By Jen Inglis
It's Easter and I'm finally on the ball with doing a themed week! Just typical that it's the last recipe share but it's not so sad as it means we will be welcoming you all back to join us for coffees next week!
We'll have a wee selection of our classic coffee complementing cakes and a few newbies too, but to tide you over till then you've got to try these delicious buns! They need a wee bit of prep time but if you've made our cinnamon buns before you'll definitely recognise the techniques. These guys are also an enriched dough but with tons of added fruit, spices and that distinctive hot cross piping. It's not Easter weekend without one so why not make your home smell amazing by preparing your own fresh batch. They are best eaten on the day of baking but also delicious toasted on Easter Monday. Join me in saying goodbye to lockdowns (fingers crossed please get your vaccines) and get ready to say hello to spring, hot cross buns, easing of restrictions and HUGS!
Ingredients
300ml dairy free milk
50g dairy free spread
500g strong bread flour
1 tsp salt
75g caster sugar
7g fast action yeast
75g mixed dried fruit (i used sultanas and chopped apricots)
50g mixed peel
zest 1 lemon
1 apple peeled and cubed
1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp allspice
Toppings
100g plain flour , plus extra for dusting
Apricot jam
Equipment
Mixing bowl
Measuring spoons
Pan
Knife
Chopping board
Veg peeler
Scales
Clean tea towel
Pastry brush
Wooden spoon
Spatula
Zester
Baking tray
Baking parchment
Piping bag
Jug
Cooling rack
Method
Heat milk till just about to boil then mix in spread to melt. Allow to cool a little. Add bread flour, salt, sugar, spices and yeast to bowl. Pour in the warm milk mixture and mix well. Once combined start using your hands to form a dough.
Knead on a lightly floured surface for 5 -10 mins until smooth and elastic. Put the dough in a bowl and cover with your clean tea towel (or cling film). Leave to rise until doubled in size.
Peel and cube apple and zest lemon then add to dried fruit. Once dough has risen, transfer to floured surface and knock into a flat round shape. Add fruit to centre and fold all the sides over so fruit is fully covered. Begin kneading again and continue until fruit is evenly spread through the dough.
Leave to rise again in bowl covered by tea towel until doubled in size again.
Prep your baking tray with oil or baking parchment and then divide the dough into even pieces (I got 12). Roll each piece into a ball and arrange on a baking tray. There should be roughly a 2cm gap between each and then cover with the tea towel and leave to prove for another 45 mins to 1 hour.
Mix plain flour with about 50ml water to make the paste for the crosses. You want a thick paste that can be piped so add any extra water really carefully. Put paste in piping bag then pipe horizontal lines across the row of buns then do the vertical lines to make the crosses.
Bake for 15-20mins at 220 degrees.
Cool on tray for several minutes and brush with apricot jam while still warm and transfer to a cooling rack.
Happy Easter!
