Hot Cross Buns

[melmck]

...I don't find the perfect recipe. Well, perfect in my mind -- the ones I grew up on from Hough's Bakery around Cleveland,anyone out there who's experienced them knows what I'm talkin' 'bout. The majority of HCB out there are too bready, too briochey, too dry or hard or taste like citron. these were a cross between cake and bread, and the sugar was crusted, maybe sugar and whites, not an icing but this yummy crusty sugar cross. mmmmmmmmmmmmmm damn they were good. so throw me your favorite HCB recipes, let's try to perfect that one too, like the choc cake thread...

[sarah o]

Made these 2 weeks ago and i thought they were excellent. i put extra cardamom in also. Even tho i am not a big fan of emeril they came out great.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/re...6_10138,00.html

[helenjp]

What I love best about hot cross buns is the spice. Cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger, plus allspice, plenty of pepper, and a little cumin for warmth. Cloves or cardamom if you like.

I liked Elizabeth David's sweet spice mix, but no longer have her Bread and Yeast Cookery book.

[CanadianBakin']

Mmmm... a crusty sugar cross. I hope someone's got an idea for you. I tried this recipe on epicurious.com and was pleased with the flavour although I'm not sure it's the texture you want. It has a glaze of egg and sugar that gives the buns a crisp outside that is nice. I didn't do pastry crosses though. That just seems yucky to me. I like icing crosses but they usually get a bit gooey so I'd totally be interested in a recipe for crusty ones.

[helenjp]

Sweet crusty crosses...marzipan? Or marzipan kneaded together with sugar crystals and/or chopped nuts and applied in ropes...

[aidensnd2]

We made them at a bakery I worked at awhile ago. As far as I remember the crosses were piped on with a combo of frangipane and ..... I can't remember what we mixed it with. But perhaps just frangipane might be good.

[jackal10]

Adapted from Dan Lepard's recipe. Makes 24.

Sponge:

200g strong white flour

200ml water

Yeast ( I use Tbs sourdough starter, but can use packet)

Ferment until bubbly (4 hours at 85F for sourdough)

Dough

870g strong white flour

Pinch vitamin C

230ml water

25g skimmed milk powder

100g caster sugar

15 g salt

85g butter

1 egg

40g mixed sweet spice

Saffron (optional)

100g raisins

70g chopped dried apricots

80g chopped candied peel

Mix dough; bulk feremtn (4 hours 85F for sourdough), turning at intervals; divide, scale, shape; prove (1 hour) or retard overnight in fridge;

Piping paste

4 Tbs white flour

1 Tbs caster sugar

1 Tbs water

Mix to piping consistency

Mak a cross on the top of each but with a skewer or chopstick or the back of a knife; brush with egg glaze (egg yolk, milk); pipe a cross

Bake 30-40 mins; glaze with syrup (100g sugar 50g water) while hot

[danlepard]

ahhhhh...40g mixed spice a misprint in "baking with passion". reduce it to 2 tsp.

The changes sound good Jack. Tasted a very good sourdough fruit bun last Easter in Melbourne at Baker Chirico (Fitzroy Street). It's something that bakers in the UK should try and do.

regards

Dan

(later)

Bakers in England used to stamp the buns with a metal or wooden cross, so that the buns were almost segmented like a four-leaf clover. The piping was introduced much later. You could press a butter knife into the dough twice just before baking to get the same effect.

Edited March 12, 2005 by danlepard (log)

[lemon curd]

Mmmm... a crusty sugar cross. I hope someone's got an idea for you. I tried this recipe on epicurious.com and was pleased with the flavour although I'm not sure it's the texture you want. It has a glaze of egg and sugar that gives the buns a crisp outside that is nice. I didn't do pastry crosses though. That just seems yucky to me. I like icing crosses but they usually get a bit gooey so I'd totally be interested in a recipe for crusty ones.

←

I was also pleased with the epicurious recipe. I made them today for breakfast but used the Dan Lepard recipe for the piping paste (see jackal10's post above). I was really pleased with the results. I didn't use zest as per the epicurious recipe but substituted candied organic grapefruit and orange zest. The leftover sugar/water mixture used for candying the zest also became the glaze for the hot cross buns as they came out of the oven.