The Ultimate Hot Cross Bun Recipe

• Before you do anything else, weigh your dried fruit and soak in water for 30 minutes, then drain water.
• Weigh and prepare all your other ingredients.
• Use some of your lukewarm water to dissolve yeast in a small bowl
• In a large bowl, mix your flour, sugar and salt and mixed spice together and make a well in the centre. Place your butter in little pieces on top of the flour around the sides Pour your dissolved yeast in to the well.
• Add your egg into the well and stir into the yeast.
• With a spatula carefully stir a bit of your flour mixture from the sides into the well, slowly adding water and more flour and butter bit by bit until it is all combined.
• Empty your bowl contents onto your work surface and add your dried fruit.
• Now knead your dough by hand for 8-10minutes until the fruit is properly worked into the dough and your dough feels elastic and wooly.
• Place the dough back in your bowl and cover with a damp tea towel and leave to rest for 30 minutes in a warm place.
• After your dough has rested, take it out of the bowl, knock it back and knead for another 2 minutes or so.
• Divide your dough into 30 equal pieces and form rolls. Place these on your greased baking trays so they almost touch but not quite. Cover with a damp tea towel again and leave in a warm place to rise. Preheat your oven now to 200C

Meanwhile make your cross mixture:

• Mix your flour and sugar into the water and combine until you have a smooth paste. Place this mixture into a piping bag fitted with a plain tube.
• Make your glaze by stirring a little water into the egg and mix well together.
• Once the buns have doubled in size (45 min – 1hour depending on room temperature)
• Brush on your egg glaze and pipe a cross shape with the cross mixture onto each bun.
• Put your trays in the oven and reduce the oven temperature to 180C. Bake buns for 20 minutes until they are golden brown. Once finished, place buns on a wire rack to cool.