Get ready for Easter with #Petrascakebarrecipes for fluffy, spice-filled hot cross buns packed with juicy fruits soaked in peach and pear liqueur , and chocolate bits for yumminess. For added luxuriousness, I brushed them with a sweet Champagne glaze for that extra deliciousness and shine. Ideal for Easter snacking, enjoy them warm with butter and a relaxing cup of Earl grey tea. My favourite brand is Mariage Freres Earl Grey Tea Loose leaf.
The best Hot Cross bun I've had in years.
There are so many "traditional' hot cross buns available at the bakeries. I wanted to make one that is different, with a bit of my personal flair!
Let's get started! You can easily omit the traditional cross and make delicious morsels for breakfast or brunch.
Alcohol evaporates once it goes through a heating process, this cake bakes at 190c - so kids can enjoy it as well.
I also added Belgian dark chocolate chips to my dough. I think chocolate makes everything more special!
I used a mixture of dried fruits which I dehydrated myself.
Dried Fruits : You can use any dried fruits like raisins, dates, apples, or cranberries. But you need to soak them in a liquid to rehydrate them. You can use orange juice or alcohol or just water.
Rising Agent: Any good quality dried yeast. I activated the yeast here in a warm milk and sugar medium. When the yeast bubbles and looks fluffy you know it's ready to use.
Chocolate: I used Belgian dark chocolate chips, but you can use cacao nibs or white chocolate if your like.
Spices: I used a combination of cinnamon, nutmeg, and all spice. You can choose to omit or substitute with other interesting spices like cardamom or ground clove. Be aware though these 2 are strong in flavour.
Flours: Bread flour or all-purpose flour works well in my hot cross bun recipe.
The Cross: The best way to make the crosses is to use a piping bag. If you don't have a piping bag you can use any small zip-loock bag by using one corner only. Snip off the tip as you would a piping bag. Make sure you don't cut off too much or you will have a very large/wide line.
The Glaze: I love glazing all my buns and dinner rolls! It gives a nice shine and it adds additional flavour. Here I used a Champagne syrup I made. Use equal amounts of Champagne and sugar, simmer it to a thick syrup. You can use water or fruit juice if your prefer. 1 cup liquid: 1 cup sugar is the ratio.
Ingredients & Equipment
Always use a digital scale for accuracy.
Stand Mixer with a whisk and hook attachment
Mixing bowl, dough scraper and baking pan.
Microwave or stove top
Ingredients:
Dried Fruits 250g
Chocolate chips 150g (or as much as you want!)
Warm milk (not boiling) 720g
Active dry yeast 21g (I used granules and weight them)
Softened unsalted butter 255g
Eggs 4 - 3 whisked lightly (plus 1 for the pre baking glaze)
All purpose flour 1350g.
Salt 1 tsp
Spices 4 tsp in total ( I used 2 tsp of cinnamon and the balance of nutmeg and all spice)
Grated fresh ginger (optional) 2 tsp
The Cross-Paste
Flour 160g
About 4 tbsp of orange flower water or water.
Icing sugar 2 tsp
Champagne Glaze:
1 cup of Champagne
1 cup sugar
Directions
Preheat oven 190c
Prepare baking pans; I used a 20" x 15" pan, lined with baking paper and sprayed lightly with baking spray.
Cut any big pieces of fruit up. Like apples, apricots, dates and pears. Soak in enough liquid of your choice for 20 minutes.
In a microwave proof jug, heat up the milk to a very warm touch. NOT boiling. add the yeast in.
In the stand mixer with the whisk attachment, put in the 3 eggs, sugar and all the softened butter. Let it whisk for about 5 minutes.
Take the whisk off and exchange it for a hook. Meanwhile take the yeast mix and pour it into the butter mix. Use a spoon or spatula to mix it together. Now add all the flour, spices and salt in. Using the hook, mix it a few cycles just to incorporate all the wet and dry ingredients together. Once the dough looks combined but still sticky, remove from the stand mixer.
Prepare a floured work top (do this by dusting some flour on the worktop). Put a small pile of flour on one side incase you need it while you knead the dough.
Pour/take out all the dough from the bowl using the dough scraper. Dust your hands with flour and work the dough by kneading it, adding a little flour as needed. Once it looks like a nice ball of dough, place it in a bowl and cover with cling-wrap. Place it in a warm area to rest and rise for about 30 mins.
Drain the dried fruits and mix in some flour to coat the fruits.
After 30 mins:
Dust the worktop with some flour and place the dough on top. Knead the risen dough gently and spread the dough. Add half of the fruits and half of the chocolate chips.
Fold the dough a few times to mix in the fruits and chocolate chips. Spread the dough a second time add the remaining fruit and chocolate chips, kneading it to make sure that the fruits and chocolate are evenly distributed.
To prepare your buns: Cut your dough and weigh each ball. Mine are 100g each. Traditionally they are 75g each. Roll and place in the baking pan.
Remember that one egg left over? Crack and lightly whisk with fork and brush over the buns.
Make the Cross-paste: Mix together the ingredients and pipe on top of the buns. Depending how many you have you might need more of this paste.
Place in oven, bake for 20-25 min, bake until golden brown.
After baking: Immediately after you take the buns out of the oven, brush the tops of the bun with the Champagne syrup glaze. I brush mine 3 times.
Let it cool and store them. If. your are eating them the next day, there is no need to refrigerate them.
To serve : Warm them up in an airfryer shortly or place in a preheated oven of 180c for a 10 min, wrapped in foil. (turn off the oven as we are only warming them up.) When they ready you can brush them again with your syrup mix.
Serve with good quality butter,
Storing: You can freeze the buns for up to 6 months. Wrap them in cling wrap twice, label and date them,
I hope you will try the recipe! Tag me on Instagram or Facebook if your did! Happy Easter