Happy Easter everyone!
Hope you have had a brilliant holiday so far, and enjoyed the lovely weather here in England at the moment. It gladdens me to see the sun shining and the breeze warming up ever so slightly. The sound of neighbours mowing their lawns, the birds chirping harmoniously throughout, little children starting to laugh and rejoice as they play football under the sun. All of the above puts me right into the Easter spirit of appreciating, enjoying and reflecting on all the happiness that has been brought into our lives.
Today's recipe comes as almost a challenge for myself to make the classic, mouth-watering easter bakes - yes you guessed it, hot cross buns! I have researched a recipe from the all-time loved Paul Hollywood and have added my own kick to the recipe here today.
To start, you'll need:
300ml of full-fat milk
50g of butter
500g of strong bread flour
1 tsp salt
50g of caster sugar
A sachet of fast-action yeast
1 egg
75g of sultanas (I included cranberries in my mix)
50g of mixed peel (I make this optional, I added other dried berries etc instead)
a zest of 1 orange
1 apple
mixed spice (my special ingredient I would like to add)
To make the standard cross design, you'll need 75g of plain flour (please note)
For the glaze over our scrumptious treats, you'll require a jam (I will be using raspberry, however Paul used apricot).
Without further ado, let's jump into the recipe!
First, bring the milk to the boil within a medium-sized pot before removing from the heat and adding the butter. Leave this mixture to cool until it reaches hand-touching temperature.
Next, within a seperate bowl, add the flour, salt, caster sugar and yeast into a bowl, and creating a well in the centre. Now pour the warm milk mix and add in 1 egg which should be already beaten. Bring everything together well, using a wooden spoon, until you end up with a sticky dough.
Lightly flour the work surface and transfer dough onto surface, kneading consistently for around 5 minutes, until the dough is smooth and elastic. Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl and cover with cling film before leaving to rise for an hour in a fairly warm place.
By now, the dough should have doubled in size and is time to add in the dried fruits, along with the mixed spice until everything is well distributed.
Divide the dough into 15 pieces, rolling each into a tidy smooth ball. Arrange on a baking tray, cover with more oiled cling film and set aside once more for an hour.
Prior to creating the 'cross' part of the hot cross bun, now is the perfect time to heat the oven to 220℃/200℃ fan/ Gas Mark 7. Mix 75g of flour with 5 tbsp of water in order to make a paste.
Spoon into a piping bag with a small nozzle, before piping crosses in each bun.
Finally, pop these beauties into the oven on the middle shelf for 20 minutes, until golden brown.
The last step for this treat is creating the glaze which requires heating the jam to melt, then sieving to get rid of chunks of fruit. Brush this over the warm buns and allow to cool and volia!
Photos to come...
Before you go:
Song of the month: Camilla Cabello - Bam Bam ft Ed Sheeran
Such a catchy song, seems to be in my head!
YouTuber of the month: Breeny Lee
Such an inspirational queen, always love watching her content, go check out her channel if you haven't :) Gordon Ramsay has released a new TV show called "Future Food Stars", I have been watching the past few episodes and it's quite good in my opinion, the culinary version of The Apprentice :)
That's all from me, have a lovely Easter!
#sweetreats xx
