Hot Cross Bun

Hot Cross Buns

This recipe is from a very old cookery book that belonged to my mother but I think it makes really nice buns.

Ingredients:

• 1 lb flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 level teaspoon mixed spice (or less)
• 2 oz butter
• 2 oz currants
• 1 oz yeast
• 1.5 oz sugar
• 0.5 pint milk (about)

Method:

Sift together the flour, salt and spice. Rub in the butter and then add the currants. Warm the mixture. Cream the yeast and the sugar together and add the warm milk; leave to sponge for about 10 minutes. Mix the flour etc. with the yeast and milk to form a light dough. Beat well and leave in a warm place to rise until the dough has doubled its bulk. Turn onto a floured surface and knead well and then divide into 12 pieces. Make into buns then flatten and mark with a cross. Stand on a floured baking tray in a warm place to prove for about 20 minutes. Bake in the oven for 20 minutes at 180°C. When cooked, brush with a glaze made by dissolving a little sugar in water.

I used a Kenwood mixer with a dough hook and it worked very well.

I put 6 on the top tray and 6 on the bottom but I also used the extender ring as the ones on the top browned too quickly. I swapped them round after 10 minutes but did turn them over and cooked for about another 6-8 minutes, again swapping those on the top with those on the bottom.

Posted by Silversurfer on 22/3/2010