Hot Cross Buns - Happy White Easter!

The universe is telling me to slow down. After the busy whirlwind trip to Indonesia, I was so ready to come back for a mini Easter weekend a way to Turkey with M. But unfortunately, not even 24 hours after my return to Switzerland I managed to sprain my ankle walking down the stairs. A 4 hour emergency room wait, followed by my first German-speaking hospital encounter, I was finally told it was a damaged ligament. So it’s crutches for a week, cast for a month, no flying for a while (what is this DVT business…) which means… no Turkey for the Easter break and no skiing until next season! Boo hoo.. whinge whinge whinge… Who knew not watching where you’re going has such dire consequences.

So this Easter weekend I’m sitting tightly at home in Zurich. And it was a white Easter, can you believe it snowed in April? We ended up having a nice Easter lunch with a group of friends in Zurich, and stuffed ourselves silly with too much food. For dessert I served my favourite Easter treat, fresh out-of-the-oven hot cross buns. These little treats are sold everywhere in England and Australia during Easter. It’s traditionally eaten on Good Friday, with the cross symbolizing Christ’s crucifixion.

This is a recipe I adapted from www.taste.com.au, my best source of Australian food recipes. Best served hot (freshly baked or toasted) with a dollop of butter and strawberry jam.

Easter Hot Cross Buns

Ingredients

For the buns:

2 packets (2 x 7g) of dried yeast

1 ½ - 1 ¾ cups milk, warmed (not boiling)

¼ cup of caster sugar

4 cups of plain flour

A pinch of salt

3 tsp of cinnamon powder, or mixed spice

2 eggs, lightly whisked

60g butter, melted

1 ½ - 2 cups sultanas or dried fruits

For the crosses:

½ cup plain flour

¼ cup water, give or take

For the glaze:

½ cup icing sugar

¼ cup milk

Method:

1. Heat milk in a saucepan until it’s warm to touch, but not boiling. Take off heat. Whisk the yeast and sugar into the warm milk. Stand for 10 minutes.
2. Sift the plain flour, salt, cinnamon powder (or mixed spice), and sultanas together into a large bowl. Make a well in the centre of the bowl. Pour in the yeast mixture, eggs, butter into the well. Mix the ingredients together with a wooden spoon, until you have a sticky dough.
3. Prepare a floured working surface. Turn out the dough onto the surface and start kneading for 6 – 8 minutes. If the dough is too crumbly add a bit more milk. Do a poke test to see if the dough is ready: shape the dough into a disk then give it a firm poke with your finger. If the indent bounces up quickly then it’s ready. If the indentation stays too long, continue kneading for a while longer.
4. Prepare a lightly oiled large bowl to prevent the dough from sticking. Shape the dough into a ball, put inside the bowl and cover with a wet kitchen cloth. Leave in a warm place (not hot) for about 1 hour.
5. After 1 hour the dough should now double in size. Punch down the dough until it ‘deflates’. Shape into 12 balls. Place on a baking tray lined with baking paper. Using a sharp knife, cut a shallow two intersecting lines (the cross) on the top of the buns (not too deep, this is just a guide for when you are piping the crosses). 
6. Mix the flour and water for the glaze until you get a gooey honey-like consistency (not too runny). Pipe along the crosses. Leave buns to prove again for a further 30 minutes in a warm place.
7. Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Bake the buns for about 15-20 minutes. While the buns are cooking, prepare the icing sugar and milk glaze.
8. Place buns on a cooling rack. Brush the glaze on the buns while still hot. Wait for glaze to dry for a few minutes. Serve warm with butter, jam, nutella, or any spread you wish.