It has not been a good day in the kitchen. I’m glad I tried that recipe before Easter, not only there is room for improvement, there is also time for improvement. The recipe I used comes from The Ultimate Chief, Nick, who knows his food and I’m sure those buns in his hands are amazing, mine are shit.
Also, I’ve done something to my Kitchen Aid, my treasured, most beloved piece of cooking gear. I think that dough might have defeated it, which is annoying, cause it’s an American tank for this kind of jobs, maybe too high gear or something? I’m waiting for my own private engineer to come home and diagnose the problem. If I’ve damaged it, I’ll kill myself.
So here’s Nick’s recipe;
1 (7g sachet) fast action bread yeast
180ml warm milk
500g plain flour
80g butter or Stork margarine
pinch of salt
60g caster sugar
2 teaspoons mixed spice
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 egg, beaten
1(100g bar) dark chocolate, broken up
extra flour for dusting
For the crosses
75g plain flour
75ml water
Few drops of almond extract
Add the dried yeast and warm milk to a large bowl. Cover and set aside for 5 or 10 minutes, until it looks frothy.
Sift the flour into another bowl and use your fingers to rub in the margarine, until it looks like breadcrumbs. Add salt, sugar, spices and candied mixed peel. Pour in the yeast-milk mixture, and add beaten egg and chocolate pieces. Mix to form a dough (it will be sticky).
On a lightly floured surface, knead the dough for 5 – 10 minutes.
Rub some cooking oil around the surface of a large mixing bowl and place the dough in it. Cover with a clean tea towel and leave to rise in a warm place for about 1 to 2 hours, or until doubled in size.
Knead again for a few minutes, then cut into 12 even sized buns. Place in a deep-sided, lightly greased or lined 23cm (9 inch) baking tin. Cover with tea towel and leave in a warm place to rise again (about 30 to 40 minutes this time). Preheat the oven to 200 degrees C / Gas mark 6.
For the crosses: mix the flour and water together to form a soft paste. Flavour with almond extract (optional). Spoon into a clear plastic sandwich bag. Seal and snip off one of the corners, then pipe crosses onto each bun.
Bake for 30 minutes, until golden brown.
Two things that went wrong with my version – the dough hasn’t risen enough, which makes the end product more like a rock cake than a bun. Also, I think they definitely need more sugar. And a glaze, which Nick’s recipe omits, I used apricot jam.
So, the plan is, I’ll make them again tomorrow, but I’ll use strong bread flour, fresh yeast, to increase the chances of the dough rising nicely, as it should do. And I’ll use more sugar. I’m looking at another recipe, for the more traditional buns, might give that one a go, but I’m determined, there will be home made hot crossed buns this Easter and I’ll see to it. The only thing that can stop me is Izzie deciding to be born.
To be continued.
