency.
5. Place dough into a greased bowl and cover, leaving in a warm area for 1 hour (dough should have doubled in size) -the breadmaker took care of this step for us.
6. Turn onto a floured board and divide into 16 portions, rolling into balls and placing on a greased oven tray. Allow about 1cm between each bun.
7. Brush each bun with milk and pipe crosses (or silly faces) to each bun.
8. Bake at 190 degrees Celsius for 20 – 25 minutes.
9. Brush with sugar glaze before taking the tray out and cooling.

For variation, make chocolate hot cross buns by adding ½ cup cocoa and ½ cup chocolate chips to the classic hot cross bun recipe.1/2 cup water
1/4 cup sugar