Anticipating Easter !

These Hot Cross Buns with spiced honey butter are the perfect classic Easter treat with a nice hot cuppa!. And as far as Easter treats go hot cross buns are one of my faves and a must have... apart from all the scrumptious chocolate of course!.  They may be time consuming to make... but it's so worth it!, they taste delicious trust me!.  So lets find out how I made this gorgeous Hot Cross Bun recipe in 5 easy steps...ENJOY!!.

PREP- 45 mins
COOK- 25mins
TEMP- 180/160 fan/gas 4

INGREDIANTS...

• 300ml Whole Milk
• 1 Orange Zest
• 50g Butter
• 500g Strong White Bread flour, plus extra for dusting
• 1tsp Cinnamon
• ​1tsp Salt
• 85g Golden Caster Sugar
• 7g sachet of fast-action dried yeast
• 1 large egg, plus another one to glaze
• oil for greasing

• 100g Dried mixed fruit​

​​FOR THE CROSS PASTE...

• ​140g Strong white bread flour
• A splash of water​

FOR THE SPICED HONEY BUTER...

• 200g Salted butter
• 1 and a half tsp Cinnamon
• Half a tsp Ground ginger
• 4tbsp Clear honey

Method...

Step 1:
Warm the milk and orange zest in a medium sized saucepan until steaming. Remove from the heat and add the butter, stirring continuously until all the butter has melted. Leave to cool until hand temperature.

Step 2:
While the milk mixture is cooling sieve the flour, cinnamon, sugar, yeast and salt (making sure to keep the salt away from the yeast, as the salt can kill the yeast making it inactive) into a large bowl. By this point your milk mixture should be cool enough to use. Pour the milk mixture and one beaten egg to the flour mix. Mix with a wooden spoon until the mixture clumps together. Tip out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until a smooth and elastic dough forms (the dough should spring back when pressed). Once kneaded transfer the dough to an oiled bowl,  cover with cling film or a tea towel, and leave for 2hrs in a warm environment.


Step 3:
Dust your largest baking tray with flour. Tip out your dough onto your work surface, which should have doubled in size and knead again to knock out any air bubbles. I found that you still needed a bit of flour on your work surface as the dough is oily from the bowl. While kneading incorporate the dried fruit. Divide the dough into 11 equal pieces. Roll each lump of dough into a smooth round ball. Arrange you buns on the prepared tray in a ring, leaving a small gap between each one. If your tray is too small to fit them all on don't panic! this happened to me so i just separated them and put them into a ring shape after they were baked. Cover your tray loosely with cling film, leave to prove for a further 1hr, the buns should be just touching.


Step 4:
Heat the oven to 180/160 fan/gas 4. Brush the buns with a little beaten egg. Mix with an electric whisk the flour and a splash of water to make a thick paste, then transfer to a piping bag and cut a small hole and pipe crosses on. Bake for 25 minutes or until golden brown and cooked through.

​
Step 5: 
Meanwhile, make the spiced honey butter. Put the butter, spices and honey in a bowl and combine using an electric mixer until smooth. Transfer to bowl. When the buns are cooked, remove from the oven and leave to cool for 10 minuets on the baking tray. Serve the bun ring warm with the butter in the centre for spreading. The buns will keep for up to 3 days in a tin or up to 3 months in the freezer.
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step 3, prove.

Step 4, egg wash.

Step 4, pipe crosses.

Thank you for taking the time to read my blog. Let me know how your bakes go in the comment section down bellow or tagging me in pictures on social media all linked. I will be back with another tasty blog post very soon!!!.

BakedByAlice x