Hot cross buns

I Looooove hot cross buns, so this year I decided to bake some…

The recipe is from one of mum’s old women’s weekly books.

• 4 cups of plain flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 3gr or 1 oz of compressed yeast – or 2 packets of dry yeast
• 1 1/2 cups milk
• 1/2 cup sultanas
• 60g butter
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/2 tsp mixed spice
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon

1. Cream yeast with 1 tsp each of the sugar and flour, add lukewarm milk, mix well. Cover and stand in warm place 10-15min or until mixture is frothy
2. Sift flour, salt, sugar and spices. Rub in butter, add beaten egg, sultanas and yeast mixture. Beat well
   (I just used a fork to beat well at this stage)
3. Cover bowl with clean cloth, stand in warm place 40min or until dough doubles in bulk.
4. Punch dough down, turn out onto floured surface, knead well until dough is smooth and elastic.
5. Cut dough into three equal pieces, cut each piece into five, making 15 buns in all.
6. Knead each piece into five, making 15 buns in all. Knead each into rounded shape. put buns in lightly greased 18x28cm lamington tin. Stand in warm place 10 to 15 miin or until buns reach top edge of tin.
7. Sift 1/4 cup plain flour, mix to paste with 1/3 cup water. Fill into small plasic bag with small hole cut across corner. Pipe crosses on each bun. Bake in hot oven 15-20min.
8. Remove from oven, immediately brush with glaze made by dissolving 1 tablespoon sugar and 1 tsp gelatine in 1 tablespoon hot water.
9. Cool buns on wire rack

Naughtily consume for dinner -NOM NOM NOM

I’m happy to report they turned out perfectly. It was cold today so I used a warm water bath for the bowl rising stage and an open just warm oven to rise the second time. I have my grandfather to thank for the tips as he used to be a baker and I remember some of the stories he used to tell us.