Hot Cross Bread

Easter is almost upon us, and nothing says Easter better than the taste of hot cross buns with the traditional flavours of dried fruit and mixed spices fresh from the oven. Plus the scent of freshly baked bread wafting from the oven is just heavenly. Sweetened with coconut sugar and a maple syrup glaze, this giant spiced holiday bun studded with fruit won't last long, but any leftover bread can be served toasted the next day.

Bread	Cross Paste & Glaze
200 ml Milk, lukewarm 1 tsp Coconut sugar 7g Dry active yeast 400 g Organic bread flour 1 tsp Cinnamon powder 1 tsp Cardamom powder 1/2 tsp Nutmeg powder 1/2 tsp Sea salt 50 g Coconut sugar 200 g Mixed dried fruit (I use a mix of pineapple, raisin and apricot) 50 g Unsalted butter, melted, cooled 1 Small egg, lightly beaten	20 g Organic bread flour 20 ml Cold water 1 tbsp Maple syrup

Heat the milk in a saucepan over medium heat until lukewarm. Combine1 teaspoon of coconut sugar, yeast and 100 g flour with the warm milk in a bowl, stirring until smooth. Cover with a clean tea towel and leave in a warm place for 25 minutes or until bubbles form on the surface.
In a large bowl, sift together the spices, remaining 300 g flour and salt. Stir in the coconut sugar and dried fruit, then add the yeast mixture, cooled melted butter and egg. Mix to form a soft dough. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead dough for about 10 minutes or until smooth and elastic. Or transfer to the mixing bowl of your stand mixer with a hook attached and knead until you have a smoth dough.
Grease a 18cm springform cake pan. Shape the dough into a round and place in the prepared springform pan. Cover with a clean tea towel and leave to rise in a warm place for 1 hour 30 minutes. The dough should rise to just above the rim of the pan.
Preheat the oven to 200C/400F. For the cross decoration, combine the bread flour with cold water in a bowl, mixing until you have a smooth paste. Transfer the mixture to a small plastic bag, pushing into a corner, then snip off corner and pipe a cross on top of the bun.
Place the pan in the oven and bake for 35 to 40 minutes until golden and cooked through. Brush the top with maple syrup. Cool slightly in the pan before turning out onto a wire rack. Serve warm with butter.

35 comments:

Happy Retiree's Kitchen 23/3/21 09:11: This looks so delicious Angie, I am going to try this, and then perhaps try it using sourdough. Thanks so much for sharing a lovely Easter recipe and the photos are really pretty and carefully crafted.
Pizza and pasta Hut 23/3/21 09:32: Thanks for sharing...Checkout my profile by for Fast food south west London Wimbledon
DEZMOND 23/3/21 10:01: Our bakers use that mixture of flour and water (plus a lot of salt) to decorate salty pretzels and buns.
all types recepies and desert 23/3/21 12:21: Delicious recipe nice sharing
Tom 23/3/21 12:39: ...an Easter favorite.
Brian's Home Blog 23/3/21 14:05: That sounds and looks totally wonderful! For some reason we'd never had hot cross anything here until this year so we'll be trying out this recipe instead of doing the store-bought thing. Yum!
Nancy Chan 23/3/21 14:27: Beautiful bread. When I look at the bread, I think of coffee!
Whats Cookin Italian Style Cuisine 23/3/21 14:53: that is just stunning and love the texture in that delicious photo!
Kitchen Riffs 23/3/21 15:20: Really nice twist on the more traditional Hot Cross Buns! Fun recipe -- thanks.
Jeff the Chef 23/3/21 16:06: Perfect for Easter! I love that you made a round loaf, in honor of the famous buns!
Noob Cook 23/3/21 17:17: What a great looking Easter bake! I'm always amazed by your bakes whenever I visit :)
foodtravelandwine 23/3/21 17:49: It looks delicious!....Ideal for Easter and every time!!.....I want to try it!!.........Abrazotes, Marcela
R's Rue 23/3/21 21:20: Yum
Pedro 24/3/21 00:19: I would spread sweet butter to take with my morning coffee.
Cheers
Raymund 24/3/21 04:06: Thats a good idea, making those buns bigger and making it a bread, brilliant! I do love these, fruity and when freshly baked, I can imagine the butter melting on top of it. So yum!
Julie 24/3/21 11:48: Beautifully made hot cross buns..lovely!!
Sakuranko 24/3/21 14:33: Oh so deliious recipe this sounds amazing with milk
thepaintedapron.com 24/3/21 15:06: Such a great idea to make a bread instead of buns, so pretty!
SavoringTime in the Kitchen 24/3/21 16:08: It's wonderful to think about all the traditional Easter treats and springtime! Your hot cross buns look amazing and so delicious!
Suja Manoj 24/3/21 19:41: Absolutely delicious and beautifully baked, love it
bread&salt 24/3/21 21:33: Dear friend! This bread recipe is really for special day or days. Very unique recipe. Happy day.
speedy70 25/3/21 08:36: Immancabile per il venerdì santo, complimenti!!!!
Himawan Sant 25/3/21 10:02: Interesting bread shape ideas for Easter dishes.
This was the first time I saw this idea of a cross.
Greetings.
Tanza Erlambang 25/3/21 11:29: unique and beautiful as always... yummy.
Javier 25/3/21 11:47: Beautifully baked! Looks incredible delicious, Angie! This recipe is perfect for Easter
Evi Erlinda 25/3/21 11:53: Looks so great! Yummy bread for easter!
Kinga K. 25/3/21 15:23: Delicious bread ❤
Pam 25/3/21 20:22: Love your take on Hot Cross Buns, Angie! The bread looks really delicious! It reeks Springtime! Take care
Eva Taylor 26/3/21 10:33: The bread looks wonderful and toasting it would definitely bring out the war spices.
Eva http://kitcheninspirations.wordpress.com/
Ashley@CookNourishBliss 26/3/21 15:00: This is so festive! We always make hot cross buns but I need to try this bread!
Beata M. 26/3/21 19:31: Yummy 😋
tigerfish 31/3/21 01:52: Just wanna hum the tune "hot cross buns" :p
No tot són postres 31/3/21 23:58: It looks delicious! I need to cook it!😍

Ksss
Glòria
Sherry's Pickings 1/4/21 06:23: ooh delicious - with lots of butter!
The Liberty Belle 3/4/21 20:38: Ooh! This does look good. I like that the recipe calls for coconut sugar. Thanks for sharing.