How to make Hot Cross Buns. Now that I’m living in England, I’m discovering many cakes and desserts that I didn’t know before. One of them are the Hot Cross Buns, that now that Easter is arriving you can find them in every bakery or supermarket. My story with the Cross Buns started in Starbucks one year ago (yes, I used to have breakfast every Friday there with my university friends) and I completely fell in love with them.
This year I don’t have any Starbucks close to my place, so instead of buying them in the supermarket, I decided to try to do Hot Cross Buns myself. And the truth is that they were much better that the ones in Starbucks! The recipe is very easy and the buns are delicious.
- 350 g strong bread flour
- 50 g sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon grated nutmeg
- 7 g dried yeast
- 50 g unsalted butter
- 125 g dried fruit
- 200 mL milk
- 2 eggs
- 75 g flour
- Water
- 70 mL milk
- 30 g sugar
- Mix together the flour, sugar, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and dried yeast.
- Add the diced butter and mix it with the solid ingredients using the tips of your fingers until you get fine crumbs.
- Add the dried fruits, milk and eggs.
- Knead the dough in a mixer for 4 minutes using the dough hook on the lowest speed.
- Cover the dough with a tea towel and leave it in a warm place until doubled in size (approximately 1 hour).
- Deflate a bit the dough and transfer it to a lightly floured surface.
- Divide it in 9 equal pieces and shape them into balls.
- Set them on a baking tray and leave it to rise until doubled in size (approximately 45 minutes).
- Mix together the flour with cold water. We need to obtain a smooth thick paste that can be piped.
- Spoon the mixture in a piping bag and pipe the cross on top of the buns.
- Bake the Hot Cross Buns for about 15 minutes, until golden brown.
- Heat the milk with the sugar until dissolved.
- Boil for 1 minute.