Just time to make March look a little more respectable by slipping this recipe in before we end up in April. I'm not quite sure where this month has gone, really, but this is a nice one to finish it with.
It's a lovely recipe for hot cross buns, as I didn't put the crosses on them I've called them 'hot buns'. I used the recipe from The Dairy Book of British Food, published in 1988 by the now-defunct Milk Marketing Board for 'British Food & Farming Year', apparently.
I'm sure you used to be able to get MMB cookbooks from your milkman - one of the reasons I'm fond of this one is that my mum gave me a copy of The Dairy Book of Home Cookery when I left home for university many years ago (it's still in print, from these people now). My dad gave me the rather more dashing Len Deighton books. But the dairy one was a good, basic book and its yellow cover still reminds me of my first steps in cooking. They make a nice change: a lot of the recipes are a bit of their time, but they're refreshingly free of all the aspirational lifestyle-y guff that pads out so many of today's cookery books.
Anyway, that's enough blather - here's the recipe. It's pretty much as given in the book, except that I included sultanas instead of currants (as our two kids prefer them) & left out the chopped peel (as our two really don't like it). I also cut down the salt - the original recipe calls for a teaspoon.
It's a lovely recipe for hot cross buns, as I didn't put the crosses on them I've called them 'hot buns'. I used the recipe from The Dairy Book of British Food, published in 1988 by the now-defunct Milk Marketing Board for 'British Food & Farming Year', apparently.I'm sure you used to be able to get MMB cookbooks from your milkman - one of the reasons I'm fond of this one is that my mum gave me a copy of The Dairy Book of Home Cookery when I left home for university many years ago (it's still in print, from these people now). My dad gave me the rather more dashing Len Deighton books. But the dairy one was a good, basic book and its yellow cover still reminds me of my first steps in cooking. They make a nice change: a lot of the recipes are a bit of their time, but they're refreshingly free of all the aspirational lifestyle-y guff that pads out so many of today's cookery books.
Anyway, that's enough blather - here's the recipe. It's pretty much as given in the book, except that I included sultanas instead of currants (as our two kids prefer them) & left out the chopped peel (as our two really don't like it). I also cut down the salt - the original recipe calls for a teaspoon.
Here's what you'll need:
1.5 tsp dried yeast (or 15g fresh)
300ml lukewarm milk
450g strong white bread flour
1/2 tsp sea salt
1 tsp ground mixed spice
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
50g caster sugar
50g butter
80g sultanas
1 egg, beaten
For crosses:
50g plain flour
25g butter
For the glaze:
2 tbsp milk
2 tbsp water
3 tbsp caster sugar
Dissolve the yeast in the warm milk. If, like me, you're using dried yeast, then sprinkle it & mix into the milk with about 1 tsp of the sugar & leave it for 10-15 minutes somewhere warm.
Put the flour, salt, spices & sugar in a bowl. Cut the butter into chunks, add it to the bowl, and rub it in. An easy way to do this is to give it a gentle whizz in a mixer. Then add the dried fruit & the peel too, if you're using it.
Make a well in the centre, add the beaten egg & milk and yeast mixture and stir it together until you get quite a soft, sticky dough.
Turn this out onto a well floured surface. I tried this one in the mixer with a dough hook, but it didn't work as well as kneading by hand. So knead it for about 10 minutes until it's soft but not sticky (leaves your hands clean) and it's nice and stretchy. I ended up adding quite a bit of flour as I kneaded.
Put your dough into a clean bowl (big enough for it to double in size), cover with a polythene bag or wet tea towel and leave somewhere warm for 1 hour. It should start like this:
And then double in size to this:
Turn it out onto a floured surface and knead again, this time just for about 3 minutes.
Divide the dough into 12 equal pieces. I am rubbish at this, as you can tell below. I always end up with a noticeable variety of sizes.. Not that it really matters. Then form each piece into a bun shape (try tucking the edges under and then shaping with your hand) and put them on floured baking parchment on a baking sheet with plenty of room for expansion.
Leave for 30 minutes in a warm place, with a polythene bag tented over the top, and they'll roughly double in size:
While they're rising, pre-heat your oven to 190C (gas mark 5).
You can make crosses to turn them into hot cross buns. Rub together the 50g of plain flour & 25g of butter until it resembles fine bread crumbs. Add enough water to bring it together and knead gently. Roll it thinly and cut strips that you can make into a cross shape - wet them slightly on the back to attach them to the top of your buns.
Bake them at 190c (gas mark 5) for 15-20 minutes until they're a nice golden-brown colour.
While they're baking, make the glaze by heating the milk, water and sugar together. So that when they're done you can brush each one as you transfer them to a wire rack for cooling:
I made these last night for breakfast this morning. They were delicious both warm and cold and were very popular indeed.
1.5 tsp dried yeast (or 15g fresh)
300ml lukewarm milk
450g strong white bread flour
1/2 tsp sea salt
1 tsp ground mixed spice
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
50g caster sugar
50g butter
80g sultanas
1 egg, beaten
For crosses:
50g plain flour
25g butter
For the glaze:
2 tbsp milk
2 tbsp water
3 tbsp caster sugar
Dissolve the yeast in the warm milk. If, like me, you're using dried yeast, then sprinkle it & mix into the milk with about 1 tsp of the sugar & leave it for 10-15 minutes somewhere warm.
Put the flour, salt, spices & sugar in a bowl. Cut the butter into chunks, add it to the bowl, and rub it in. An easy way to do this is to give it a gentle whizz in a mixer. Then add the dried fruit & the peel too, if you're using it.
Make a well in the centre, add the beaten egg & milk and yeast mixture and stir it together until you get quite a soft, sticky dough.
Turn this out onto a well floured surface. I tried this one in the mixer with a dough hook, but it didn't work as well as kneading by hand. So knead it for about 10 minutes until it's soft but not sticky (leaves your hands clean) and it's nice and stretchy. I ended up adding quite a bit of flour as I kneaded.
Put your dough into a clean bowl (big enough for it to double in size), cover with a polythene bag or wet tea towel and leave somewhere warm for 1 hour. It should start like this:
And then double in size to this:
Turn it out onto a floured surface and knead again, this time just for about 3 minutes.
Divide the dough into 12 equal pieces. I am rubbish at this, as you can tell below. I always end up with a noticeable variety of sizes.. Not that it really matters. Then form each piece into a bun shape (try tucking the edges under and then shaping with your hand) and put them on floured baking parchment on a baking sheet with plenty of room for expansion.
Leave for 30 minutes in a warm place, with a polythene bag tented over the top, and they'll roughly double in size:
While they're rising, pre-heat your oven to 190C (gas mark 5).
You can make crosses to turn them into hot cross buns. Rub together the 50g of plain flour & 25g of butter until it resembles fine bread crumbs. Add enough water to bring it together and knead gently. Roll it thinly and cut strips that you can make into a cross shape - wet them slightly on the back to attach them to the top of your buns.
Bake them at 190c (gas mark 5) for 15-20 minutes until they're a nice golden-brown colour.
While they're baking, make the glaze by heating the milk, water and sugar together. So that when they're done you can brush each one as you transfer them to a wire rack for cooling:
I made these last night for breakfast this morning. They were delicious both warm and cold and were very popular indeed.
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