Hot Cross Buns

Makes 10-12 hot cross buns

Isabel's hot cross buns Photo: supplied

Ingredients 

• 750 g strong bread flour
• 400 ml milk
• 1 egg
• 150 g unsalted butter
• 150 g golden sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla essence or ½ scraped vanilla pod
• 1 pinch of salt
• 3 tsp active dry yeast or 40 g fresh yeast

Egg glaze

• 1 egg
• 3 Tbsp water
• 1 pinch sugar
• 1 tsp spice mix (as below)

Spice mix

• 2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 1 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• 1 tsp ground allspice
• 1 pinch of ground cloves

Dried fruit mix

• 80 g raisins
• 40 g cranberries
• 20 g currants
• 20 g dried apricots

Cross mix

• 150 ml milk
• 50 g flour

Method

1.    Preheat oven to 220C, no fan.
2.    All ingredients should be at room temperature. Start by soaking the fruit (for 1 hour).
3.    In a large bowl, dissolve the yeast in the milk and add 1 Tbsp of the sugar. Add approximately 150 g flour and mix to a runny batter. Stand in a warmish place for about 30-45 min or until the mixture is bubbling and starting to rise.
4.    Add the rest of the flour, sugar, egg, vanilla, salt and spices. Roughly mix with a wooden spoon.
5.    Tip the dough onto a lightly floured surface and use your hands. Knead and punch the dough until all ingredients are combined and the dough is smooth. Add the butter. Now it gets a little messy again, but as the dough starts to bind the butter, it will become smooth and shiny. Mix by hand for about 10 minutes. Or, if using a kitchen aid or similar, use the dough hook and start on slow for 3 minutes, then go to fast for 3 minutes. After adding the butter, knead for another 2-3 minutes or until the butter is fully incorporated.
6.    Drain fruit mix, add to dough, and mix until evenly distributed (1 min if using a mixer).
7.    Return dough to the bowl, cover it with a tea towel and let it rise in a warm place for 60-90 min or until doubled in size. (Tip: you can do this rise overnight. Instead of letting your dough rise, place it in the fridge and take it out the next morning. It pays to reduce the amount of yeast by 1/3 for this step.)
8.    Tip the dough out of the bowl and punch it flat. Divide it into 10-12 equal portions. Roll into round buns and set at equal distance in your greased cake tin or free shape on a tray, and leave to rise for another 30-60 minutes (depends on the temperature in your kitchen). Your buns are ready to bake, if they spring back quickly when lightly pressed. If they don't spring back quickly, they still need more proofing. If they make a hissing noise and deflate upon being poked, you have overproofed them and the best you can do is bake them as quickly as possible, but the results won't be ideal.
9.    Just before placing them in the oven, pipe on the cross mix with a piping bag fitted with a fine tip. Or a plastic freezer bag with one corner cut off (small hole) will work fine as a single-use piping bag.
10.    Glaze the buns around the crosses with the egg and spice mix.
11.    When placing the buns in the oven, immediately reduce the temperature to 190C. Bake for 30 - 35min (depending on your oven) or until they have the desired colour.