Hot Covid-19 Buns

 So it’s April 2020 and the world has been in the grips of the Covid-19 pandemic for about a month now. Lots of people are working from home, we’re all practicing Social Distancing and the interwebs are flooded with ideas on how to keep yourself busy while in isolation. Baking and cooking (not surprisingly) are quite high on the list. Not only does it mean you can stay at home for things you would go out for, but I know of several people who are using this time to perfect their sourdough bread technique, or make chicken stock from scratch.

 I however, work in an Essential Services Job. Which is great as it means my employment and income are (luckily) fairly insulated from The Crisis, but it also means I have about as much free time as I usually would; less even, as my non-working hours now need to fit in Skype or Zoom chats with family and friends. Hence, not a lot of “iso goals” being achieved by me at the moment.

 But it is also Easter, which for me means Four Days Off. Yes, I will be stuck at home (probably being REALLY boring and doing some once-a-year cleaning jobs), but I have decided to Seize the Day and to make Hot Cross Buns on Good Friday.

I have written previously before about my technique for the HC Buns, but it has been a few years since I have made a batch. They always taste great straight out of the oven, but by the next day can be a bit chewy and are only good for toasting. This is not a problem when you take a batch to An Event but it is tricky when you’re trying to eat your way through a dozen by yourself.

 But Good Food did have a Top bakers' tips, tricks and riffs on hot cross buns (https://www.goodfood.com.au/recipes/news/top-bakers-tips-tricks-and-riffs-on-hot-cross-buns-20200405-h1n67b.html) which I scrutinized carefully and have found several variation which I’m going to try.

1. Use Bread Flour. I will admit I was going to do this anyway (and it had nothing to do with having a random 200-ish grams hanging around in my cupboard). Hopefully this will give the dough a bit more stretch and a bit more “life”

2. Pre-soak the fruit. This kind of makes sense; if the fruit is “rehydrated” before it gets baked, it will pull less moisture from the bun mix, leaving more IN said bun mix to keep it “fresher”. I do have a whiskey chocolate cake recipe where the raisins are soaked in whiskey before you add them to the mix; maybe I can make an adults boozy HC Bun batch one year!

3. Add fruit after the kneading. I haven’t had too much of an issue with my fruit becoming squashed, but why not? I will knead the dough appropriately and then add the fruit in just before the first rise

4. Add dates. Again – totally nothing to do with having dates in my cupboard! This will make up for the lack of sultanas (of which I had none in my cupboard), plus who doesn’t love dates in pudding?

5. Spray buns before putting them into the oven. The theory is that “it moistens the skin of the bun, allowing them to rise more in the oven leading for a fluffier bun”. Which is The Goal after all

6. Use apricot jam as the glaze – this WILL be dependent upon whether I still have a small jar of it in the fridge! There were lots of variations on glazes in the Good Food article, but I do remember using strained apricot jam when I made a sachertorte (I don’t think I blogged about that one….very fiddly but ultimately deliciously chocolatey).

I also remembered that I have a dough hook with my Kitchen Aid so decided to use that instead of hand kneading or using my hand-held mixer.

And how did I go??

1.  It worked out hat I had exactly enough Strong Flour (OK, it was pasta flour not bread flour but I know they both have more protein) to make a half-half with plain flour. So that was nice to empty out a container!

2. The fruit did look a lot plumper. However, it was difficult to strain all of the water out, which meant there was a bit more moisture going in to the mix, which made it quite sticky. Not the end of the world but it did get stuck to my hands A LOT, and they didn’t look as pretty and rounded as the should (more knobbly and “rustic” looking); I sort of had to spoon them into the tray rather than rolling them into nice balls. Extra water also made it tricky for step 3, as the fruit didn’t want to mix into the dough. Perhaps for next time I will knead the dough for the allotted time then tip it out and hand knead the fruit in (or leave it to drain for longer before adding it)

4. The dates weren’t a noticeable difference, again the main difference with mine versus shop bought is the presence of mixed peel – it really changes the flavour. As it is the same bag of peel I have been using for probably 10 years or so I possibly will not buy another bag when this one runs out; just mixed fruit is fine.

5. I did spray them, but I didn’t really notice much difference in the fluffiness

6.  No apricot jam in the fridge so stuck with golden syrup for the glaze. Perhaps I will switch to apricot jam when I finish the bag of mixed peel – swap one orange thing for another!

Knobbly rustic buns before going in the oven

The buns straight of the oven tasted wonderful – very soft and light. By afternoon tea time, they were a bit more solid but still easy to butter and slice. But again by the next day they had dried out a bit further and thus got toasted for breakfast. So luckily I only made a half batch and that I’m home for a few days to eat them!

Piping hot just waiting for butter

 So some hits and misses with these tweaks – I think I’ll keep the Kitchen Aid, and the fruit soaking. I may try and track down actual bread flour for the next batch, but again – best to plan to eat them on the day.

Happy Easter!

In other baking news, whether it’s bravery or folly, I am going to try and make yo yos this afternoon from my grandmother’s recipe (so its fair to say they will probably not be as good as hers; she’s been baking them for 70+ years!

(not so) Hot n' Cross

(not so)Hot n Cross

 Easter: the one time of the year when it is OK (and almost mandatory) to gorge yourself on chocolate. In other words, my kind of holiday. And as a kid, Easter meant a trip up to the farm for a week or so, and my mum would pack half a dozen packs of  Tip Top hot cross buns, in the old cardboard boxes with the silver reflective layer on the inside (anyone else remember them?). If you heated them in the oven, they were crispy on the outside and soft on the inside (spreading the butter would make it all smushy), or toasted under the griller made for crispy all round. Super yum, especially on those cold Corryong mornings

Over the years, HC Buns have been assailed and mutated. We can now have choc chip, mocha and fruit free. Now call me a traditionalist, but if doesn’t have fruit in it (and peel – when did Those in Charge decide everyone disliked it??), you can’t call it a hot crossie; it’s a yeast bun at best. And I feel there is already enough chocolate around this time of the year without them being stuck in HC Buns to make them more palatable. So it’s time they fought back.

 I came across several recipes for make-your-own hot cross buns a few years ago, and loving them almost as much as chocolate, I thought I’d try it out. Although HC Buns appear in the shops earlier and earlier (I spied them on Boxing Day last year at my local Coles), I find a craving always appears September-October-ish, when the last few you saved in the freezer are a distant memory   . Trying each recipe, I took the Goldilocks approach (“this one is too cakey” “ this one isn’t spicy enough”) as well as quizzing my baker brother about yeast, and cobbled together this recipe. People are always amazed when they realise they are made from scratch (not even a breadmaker!), but it’s really not that tricky. The main thing you need is time for the yeast to rise (twice), but even so, I had this batch for my work colleagues out in about 2 hours. The golden syrup glaze is a nice cheat’s shortcut. The other thing that will improve your HC Bun experience is the butter. I used to buy home brand, not realising the range of brands or quality out in the market place. However, going for a high end or organic butter will make them taste that much better. Scout out a deli or a posh supermarket like Thomas Dux or David Jones food hall as experiment

 So if you’re at home on Friday (as blessedly, even the shops will be shut) and feeling adventurous, give them a try

K xx

Hot Cross Buns

1 TBSP yeast

½ cup caster sugar

1 ½ cups warm milk

4 ½ cups plain flour

2 tsp mixed spice

2 tsp cinnamon

½ tsp nutmeg

50g butter, melted

1 egg

1 ½ cups mixed fruit and peel *

Crosses: 2-3 TBSP plain flour, water

Glaze: golden syrup

1. place yeast, 2 tsp sugar and all of milk in a bowl Set aside for ~5 mins (the mixture will bubble to show the yeast is activated)
2. in a bowl, mix flour, spices, egg, butter, fruit and sugar
3. add yeast mixture and mix using a butter knife or spatula until a sticky dough forms
4. knead dough on a lightly floured surface for ~ 5 mins.
5. place in an oiled bowl

6. cover and stand in a warm place for 1 hr or until it doubles in size.

Bakers hint: put some boiling water in a sink (with the plug in) and place your cling-wrap covered bowl in this with a tea towel over the top (be careful not to let your towel dip into the water or you will end up with a wet towel!). This will help rising on those cool Melbourne days.

Mixture doubled in size after 1 hr

7. grease a baking tray and line with baking paper

8. divide mixture in 12 (for large) or 20 (for medium) and roll into balls. place balls in tin

with a few cm space between.

9. Cover and set aside in a warm place for 30 mins to rise

10. preheat oven to 200°C

11. combine flour and water to make a thick paste

12. using a piping set (or a plastic bag with the corner cut off), pipe crosses onto buns

13. bake for ~20 mins or until well browned and spring back to the touch

14. brush tops with golden syrup while still warm

Best served straight from the oven with the best quality butter you can find!

* Don’t be fooled by a “fruit medley” which can often have apricots and apple. Use that by all means if you like it, but I usually add a combination of sultanas, currants and raisins.