You don't have to be religious to enjoy Easter. This celebratory weekend is only second to Thanksgiving, when it comes to food, in my humble opinion.
First: Chocolate. One of the 4 major food groups, am I right?
Second: For whatever reason, ham seems to appear every Easter, whether you consciously intend it or not.
Third: Easter Buns or Hot Cross Buns, as I knew them, growing up in New Zealand.
This is the first year I have tried to make my own Easter Buns.
Version 1
I used a traditional recipe from the Edmonds Cookbook (NZ) and it was, in no uncertain terms, a disaster. Too many raisins, the dough was too dry. The end product was dense, doughy in flavor and weird nasty shapes that never corrected themselves. Nothing browned evenly and even a lot of butter was not enough to make me want to choke down more than 2 bites.
Long story, short; These little disappointments meet their ends as pieces in my back yard. Each one being enthusiastically chased by Wrigley the Cat, none of which met his minimum standards for ingesting... and that's saying something! Although I remain hopeful they will please a squirrel or two, maybe even a hungry bird!
Version 2
More milk, less flour, tweaked spice mix, less dried fruit. (I don't like pungent dried fruit, so tend to almost completely eliminate mixed peel and currents, FYI.)
Mixed, proofed, balled, proofed again. Then I added the crosses and baked. The final step was a sugar glaze.
Anyone want my recipe?
Dallice's Hot Cross Buns
To one cup of milk, almost boiling in a pot on the stove, add .5 tablespoon of butter and 1 tablespoon of white sugar.
Let this sit until it gets to around 110 ℉.
Sprinkle over this, a teaspoon of yeast and let it sit for 10 mins, more or less.
In a larger bowl mix 1.75 cups of white flour with a half teaspoon of mixed spice and a half teaspoon of cinnamon. A dash of cardamom if you like too... maybe a little grating of fresh nutmeg... and a wee dash of dehydrated lemon peel . Also, a half teaspoon of salt and a tablespoon of sugar.
Make a well in the dry ingredients, pour in the yeast mix and stir it up really well. The dough should be soft and bouncy, not firm. Mix in a half cup of raisins.
On a lightly floured surface, work the dough with floured hands a little, until stretchy and springy. Then place it in a greased bowl and dab the surface with oil. Cover with a tea-towel and leave in a warm place to double in size.
Remove the ball of dough, divide into 8 pieces and ball each piece up. I like to pull dough from the top and wrap it underneath, several times, then pinch the base together and put on a greased sheet or in a glass dish or similar.
Proof again until the little buns are doubled in size. (My oven has a proof setting that is 100-110℉.)
Paint a cross on top of each with a paste made of flour and water. Using a small squeeze bottle to apply makes this easier than it sounds.
Bake at 415 ℉ for 20 mins. Then glaze with a little brush and a solution that is equal parts sugar and water. Sticky!
