Hot Cross Buns (No ABM)

Submitted by JustJanS

"I made these using 3 different recipes (more spice, more fruit, good method). Aussies-I uses Woolworths Select mixed dried fruit but picked out the glace cherries! Prep time doesn't include all the rising and so on. They took 2 hours to make start to finish, but I Face Booked and got dinner ready while they were rising!"

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photo by hylas

Ready In:: 40mins
Ingredients:: 15
Yields:: 16 buns

ingredients

4 ¹⁄₂ teaspoons instant yeast
¹⁄₄ cup caster sugar
1 ¹⁄₂ cups warm milk, body temp
4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
¹⁄₂ teaspoon allspice
60 g butter, at room temperature
1 egg, lightly beaten
375 g mixed fruit, dried sultanas, raisins currants
Flour Paste
6 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon caster sugar
4 tablespoons hot water
Glaze
2 tablespoons caster sugar
2 tablespoons boiling water

directions

Combine the yeast, sugar and tepid milk in a bowl, cover with cling wrap.
Stand in a warm place (approx 10 mins) until mixture foams and froths.
Sift flour and spices into a large bowl.
Rub in butter using a broad bladed knife then finish with fingertips.
Toss the fruit through the flour, to coat the fruit.
Stir in yeast/sugar/milk micture, the lightly beaten egg and mix to a sticky dough.
Cover with cling wrap and stand in a warm place for 45-60 minutes until dough has doubled in size.
Grease a square, deep sided cake pan (20-25cm)
Knock down the dough and gently knead on a lightly floured surface for approximately 5 minutes until dough is smooth and silky.
1Cut dough in half, knead lightly, cut each half in half again and continue until you have 16 balls of dough.
1Place balls into greased cooking pan, cover with cling wrap and stand in a warm place for 10-15 minutes until the dough has risen to the top. 4 x 4 balls in each row
To make the flour paste, combine the flour sugar and water to form a thick paste. Cover with cling wrap, or place into piping bag with medium sized round nozzle attached. I used a zip lock bag with a corner cut out.
Either pipe or drizzle flour paste into 'cross' shape on top of each bun - keep piping fluid by doing four at a time, first in one direction then rotate the pan and complete the cross.
Preheat oven to 200DegC
When buns have risen bake for 20-25 minutes.
Turn out onto tea towel then place wire rack on top, invert and cool (top side up).
Mix caster sugar with boiling water and brush generously over each bun while still warm.

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Reviews

I liked the amount of fruit in these buns but they weren't as fluffy as I would have liked. I think I would have liked them a bit sweeter, too.

Jen in Victoria
The instructions were very clear and easy to follow. These were my first try at Hot Cross Buns and they turned out very well in spite of a few glitches. I used a rectangular Pyrex pan about the same as the recommended size and made 20 buns to fill the space. They were a little cramped so next time I'll use my next biggest pan. After 16 minutes the tops were very brown so I took them out, flipped them onto a tea towel, onto racks and realized they weren't done! So, with the help of my husband, we flipped them back into the pan and baked for six minutes more, covered with foil to prevent more browning. They still were a bit undercooked but tasted delicious and I'm sure they'll be perfect once toasted. For the piping I used 5 tablespoons of water instead of 4 and piped out of a ziplock bag. Kiwi readers: the 400g Pam's fruit cake mix is just right.

Yankiwi
Delicious! I prepared 16 magnific buns and we ejoyed each of 2 pieces still hot. The comment was: like warm panettone! For this recipe I used a mix of candied lemon and orange zest as well as good portions of raisins. I let them rise on the tray for about 1 hours and baked them later as I was home again. Thanks a lot for this wonderfuld snack!

Artandkitchen

Tweaks

The instructions were very clear and easy to follow. These were my first try at Hot Cross Buns and they turned out very well in spite of a few glitches. I used a rectangular Pyrex pan about the same as the recommended size and made 20 buns to fill the space. They were a little cramped so next time I'll use my next biggest pan. After 16 minutes the tops were very brown so I took them out, flipped them onto a tea towel, onto racks and realized they weren't done! So, with the help of my husband, we flipped them back into the pan and baked for six minutes more, covered with foil to prevent more browning. They still were a bit undercooked but tasted delicious and I'm sure they'll be perfect once toasted. For the piping I used 5 tablespoons of water instead of 4 and piped out of a ziplock bag. Kiwi readers: the 400g Pam's fruit cake mix is just right.

Yankiwi

RECIPE SUBMITTED BY

JustJanS

224

<img src=http://1.bp.blogspot.com/--qzFlPmoBZk/TbKPpmzGD6I/AAAAAAAAByw/w4d1ZAk6Tmc/s400/BILD4983.JPG alt= width=400 height=300 /><img src=http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_uP9r5mIQTLU/TVSdwtrfzeI/AAAAAAAABvc/6wIdCGjwJL8/s400/untitled.jpg alt= width=400 height=300 /><img src=http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-pdWKI9ofcqY/TVSaUgSfLYI/AAAAAAAABvU/vsThm3lL7TE/s400/untitled.jpg alt= width=400 height=300 /><img src=http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/photo.php?pid=6904575&fbid=464057497463&op=1&o=global&view=global alt= /><img src=http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/photo.php?pid=6904575&fbid=464057497463&op=1&o=global&view=global alt= /><img src=http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/photo.php?pid=6904575&fbid=464057497463&op=1&o=global&view=global alt= /> <object width=288 height=192 data=http://picasaweb.google.com/s/c/bin/slideshow.swf type=application/x-shockwave-flash> <param name=data value=http://picasaweb.google.com/s/c/bin/slideshow.swf /> <param name=flashvars value=host=picasaweb.google.com&RGB=0x000000&feed=http%3A%2F%2Fpicasaweb.google.com%2Fdata%2Ffeed%2Fapi%2Fuser%2Fjanandruss%2Falbumid%2F5047998773731621633%3Fkind%3Dphoto%26alt%3Drss%26authkey%3DoiWHiLPpkPQ /> <param name=src value=http://picasaweb.google.com/s/c/bin/slideshow.swf /> </object> <img src=http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/photo.php?pid=6904575&fbid=464057497463&op=1&o=global&view=global alt= /> Thanks for visiting my page and thanks too to any of you who take the time to make, review or photograph one of my recipes. I came to Recipezaar 9 years ago looking for a duck salad recipe. Bergy answered my request, I took a look around the site and joined that day (January 18th 2002). I can't remember my life without Recipezaar. I've made (and met) many wonderful friends through it. In 2005, I was invited to host the brand new Australian/New Zealand forum, but quit that role recently and am really enjoying just being a Groupie! I am married to Russell. He was a widower with 3 teenage boys and I was a single parent with two little boys when we met in Feb 1992. We now have 5 wonderful grown men (my baby is 26), 5 beautiful partners (we finally got the girls) 2 special grandsons, and count ourselves so lucky. The night Russ and I met, we stayed up until 6am talking about food and wine and 18 years later, we are still doing it!  This mutal love of food lead to a huge weight gain for both of us (both around 110kgs) so at the end of March 2010, I  decided enough is enough and  embarked on my own weight loss program. We've reduced fat intake and protein portions, upped fibre (so lots of fresh fish, veg, salads and a bit more fruit), reduced alcohol and stopped snacking (unless it's a piece of fruit or a pickled onion or cucumber). I have lost 33 kg (or around 72 lbs) to date (August 2011)and  I've gone from an Aus size 24 (US 20) to my current 14/16 (US 10/12) I'd like to lose a futher 8 kgs, but one step at a time! Russ  has lost 38 kg so is the lightest he's been since arriving in Australia 32 years ago! I  get a shock these days when I do the laundry cos his clothes are so SMALL!!! People often say they are amazed because losing weight is so hard but I'm amazed at how easy this is. 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Once upon a time, I used to be a chef, cooking for a living, but now just really enjoy cooking for the two of us, family and friends. I think that my food knowledge has really helped in our weight loss though. The middle photo was at my starting weight of 110kg taken in Feb 2010 and the bottom taken January 2011 and 24kg lighter, the TOP taken in April 2011 and 27kgs lighter!  I can see the difference even if you can't LOL. I wish I knew how to edit them into order. Russ and I still love our food-we wake up thinking about dinner and go to sleep remembering it. I especially like light, bright Asian food and if it has duck in it, that's an added bonus. We are keen fisher people and keep ourselves well supplied with fresh fish, squid, crabs and fresh yabbies (crawfish). In February 2006 we headed off on what was to be  3 years and two months travelling Australia. It was the most wonderful time of our lives but all things must end and in May 2009, we moved into a brand new villa unit. 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