Hot Cross Buns Recipe by Diego Piñero

Enjoy the famous Harvest Hot Cross Buns in the comfort of your own kitchen this Easter weekend.

Harvest Hot Cross Buns 

Makes: 30 buns 

Ingredients

Dough

• 1.15 kg bakers flour
• 32 gms salt
• 175 gms sugar
• 167.5 gms butter (soft)
• 125 gms eggs - about 2 eggs
• 500 ml water
• about 30 gms yeast
• 175gms dried sultanas
• 175gms dried currants
• 60 gms dried orange peels
• 60 gms dried diced apricots
• 25 gm mixed spice
• zest of 1/4 orange

“Crosses”

• 100gm flour
• 100gm water
• 10ml olive oil

Syrup/glaze

• 500ml water
• 500 g sugar
• orange peel of whole orange

Method

Crosses

1. Put all ingredients into a bowl and mix until thick consistency
2. Set aside for later

Syrup 

1. Put all ingredients into a pot and reduce on the stovetop on medium to high heat for 5 min.
2. Set aside for later

Dough

1. Soak dried fruits in room temp water for at least 1 hour
2. Mix flour, salt, sugar, butter, eggs and yeast by hand/electric mixer with dough paddle until dough is stretchy
3. Allow dough to rest and proof for 20 min
4. Put the fruit in and mix again, folding fruit through mixer
5. Let dough rest for 30 min 
6. Cut dough into 30 even pieces and shape into a “bun” shape by hand, leaving them to proof on an oven tray until double the size
7. Fill a piping bag with the “crosses” mixture, and pipe crosses across each bun before baking *Note, you can fill a sandwich bag with the mixture and cut a corner off in place of a piping bag if need be.
8. Bake at 175º C for about 20 min or until golden brown 
9. Apply glaze immediately while still warm
10. Enjoy with generous lashings of butter!