Easter Hot Cross Buns
You‘ll need:500 g cake flour
½ tbsp. salt
1 tbsp. mixed spice
50 g castor sugar
60 g butter
200 g raisins
10 g yeast powder
200 ml full cream milk
2 eggs
For the Easter eggs (also known as the hot crosses) you’ll need:
3 tbsp. flour
Honey or golden syrup, for brushing
Add the flour, salt, castor sugar and mixed spice into a deep bowl and mix. Rub in the butter with your fingertips. Mix in the raisins, then sprinkle over the yeast and stir. Heat up the milk until lukewarm and beat with the eggs, and then add it to the dry ingredients. Mix the ingredients to a moist dough, then leave to soak for 7 min. Take out of the bowl and cut the dough into 6–8 pieces. Shape the dough into any form you wish on a floured surface. Space apart on a baking sheet, cover loosely with cling film, then leave in a warm place until the dough has risen half in size. This will take about an hour depending on how warm the room is. When the buns have risen, heat oven to 220 °C. Mix the flour for the hot crosses with 2 tbsp. water to make a paste. Pour into a plastic food bag and make a nick in one of the corners. Pipe crosses on top of each bun. Bake for 12–15 min. until risen and golden. Trim the excess cross mixture from the buns, then brush all over with honey or golden syrup. The buns will keep fresh for a day. After that they are best toasted and served with butter.
