Every year on Good Friday, I bake hot cross buns, like my mother before me, and her mother before her. The anticipation is thick around here, and I know it will be necessary to quadruple the recipe! Like the Easter cookies recipe, this one is worth sharing.
Ingredients:
Buns:
1 package/2 tsp instant yeast
3 oz. sugar
1 lb. flour (3 1/3 cups)
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. mixed spice
3 oz. butter
1 egg, beaten in measuring cup, with
milk added to make 9 oz.
4 oz. currants
Paste:
1 Tbs butter
1 oz. flour
3 Tbs water
Glaze:
1 oz. sugar
2 oz. milk or water
Mix yeast in 1 cup flour. Sift remaining flour, sugar, salt, and spices together. Rub in the butter. Add the yeast-flour mixture and mix well. Warm the liquid to body temperature (test on your wrist) and add to a well in the flour mixture. Mix and knead 8-10 minutes and leave to rise.
Meanwhile, make a paste by rubbing the butter into the flour and gradually adding the water. Place into a piping bag. (I use a sandwich size ziploc and snip a small corner off the bottom.)
When the dough has doubled, add the currants and re-knead it. Divide into 16 pieces and shape into buns. Place well apart on a greased baking tray and allow to rise a second time. Preheat oven to 400 F. Brush the buns with milk. Use a table knife to score a cross shape on the top of each bun. Pipe the paste on to cover the score marks.
Bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes until golden brown. While the buns are baking, make glaze by dissolving the sugar in the liquid over gentle heat and boiling 1-2 minutes. When they are done, place the buns on a wire rack and brush with the glaze. Serve warm with butter.
Random tidbit - although my mom grew up in Norway, her mom was raised in South Africa, and at that time English-speaking South Africans had not switched from the imperial system to metric. So unlike most of my recipes from my mom, this one was originally in ounces and required no conversion for Americans.
Ingredients:
Buns:
1 package/2 tsp instant yeast
3 oz. sugar
1 lb. flour (3 1/3 cups)
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. mixed spice
3 oz. butter
1 egg, beaten in measuring cup, with
milk added to make 9 oz.
4 oz. currants
Paste:
1 Tbs butter
1 oz. flour
3 Tbs water
Glaze:
1 oz. sugar
2 oz. milk or water
Mix yeast in 1 cup flour. Sift remaining flour, sugar, salt, and spices together. Rub in the butter. Add the yeast-flour mixture and mix well. Warm the liquid to body temperature (test on your wrist) and add to a well in the flour mixture. Mix and knead 8-10 minutes and leave to rise.
Meanwhile, make a paste by rubbing the butter into the flour and gradually adding the water. Place into a piping bag. (I use a sandwich size ziploc and snip a small corner off the bottom.)
When the dough has doubled, add the currants and re-knead it. Divide into 16 pieces and shape into buns. Place well apart on a greased baking tray and allow to rise a second time. Preheat oven to 400 F. Brush the buns with milk. Use a table knife to score a cross shape on the top of each bun. Pipe the paste on to cover the score marks.
Bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes until golden brown. While the buns are baking, make glaze by dissolving the sugar in the liquid over gentle heat and boiling 1-2 minutes. When they are done, place the buns on a wire rack and brush with the glaze. Serve warm with butter.
Random tidbit - although my mom grew up in Norway, her mom was raised in South Africa, and at that time English-speaking South Africans had not switched from the imperial system to metric. So unlike most of my recipes from my mom, this one was originally in ounces and required no conversion for Americans.
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