Recipe: Traditional Hot Cross Buns for Easter in the style of Brioche!
Recipe:
Traditional Hot Cross Buns for Easter in the style of Brioche!
Recipe: Traditional Hot Cross Buns for Easter in the style of Brioche!
Easter is less than a week away, and my Easter baking has started in earnest with batches of cakes, bread and Hot Cross Buns being made almost daily, some to freeze for next weekend, and the rest to scoff now!Last year, I shared my own (family) recipe for Hot Cross Buns, Baking for Easter: The History of Hot Cross Buns ~ Traditional Hot Cross Buns Recipe ~ and it has proved to be a VERY popular recipe and post, with people all over the worldcontactingme to say they have made the buns, and how lovely they are……..it’s always nice when that happens, and it is a tangible reminder that many of my readers actually DO make the recipes I post onLavenderand Lovage, which is brilliant, and makes it all worth while. Along with my recipe, which I will share again today, I also shared the history of hot cross buns, which has also proved popular with readers, so, do pop over there if you are interested in thehistoryand folk-lore that surrounds these little spiced and fruited buns.
Recipe: Traditional Hot Cross Buns for Easter in the style of Brioche!
This year I havedecidedto go a little “off piste” with my buns, in a manner of speaking! I will be using my old family recipe, as it really is a winner, but, I will be baking these buns in a muffin tray this year, (as you can see from my photos) in the manner of a French Brioche.I decided that we are going to go dainty for Easter tea, with smaller buns that are also a pretty shape; I was going to bake them in some traditional brioche moulds, but as they are vintage moulds, they areconsiderablysmaller than the modern-day siliconemoulds, and greed overtook “dainty” on that score! Plus, using a large muffin tray is easier than individual moulds. However, I was DELIGHTED how well these buns baked, and they were just as delicious as my usual “trencherman” buns.
Recipe: Traditional Hot Cross Buns for Easter in the style of Brioche!
All you have to do if you want to make these in a muffin tray, is to follow the recipe (below) exactly, until step 5, when you will shape them asinstructed,but place them in a muffin tray instead of on a greased baking sheet.Provethem a second time as in step seven and then bake as normal in step 10, but for slightly less time – I found that they were baked to perfection in 15 minutes, but ovens DO vary. Pipe the crosses on as you would normally, and also make sure you add the sugar glaze when they come out of the oven. If you follow theinstructionscarefully, youwillbe rewardedwitha dozen delicious hot cross buns, in the style of a brioche, or perhaps I should call them “Hot Cross Buffins”!
Recipe: Traditional Hot Cross Buns for Easter in the style of Brioche!
These freezebeautifullyand you can still toast them the next day too – just cut them into three across the middle for hot toasted buns, and spread liberally with butter!If you don’t fancy slicing them to toast, then just pop them in a warm oven for about five to ten minutes,thensplit them and butter as before, with a generous hand. They work very well when baked this way, as the brioche dough it very similar to hot cross bun dough – they are both butter and egg enriched, but hot cross bunshavespices and fruit added ofcourse.
Recipe: Traditional Hot Cross Buns for Easter in the style of Brioche!
As these have been baked in the style of a French Brioche, sort of, I am entering them into this month’s Tea Time Treats, where the theme isFrench Tarts, Cakes, Bakes and Pastries – it maybe a LITTLE bit of a cheat, but it’s my challenge so I’ll cheat if I want too!!I am STILL hoping to bake something a little more French, but as the month gallops away, I am hedging my bets!
Recipe: Traditional Hot Cross Buns for Easter in the style of Brioche!
I hope you enjoy these Hot Cross Buns if you make them and please do let me know, as it’s always lovely to hear that one my recipes has gone global! It’s Palm Sunday tomorrow, and then the countdown to Easter week…….I hope you have lovely Sunday, and see you soon with some more seasonal treats. Karen
Hot Cross Buns
Print recipe
| Serves | 12 Hot Cross Buns |
| Prep time | 2 hours |
| Cook time | 20 minutes |
| Total time | 2 hours, 20 minutes |
| Allergy | Egg, Milk, Wheat |
| Dietary | Vegetarian |
| Meal type | Bread, Breakfast, Dessert, Side Dish, Snack |
| Misc | Child Friendly, Freezable, Serve Cold, Serve Hot |
| Region | British |
| By author | Karen S Burns-Booth |
A delicious traditional spiced, sticky glazed fruit bun with pastry crosses. Served as a classic Easter treat, the buns can also be enjoyed at any time of year.
Ingredients
- 450g strong white bread flour
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/2 teaspoons mixed spice
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 50g butter
- 50g caster sugar
- 1 1/2 teaspoon easy-blend dried yeast
- 210ml tepid milk
- 1 free-range egg
- 100g mixed dried fruit
- 25g cut mixed citrus peel
- 50g plain flour (for the crosses)
- 1 free-range egg (for the crosses)
- 30ml milk (for the glaze)
- 25g caster sugar (for the glaze)
Note
If you have a bread machine, you can start the dough in the machine up to thesecondproving stage. Add the dried fruit 5 minutes before the end of kneading or when your bread machine beeps.
Directions
| Step 1 | Sieve the flour, salt, ground mixed spice and cinnamon into a large mixing bowl, then rub in the butter using your fingertips. Make a well in the centre of the mixture, then add the sugar and yeast. |
| Step 2 | Beat the egg and add to the flour with the tepid milk. Mix together to a form a soft, pliable dough. Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured work surface. Carefully work the mixed dried fruit and mixed peel into the dough until well combined. Knead lightly for 5 minutes, or until smooth and elastic. |
| Step 3 | Shape the dough into a ball and place it into the buttered/greased mixing bowl, then cover with a clean tea towel and set aside in a warm place for one hour to prove. |
| Step 4 | Turn out the proved dough onto a lightly floured work surface and knock back the dough. Shape it into a ball again and return it to the bowl, then cover again with the tea towel and set aside for a further 30 minutes to rise. |
| Step 5 | Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured work surface and divide it into 12 equal pieces. Roll each piece into a ball, then flatten slightly into a bun shape using the palms of your hands. Cover the buns again with the tea towel and set aside to rest for 5-10 minutes. |
| Step 6 | Meanwhile, make the mixture for the crosses; mix the flour and egg to a stiff paste, but thin enough to pipe. Make the glaze too - heat the milk and sugar together until the sugar has dissolved and set aside. |
| Step 7 | Place the hot cross buns onto buttered/greased baking trays, then place the tray/s inside a large oiled polythene bag. Tie the end of the bag tightly so that no air can get in and set aside in a warm place for a further 40 minutes to rise. |
| Step 8 | Preheat the oven to 240C/475F/Gas 8. |
| Step 9 | When the buns have risen, remove them from inside the polythene bag, and then spoon the flour and egg mixture into a piping bag and pipe a cross on each bun. |
| Step 10 | Bake the buns in the pre-heated oven for 15 to 18 minutes, or until pale golden-brown, and when turned over and tapped on the underneath they sound hollow. As soon as you remove the buns from the oven, brush them with the sugar and milk syrup, then set aside to cool on a wire rack. |
| Step 11 | Serve warm, split and spread with butter, or serve toasted, split and spread with butter. The cooked buns can be frozen for up to 3 months; allow 6 hours for them to defrost and serve as above. |
Recipe: Traditional Hot Cross Buns for Easter in the style of Brioche!
Recipe: Traditional Hot Cross Buns for Easter in the style of Brioche!
Recipe: Traditional Hot Cross Buns for Easter in the style of Brioche!
Recipe: Traditional Hot Cross Buns for Easter in the style of Brioche!
I am also entering this recipe into:
Jen’s Classic French,wherethe theme is Brioche this month
Bake Your Own Bread, hosted by Roxanas Home Baking
And Yeast Spotting
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