As kids, my siblings and I were never permitted to eat a hot cross bun before Good Friday (or an Easter egg before Easter Sunday, or meat on Good Friday). While formalised religion and I have parted ways, I've continued to observe the Easter culinary traditions I was brought up with. I think it's no bad thing to delay gratification with treats like hot cross buns. The building anticipation enhances the experience, and I suspect you savour them all the more for holding off. Anyway...

All my adult life I've switched into Ultimate Hot Cross Bun Quest mode on the Thursday afternoon before Good Friday.  I used to search all over the city for the UHCB, then extended my forays to the suburbs. When the shops opened on Easter Saturday, the quest continued. Was always pretty hot cross bunned out by Sunday night!

5 years ago, I gave up my quest to find great hot cross buns in the shops. In the last decade or so, most of the bakeries and supermarkets here have dumbed down their hot cross buns in response to a mystifying public antipathy towards peel - hardly any commercial bakeries include peel in their doughs! What's a hot cross bun without peel? Huh?

What was I to do, then? Continue the quest in my kitchen, of course!  Sometimes it takes a long time to find the right path, no? So, I started plundering newspaper and magazine recipes, taking notes from TV cooks, googling etc. First couple of years, results were patchy due to inexperience on my part and some very ordinary recipes. Then 3 years ago, I 'discovered' home-baking of sourdough bread. Sounds like a prologue to an evangelical rant, or an MLM presentation. It very well could be the former, but I'm preaching to the converted here, so jump cut...

Most of my HCB recipes in the last 3 years have come from the generous online artisan bread community, and surprise surprise, my results have improved markedly. Being a sourdough nut, I usually include at least one SD recipe in my annual HCB bakes, and this year was no exception. I had highlighted 3 HCB recipes during the year that I just had to try when Easter finally arrived, and at this point I must make a confession. Due to extended fermentation periods in the recipes and a full fridge, I realised that I would not finish baking until after Easter Sunday unless I started before Good Friday - so I made my first batch earlier in the week without crosses! Is that cheating? I've convinced myself that it's not, since what makes a hot cross bun a hot cross bun is the cross.

As it happens, the first recipe I tried yielded the best hot (un)crossed buns I've made, and I ended up making some small tweaks and doing it again, this time crossed (on Good Friday morning)! So, this year, I've only managed to do one recipe twice, and one more yeasted recipe. Still, Easter is not over yet, so that third recipe may yet get a run.

Here are a couple of pics of the SD buns and the yeasted ones I baked the next day (in that order). The SD buns were far superior in every way. While they look a bit rustic (I'm not big on aesthetic finessing), I'd have to rate them as amongst the best I've sampled in all my years of questing after the Ultimate HCB. I'm excited by the prospect of elevating them to another level with a little more tweaking... I'm out of time right now, but will post the recipe (current tweaked version) a little later.

Sourdough hot cross buns...

...and crumb shot

Yeasted...

...and on the way to Judgment Day.

Safe and happy Easter Sunday, folks.
Ross

OK, back. Here's the recipe for the SD HCBs. I've changed hydration and made other tweaks to the point that it now departs significantly from the recipe on which it was based, which was in turn based on another on Den Lepard's site. The original link is now 'broken'. This is how it goes in the baking community - everything is in a state of flux, with the possibilities always wide open to tweak in line with your own preferences.  Goes without saying that anyone trying this recipe should feel free to continue this tradition.

SD Hot Cross Buns (makes 6 large buns)

My ambient temp was 24C.

Pour boiling water over fruit, cover and leave overnight

Preferment
Mix up 75gm of white SD starter (80% hydration) + 87g organic baker's flour + 137gm soy milk (yes! - doubtless cow's milk would be fine, but I suspect the soy lends a slight sweetness and creaminess that cow's milk wouldn't). Leave overnight to ripen - 8 hours was sufficient for mine.

Next morning, add 30gm ripe white starter (80% hydration) to preferment, or whatever is required to bring its useable weight to 300gm.

Dough
150gm organic baker's flour
20gm wholewheat organic flour
1/2 teaspoon salt (or to taste)
40gm white sugar
5gm whole cream milk powder
40 gm melted butter
300gm preferment

Spices:
1 teaspoon allspice
1/2 teaspoon ginger powder
1/4 teaspoon fresh ground green cardomom (just the seeds, not the pods)
1/4 teaspoon fresh grated nutmeg
1.5 teaspoons cinnamon

Fruit:
75gm soaked sultanas
25gm soaked peel

Method
Mix dry ingredients, except fruit. Add melted butter, mix in, then add preferment.

Knead briefly in bowl twice, 10 minutes apart. Fold in fruit.

Bulk proof 3.5 hours (adjust according to your ambient temperature), with hourly stretch and folds.

Divide into 6 (or more if you prefer smaller buns). Best to weigh them out, so you get uniform buns. Shape into balls, flatten slightly, and arrange on a greased baking tray. The buns should be close together but not quite touching each other or the sides of the baking tray. Cover well, and put in fridge overnight.

Next morning, preheat oven to 200C/390F (no fan, no steam). While preheating, make mix for crosses (can do this the previous night if preferred; store covered in fridge).

Cross mix (combine and mix well):
35gm flour
10gm canola oil
25gm water
1 heaped teaspoon cinnamon sugar

This mix can be piped on to the buns, but for such a small quantity I prefer to lay it out on a lightly oiled bench, roll it out thinly, and lay the crosses on the buns by hand.

Baking:
Bake buns @ 200C/390F for about 25 minutes. (The second time I baked these, to get a better browning, I started @ 215C/420F for first 7 minutes or so, then dropped to 190C/375F, then dropped to 175 - all depends on the finish you are after. You might need to reduce baking time, also - you just need to watch the buns during the bake and use your intuition).

While buns are baking, make sugar syrup glaze:
15gm caster sugar
15gm water
Bring to boil, stir until sugar dissolved.

When bake is complete, remove buns and with silicon or bristle pastry brush apply hot glaze (reheat if necessary) to tops of buns. As soon as possible, get buns off baking tray and on to cooling rack.

Best to wait a while before splitting and eating with bounteous spread of fresh unsalted butter. I actually prefer these a couple of hours later, cold. The flavour and structure seems to develop during that time. Gorgeous toasted up to 2 days after bake, also.

Here's my version of Hot Cross Buns, adapted from Ananda's Hot Cross Buns recipe ,  changed it to a chocolate version.  made with white and dark chocolates.

This was an interesting bake,  as I read the recipe wrongly and had to correct it,  at least it turned out to something edible and actually a soft bun that rose really nicely.

Here's my write up in my blog:  www.foodforthoughts.jlohcook.com

I have had a lot of difficulty lately with hot cross buns. What an insane notion. A simple sweet bread, which I never normally have issues with, was driving me insane. I don't have a solution as to how or why. The yeast I'm using is completely fine in other recipes, and I'm quite a meticulous and careful baker most of time. And now it is Good Friday, and if there's any time in which I should make them properly, it's now.

The success was in the timing.

I chose an orange glaze instead of the traditional powdered sugar icing. The tops aren't as nicely browned as I'd like, but still browned. The rise was exactly as I'd like it to be. And wouldn't you know? It was from a Better Homes & Gardens cookbook. Sometimes the easiest recipes are the best ones.

Next time I'd do it by hand instead of the stand mixer. The recipe calls for using the stand mixer, and since I've failed with hot cross buns twice this spring, I didn't dare stray from the recipe for fear of a third time. But as much as I love my KA, it pulls and tears the dough in a way I don't like, especially for forming rolls later. Maybe this upcoming Easter sunday would be a good time. And also, I'll be using currants instead.

But for now, I'm just glad they (finally) turned out.

This might not be the traditional Hot Cross Bun but my Easter won’t feel like one without Chocolate Hot Cross Buns.

I based the recipe largely on the traditional Hot Cross bun I made last week. I included sourdough starter in the recipe for extra flavour. The starter didn’t help much with the rising, if at all. I also couldn’t taste any acidity from the starter.

Inspired by The Flavour Thesaurus book (the book about flavour pairing), I included crushed cardamom and cinnamon in the bread dough instead of mixed spices (sorry, the Hot Cross bun hard-core). The book suggested that cardamom, when paired with chocolate, makes chocolate taste rather expensive. That was interesting and I was curious to find out.

The cardamom does make the chocolate aroma nicer, lovely. The bread smells fantastic. I don’t want to sound too overly excited...I totally love this bun. It was the best chocolate hot cross bun I ever had, still drooling thinking about it. I can't tell which buns I love more, traditional or chocolate...they're both equally nice. I'll let my family decide when they have these two on Easter Friday.

Full post and recipe is here.

Sue

http://youcandoitathome.blogspot.com

Easter is almost here and it means the long weekend is not far away. Easter is the longest holiday in Australia and it is even longer this year. The Easter Monday falls on our national public holiday, Anzac Day. So, we end up with 5-day long weekend. I'm so looking forwards to the short break and mini getaway.

These poor buns have been through lots of trauma. I didn't know that my convection oven was broken until after I put the buns in the oven (it actually heated to 70c, enough to kill the yeast grrrr). So, I pulled the buns out after few or five minutes and retarded them overnight, hoping that I could sort out the oven issue and bake them the next day.

Well, the oven (convection mode) was still broken...and I had to bake the bread using grill mode (well, grilling bread won't work, breads will be burnt before it's cooked!), then cover them tin with the foil after 5 minutes, then turn the tin upside-down to bake the bottom of the bun. Yes, they've been through a lot. Lest not forget, they were retarded after they had been in the 70C oven for few minutes. So, I am glad that these bun are still edible.

In fact, they tasted lovely regardless. I love Hot Cross Bun and can have them all-year round, Easter or not. I love the spices in the bun, fruits and peels. It's gorgeous.

I used Hamelman's recipe from Bread cookbook and changed it somewhat. I included sourdough starter (15% of total weight), replaced 10% of bread flour with whole wheat flour, using raisin instead of currants, using mixed candied peels instead of chopped citrus zest. I also changed the paste recipe somewhat (omit egg and reduce the amount of butter, and reduce the total amount of the paste suggested by Hamelman by 50%). I also used my homemade apricot jam mixed with water as a glaze instead of simple sugar syrup.

This is a very good recipe producing flavoursome Hot Cross Buns. I will have to redeem myself and give these buns what they deserve (proper dough handling and baking mode),  I will have to make these again before Easter.

Full post and recipe is here.

Sue

http://youcandoitathome.blogspot.com

This is one of my oldest and most reliable recipes. Choc chip hot cross buns, while not "traditional" they are most definitely a firm favourite with the kids (and adults alike). The secret to these buns is a combination of things, for one the vegetable shortening is essential for that soft silky feeling after baking. Butter/oils etc don't compare and you can wind up with a heavier denser crumb. Secondly, the cocoa and chocolate you use will definitely be the deciding factor in the final flavour. I personally use Callebaut cocoa and chocolate, but Valhrona and other higher quality chocolates will be the difference between "meh" and "wow", supermarket brands will be quite underwhelming.

You can if you choose, leave things like the bread improver and vegetable shortening out, but the end result will be a much firmer crumb. These are meant to be nice soft mooreish buns so they will benefit quite a lot from these ingredients. I quite like the rapadura sugar, it may be hard to find and you can certainly use caster sugar in its place, but the rapadura has an amazing flavour.

Bun Ingredients:

• 500g Bread Flour
• 315ml Water
• 5g Salt
• 6g Bread Improver
• 70g Rapadura Sugar
• 30g Compressed (fresh) Yeast
• 15g Milk Powder
• 50g Vegetable Shortening

• 25g Cocoa Powder (best quality you can get)
• 8g Ground Cinnamon

• 250g Choc Drops (or chopped chocolate, again go for the best quality)

Crosses Ingredients:

• 5g Cocoa Powder
• 70g Bread Flour
• 75g Water

Glaze Ingredients:

• 2tsp Golden Syrup
• 1/4 Cup Warm Water

Step 1: Combine all the bun ingredients except the cocoa, cinnamon and choc drops. Mix well until the gluten has developed (about 5 to 10 minutes)

Step 2: Add the cinnamon and cocoa powder and mix well to ensure even distribution.

Step 3: Add the choc drops and mix well with your hands or similar. Be careful, you don't want to melt the chocolate.

Step 4: Immediately after mixing the choc drops, scale each bun to 80 grams and allow to relax for 15 minutes.

Step 5: Form each bun however you prefer, I use a circular rubbing motion on the bench top which forms a small tight bun.

Step 6: Arrange the buns on baking paper with about 1/2 inch to 1 inch between each bun.

Step 7: Allow the buns to proof till they are just touching, then mix and pipe the crosses onto the buns.

Step 8: Bake the buns in a 180C oven until quite fragrant and browning on top (about 25 mins).

Step 9: Mix the glaze ingredients, and while the buns are hot from the oven liberally brush the buns with the glaze.

The buns keep fresh up to 24 hours before beginning to go hard, if they last that long. They are especially good in the morning cut in half and either toasted under a griller or in a sandwich press then slathered with butter. A final recipe they can be used for is a bread and butter pudding with an orange infused custard which is a heart attack waiting to happen.

Hello,

I am aware that their is a lot of threads regarding hot cross buns but as the title suggest I am looking for an alternative to the ordinary hot cross bun due to health reasons.

Requirments:

* No modern Wheat - I was thinking maybe 100% Khorasan / Kamut flour as this will probably give the lightest result without using wheat??

* Sourdough rather then bakers yeast as it is better for my digestion and will add to the flavour.

* Unfortunately Dairy Free - So no butter or milk as most recipes require, can I emit these from the recipe or is there an alternative? (I may have a little butter when I taste the final product depending how i feel)

* Little or no sugar - not really a sweet tooth anyway, but I could substitute coconut palm sugar which would give a lovely flavour (similar to brown sugar but much more complex.)

Eggs are fine!

I will add lot of spices (such as cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg...)  preferably fresh but ground if unavailable.

Has anyone tried something similar before or know of any good recipes similar to this?

Any hint or tips welcome - I have never made hot cross buns and usually just stick with my weekly spelt and grain sourdough loaf.

Thanks Heaps.

Just sharing some pics of the Hot Cross Buns I just made.

The recipe is from The Professional Pastry Chef

Taste delightful!

First, I am very new to bread-baking, so I am bursting with pride to tell someone my little success story!  I wanted to make hot cross buns, but wanted to make sure to make a tender rich dough and I wanted lots of fruit in it.  So with great trepidation I actually adapted a recipe to fit.  Those of you who bake regularly will chuckle at my naivete but I am just so tickled that it worked and not just tolerably well, even.  These are actually the best hot cross buns I've ever had.  

For the curious, this is what I did.  I took Peter Reinhart's white bread dough recipe (variation 2, to be specific) from BBA, and added 1/2 tsp cinnamon, 1/4 tsp nutmeg and 1/4 tsp ginger.  After the bread was mixed and had undergone the first rise, I slapped my hands to the sides of my head because I realized I'd forgotten to put in the fruit mixture!  So I tenderly, lovingly, apologetically, added 1.5 cups of mixed fruit:  1/2 cup each of raisins, chopped dried apricots and chopped candied cherries.  Rolled into 16 balls and set to rise again in a pyrex casserole dish, with trepidation.  Added an egg wash.  Baked at 425 degrees for about 15 minutes.  Made icing crosses with mix of icing sugar and orange juice. 

I plan to make some more tomorrow and I will make a few small changes.  And they're so obvious you will laugh.   First, I've decided that candied cherries aren't really food - they are plastic.  Yes, the hot cross buns were amazing, but I think they would have been even more flavourful and still very pretty with chopped dried cherries instead. 

The other thing is that I didn't take the buns out of the Pyrex dish until after they were cool and I think this was a mistake.  The middle buns sort of sank down a bit.  Still tasted great but the size discrepancy offends my sense of order. 

And finally, notes to self:  Make a SMALL hole in the icing bag.  Small means 1 mm.  And make sure the rest of the bag is firmly closed so icing doesn't completely cover your hands.  And for goodness' sake, calm yourself and wait until the buns are cool before icing.  Now mop all icing globs off the floor.  Hot cross buns should be eaten COLD.

Karen

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