Recipe: HOT CROSS BUN WHEEL
This Easter, Tesco asked us to come up with something fun and creative to bake at home. Our homemade Tear 'n' Share Hot Cross Bun Wheel with cinnamon butter is perfect... but why not go the extra mile and see how creative you can be! Can you shape a #HotCrossBunnie ?
Ingredients
Buns
- 300 ml warm milk
- 1 sachet of dried yeast (7g)
- 350 g strong white flour
- 150 g strong wholemeal flour
- 1 tbsp caster sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 tbsp mixed spice
- 2 tbsp mixed peel, chopped
- 150 g sultanas
Crosses
- 100 g plain flour
Glaze
- 3 tbsp apricot jam
- 3 tbsp water
Butter
- 300 ml double cream
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
Step 1
MIX THE DOUGH
Dissolve the yeast in the warm milk. Weigh the strong white and wholemeal flours into one big mixing bowl and add the honey, salt, sugar, spice, egg and mixed peel. Pour in the milk and mix until you have a dough.
Step 2
KNEAD & PROVE
Knead for 5-10 minutes until really elastic, you may need a little extra flour if it's too sticky. Allow to prove for an hour at room temperature until the dough has doubled in size. Tip in the sultanas if you’re using them and knead again to knock out the air and integrate the dried fruit evenly. If you aren’t using sultanas add 1 tbsp of honey instead to give it a natural sweetness.
Step 3
DIVIDE & SHAPE
Divide and shape into 12 buns. Arrange on a silicon-paper lined baking tray so that buns form a ring (use a ramekin or similar as a marker) but still have space to expand**. Cover with a tea towel and leave to prove again for another 45 minutes or so until the buns have expanded and are now touching each other. ** The dough can also be shaped into bunnies and lined up on the silicon paper to prove for a second time...use your creativity to create your own bunny.
Step 4
PREHEAT OVEN
Preheat an oven to 200°C.
Step 5
THE CROSSES
Mix a thick paste from the plain flour and transfer to a piping bag. Use the paste to pipe a cross onto each bun then bake for 16-18 minutes until golden. Allow to cool a bit.
Step 6
GLAZE
Dissolve the apricot jam with the water in a small pan or microwave and brush over the buns to form a glaze.
Step 7
MAKE THE BUTTER
Whisk the double cream in a mixer until it thickens and then begins to separate. Keep whisking until you have one clump of butter in amongst buttermilk. Squeeze and mould the butter under cold running water to rinse it of any excess butter milk, then knead in the salt and cinnamon.
Step 8
SERVE
Serve the Hot Cross Buns still slightly warm with the homemade butter in a bowl in the centre.
Comments
Well, these were great. I didn't have mixed peel so I added zest of a lemon, and we're not big fans of sultanas, so I added a bit of chopped dark chocolate. Happy Easter all you lovely people!
Using Paul Hollywood's recipe on BBC good food, but without the candied peel because I can't get hold of it in Spain (and I'm not overly keen).
