Hot Cross Buns
This made some of the nicest hot cross buns I have ever tasted. I used the same dough as for the Asian Style Pain de Mie [1]but added:
- two very generously heaped teaspoons of mixed spice (I made my own and used these ratios [2]which I found on the internet)
16 parts cinnamon
8 parts coriander
4 parts allspice
2 parts ginger
2 parts nutmeg
1 part ground clove
I used whole spices and ground them up in a coffee grinder. I think using my own freshly ground spices made all the difference to this dough. The aroma was intoxicating. Nothing I have ever bought from a shop smells even remotely as fresh and as pungent as that. Omit this step at your own peril!
- 230g of raisins
I scaled them at about 90g a piece and arranged them close to (but not touching) one another on a baking tray. This amount of dough made 24 buns. For the cross on top I made a paste of flour and water which I sweetened with some sugar and then piped it on with a piping bag.
They took about 2 and a half hours to rise. I baked at 180C (with convection on) for 18 mins. I allowed them to cool slightly for five minutes before removing from the pan and placing on a wire rack to cool.
They are pillow soft and delightfully fragrant.
I expect them to keep well, too seeing that I used the water roux method. They took three and a half days to make from start to finsih but they were well worth the effort.
Syd