Around Easter, Hot Cross Buns are the most popular pastry in the UK.
The buns are traditionally eaten on Good Friday since they mark the end of lent. Different parts of the hot cross bun have a certain meaning: the cross representing the crucifixion of Jesus, and the spices inside signifying the spices used to embalm him at his burial.
English folklore includes many superstitions surrounding hot cross buns: buns baked and served on Good Friday will not spoil or grow mouldy during the subsequent year, a piece of it given to someone ill is said to help them recover if taken on a sea voyage, hot cross buns are said to protect against shipwreck.
The usual recipes use currants or raisins, sometimes it has toffee, orange-cranberry, or apple-cinnamon flavour.
But of course, I made something different this year...
Ingredients
Buns
- 300 ml milk
- 50 g butter
- 500 g strong flour
- 1 tsp salt
- 75 g sugar
- 7 g yeast
- 1 egg
- 50 g dried apricot , diced
- 50 g walnut, chopped
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 3 tbsp apricot jam
Cross
- 75 g flour
- 6-7 tbsp water
Instructions
- Heat up the milk with the butter till it completely melts. Chill down till it's hand warm.
- Mix the flour, salt, sugar and yeast in a mixing bowl.
- Add the egg to the flour mixture then gradually add the milk-butter mixture while using a mixer with a dough hook.
- Let the dough rise in an oily bowl for an hour.
- Incorporate the apricot and walnut and let it rise for 1 hour again.
- Form buns. I've used an ice cream scoop to get equal dough portions. Rest the buns for 1 hour covered by a tea towel.
- Heat up the apricot jam, sieve it then brush the buns with the warm, smooth apricot jam.
- For the cross, mix the flour with the water, fill the mixture into a piping bag with a round tip and pipe crosses to the top of the buns.
- Bake the buns in a preheated oven at 200 °C for about 20 minutes.
Hot Cross Bun - Photo by © Reka Csulak
Hot Cross Bun - Photo by © Reka Csulak
