Hot Cross Buns

This was my first attempt at hot cross buns.

I decided to use Juvela's recipe as I had just been sent a sample box of their products just a few days ago which included a box of their White Mix. You can find their recipe here but I have also recreated it below:

The recipe:

Pre-heat the oven to 200ºC/400ºF/Gas Mark 6 and lightly grease a baking tray.

Ingredients

500g (20oz) Juvela Gluten Free Mix
2tsp mixed spice
50g (2oz) butter
1 sachet easy blend yeast (supplied with Mix)
50g (2oz) caster sugar
100g (4oz) mixed dried fruit
1 medium egg
125ml (1/4 pint) warm water (approx)
125ml (1/4 pint) warm milk (approx)

Instructions

In a bowl combine the Mix with the mixed spice. Rub in the butter to resemble breadcrumbs. Stir in the yeast, sugar and mixed fruit. Beat together the egg, milk and water. Gradually add to the dry ingredients to form a soft but not sticky dough. Knead the dough until smooth on a surface lightly dusted with Mix.

Divide the dough into 8-10 pieces and shape into buns. Place on a baking tray, cut a shallow cross on top of each bun and cover with greased cling film. Put in a warm place until well risen (this should take about 45 minutes).

To make the cross on top of the buns, use 50g of Juvela Gluten-Free Mix and mix with enough water to make a paste. Use the paste to pipe a cross on top of each bun. Bake in a pre-heated oven for 20-25 minutes.

To make a glaze for the top (optional) - Mix together 75g (3oz) sugar with 100ml (4fl oz) of water and use this mixture to brush the buns with while they are still warm.

Not bad for my first attempt.

Overall this was a quick and easy recipe for hot cross buns. It was handy using the flour mix as you didn't need to measure the flour out, you simply used the whole box including the sachet of yeast, also provided.

The dough itself was very very sticky and I found it quite hard to kneed, maybe I used too much liquid.

The final result was very pleasing indeed! Although my buns didn't rise as much as I would have liked and were rather dense, they tasted great, with just the right amount of spices and fruit, giving a really sweet, but not too sticky, fresh taste. I would liken my buns to a cake rather than a bread, but this isn't really a criticism, merely an observation. I think the key to getting lovely round buns is in the kneading and the proving of the dough beforehand. Practice will, no doubt, make perfect.

Happy Easter everyone!