Spiced Hot Cross Buns Recipes

Steps:

• Put all of the Hot Cross Bun ingredients into your break maker in the order listed, excepting the dried fruit.
• Put the fruit into the "extras" tray on your bread maker, or leave to one side to add towards the end of the kneading cycle.
• Set the bread maker to Dough setting - or Raisin Dough setting if you have it.
• Press start and if you do not have an "extras" tray, add your dried fruit when your machine alerts you or 5 minutes before the end of the kneading time.
• Lightly grease two baking trays/sheets.
• When the dough cycle has finished, take the dough out and place it on a lightly floured board. Knock back and shape into 12 pieces, rolling them into balls.
• Place them on the greased baking trays/sheets and cover with a clean tea towel or lightly oiled cling film.
• Allow them to rise for about 30-45 minutes or until doubled in size.
• Meanwhile pre-heat the oven the 200C/400F/Gas 6.
• Make the pastry crosses by rolling out the ready-made pastry very thinly and cutting into strips.
• Make the glaze by heating up the milk and adding the sugar - heat them until the sugar has dissolved. Set to one side.
• When the Hot Cross Buns are ready to bake, place two strips of pastry on each top - pressing lightly and bake for 10 - 15 minutes or until well-risen and golden brown. The buns should sound hollow when tapped underneath.
• Brush the glaze on each bun as soon as they have been taken out of the oven and then allow to cool slightly on a wire rack.
• Eat whilst still warm, split & spread with butter!
• These are GREAT toasted when they are a few days old as well!

Steps:

• Put the flour, yeast, caster sugar and 1 tsp salt into a large mixing bowl with the spices and dried fruit and mix well. Make a well in the centre and pour in the warm milk, 50ml warm water, the beaten egg and the melted butter. Mix everything together to form a dough - start with a wooden spoon and finish with your hands. If the dough is too dry, add a little more warm water; if it's too wet, add more flour.
• Knead in the bowl or on a floured surface until the dough becomes smooth and springy. Transfer to a clean, lightly greased bowl and cover loosely with a clean, damp tea towel. Leave in a warm place to rise until roughly doubled in size - this will take about 1 hr depending on how warm the room is.
• Tip the risen dough onto a lightly floured surface. Knead for a few secs, then divide into 12 even portions - I roll my dough into a long sausage shape, then quarter and divide each quarter into 3 pieces. Shape each portion into a smooth round and place on a baking sheet greased with butter, leaving some room between each bun for it to rise.
• Use a small, sharp knife to score a cross on the top of each bun, then cover with the damp tea towel again and leave in a warm place to prove for 20 mins until almost doubled in size again. Heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6.
• When the buns are ready to bake, mix the plain flour with just enough water to give you a thick paste. Spoon into a piping bag (or into a plastic food bag and snip the corner off) and pipe a white cross into the crosses you cut earlier. Bake for 12-15 mins until the buns are golden and sound hollow when tapped on the bottom. While still warm, melt the granulated sugar with 1 tbsp water in a small pan, then brush over the buns.

Steps:

• Combine the water and milk in a medium saucepan and warm over low heat until about 100 degrees F (but no more than 110 degrees). Remove from heat and sprinkle the yeast and a pinch of sugar and flour over the surface of the liquid. Set aside without stirring, until foamy and rising up the sides of the pan, about 30 minutes.
• Whisk the butter, egg yolk and vanilla into the yeast mixture.
• Whisk the flour, the remaining sugar, salt, nutmeg, cinnamon and ginger in a large bowl. Make a well in the center of the flour and stir in the yeast mixture with a wooden spoon to make a thick, shaggy, and slightly sticky dough. Stir in currants. Turn the dough onto a lightly floured work surface and knead until soft and elastic, about 8 minutes. Shape into a ball.
• Brush the inside of a large bowl with butter. Put dough in bowl, turning to coat lightly with butter. Cover with plastic wrap. Let rise at room temperature until doubled in size, about 1 hour 30 minutes. (If you have a marker, trace a circle the size of the dough on the plastic, and note the time to help you keep track.)
• To form the rolls: Butter a 9 by 14-inch baking pan. Turn the dough out of the bowl and pat into a rectangle about 16 by 8 inches. Divide the dough into 12 equal portions, about 2 ounces each, with a pizza wheel or bench scraper. (If you don't have a scale, divide the dough in half lengthwise, then in half crosswise. Cut each of those four sections into 3 equal-sized rolls.)
• Tuck the edges of the dough under to make round rolls and place them seam-side down in the prepared pan, leaving a little space in between each roll. Cover the pan with buttered plastic wrap and set aside in a warm place until the rolls rise almost to the rim of the pan and have more than doubled in size, about 45 minutes.
• Meanwhile, position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 375 degrees F.
• Remove the plastic wrap and brush the tops of the buns with beaten egg. Bake rolls until golden brown and puffy, and an instant read thermometer inserted into the center of the rolls registers 190 degrees F, about 25 minutes.
• For the glaze: Stir together confectioners' sugar, milk, lemon zest and vanilla until smooth. Transfer icing to a zip bag or pastry bag, and make a small cut in the corner of the bag. Ice buns in a thick cross shape over the top of the warm buns.

Steps:

• Place currants in a small bowl. Heat rum until steaming in a small pan and pour over currants to soften them, about 2 hours. Drain; reserve liquid for another use.
• Whisk warm milk, 1/4 cup flour, and yeast together in the bowl of a stand mixer. Let sit about 15 minutes to ensure yeast is active; small bubbles should start to rise to the surface. Add sugar, beaten egg, lemon and orange zest, cinnamon, salt, cardamom, nutmeg, melted butter, and most of the remaining flour (you might not need it all). Mix with a dough hook attachment until dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl and becomes slightly elastic, 5 or 6 minutes. Continue kneading until dough is soft and shiny, about 10 minutes. Remove dough from dough hook and shape into a ball. Transfer to a lightly floured work surface.
• Flatten dough into a large oval about 1/2 inch thick. Sprinkle currants evenly over surface of dough. Fold dough into thirds. Turn and fold into thirds again. Reshape dough into a round ball. Transfer to lightly oiled mixing bowl. Cover and let rise in a relatively warm, draft-free place until double in size, about 2 hours.
• Poke dough down a bit with your fingertips. Transfer to a lightly floured work surface. Flatten out dough into an even shape. Divide into 16 equal pieces using a bench scraper.
• Line a baking sheet with a silicone mat.
• Roll each piece of dough into a round ball. Arrange evenly on prepared baking sheet. Let rise 15 minutes.
• Mix 1/4 cup water and 1/3 cup flour together in a mixing bowl until mixture is thick enough to hold its shape but thin enough to pipe. Transfer mixture to a piping bag.
• After buns have risen 15 minutes, pipe a cross on top of each. Let rise until doubled from original dough balls, another 15 or 20 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C).
• Transfer pan to preheated oven. Bake until golden brown, about 15 minutes.
• Combine 1/4 cup sugar and 3 tablespoons water in a pan over medium heat. Bring to a simmer and cook until sugar dissolves and mixture starts to thicken, or until it reaches a temperature of 225 degrees F. Remove from heat.
• Let buns cool on a rack for 5 minutes before glazing. Brush glaze lightly over the tops of the buns.

Steps:

• Make the dough: Heat the milk in a small saucepan over medium until steaming. Remove from the heat. Transfer 1/4 cup/60 grams hot milk to a small bowl and let cool to 110 to 115 degrees if needed, about 1 minute. It should feel lukewarm if you stick your finger in it. Stir in the yeast and 1 teaspoon sugar. Let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes. If the yeast doesn't foam, it's dead and won't help the dough rise. (You'll have to buy some more and start over if this happens.)
• Meanwhile, whisk the remaining 1/4 cup sugar with the flour, cinnamon, ginger, cardamom and salt in a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer. Add the butter to the milk in the saucepan and stir until it melts.
• When the butter has melted and the milk mixture is lukewarm, pour it into the dry ingredients, along with the yeast mixture and egg. If using a stand mixer, beat with the dough hook on medium-low speed until a smooth elastic ball forms, scraping the bowl and hook occasionally, about 10 minutes. The dough should feel sticky but not stick to your hands. If working by hand, mix the ingredients with your hand until a shaggy dough forms, then knead in the bowl to form a shaggy ball. Transfer to a work surface and continue kneading until smooth and elastic, about 15 minutes. You shouldn't need to flour your surface, but, if the dough is sticking to it, lightly flour as needed.
• Add the raisins and candied orange peel to the dough and knead them in until evenly distributed. Form the dough into a ball.
• Generously butter a clean large bowl and transfer the dough ball to it. Turn the ball to coat with the butter, then cover the bowl with a clean kitchen towel. Let the dough rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 1/2 hours.
• Butter a 9-by-13-inch cake pan. Turn the dough out onto a clean work surface and divide into 12 even pieces (90 to 100 grams each) with a bench scraper, sharp knife or your hands. Form a piece into a ball by folding it over itself and pulling the stretchy dough over the fruit bits so they're not sticking out. Once you have a smooth ball, pinch the seam at the bottom shut and place seam side down on the surface. Cup your hand over the ball and move your hand quickly in a circular motion to tighten the ball into a perfect round. Place in the prepared pan. Repeat with the remaining dough and arrange the balls in a 3-by-4 grid, spacing evenly apart. At this point, you can cover the pan tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate for up to 1 day.
• Open a large, clean unscented produce, recycling or garbage bag and slip the pan into it. Fill a tall glass with hot water, place next to the pan in the bag and tie the bag shut. (This creates a warm, steamy environment for the dough to rise.) Let the balls rise until their sides are touching, about 1½ hours (longer if the dough has been chilled).
• When the dough is almost done rising, heat the oven to 400 degrees.
• Prepare the topping: If using orange blossom water, stir 1½ teaspoons into ¼ cup/60 grams water in a small bowl. Add the flour and stir into a smooth paste. Transfer to a pastry bag or resealable plastic bag and snip a ⅓-inch hole in one corner. Pipe lines across the centers of the balls in one direction and then again in the opposite direction so that each ball has a cross.
• Bake until risen and browned, 20 to 22 minutes. The internal temperature of a center bun should register 190 degrees. While the buns are baking, heat the sugar and 1 tablespoon water in a small saucepan over medium until the sugar dissolves. Remove from the heat and stir in the remaining ¼ teaspoon orange blossom water, if using. As soon as the buns come out of the oven, brush the syrup evenly over them. Serve hot, warm or at room temperature.