Here's this year's batch of hot cross buns.
I've followed Paul Hollywood's suggestions from the Easter Bake Off Masterclass in two respects - adding some apple and bunching them up close. The first seems like a good idea, but don't cut down on the dried fruit like I did. The second makes piping the crosses easier when in mass production. It looks more professional, but I think that mine are TOO close - and I don't have a problem crossing them individually and having more crust. Home made HX buns are great!
You sure need hot something at the moment - do you use candied peel as this is what makes me dislike hot cross buns.
ReplyDeleteThat's the beauty of making your own, you can adjust them to your own taste. We get the best candied peel pieces and snip them up with scissors to the required size. So yes, we use candied peel, but you don't have to.
DeleteAdvice please! I made mine yesterday and they turned out rather...gnarly. No matter how long I kneaded the dough remained very very very sticky. Like an alien substance that had bonded with my fingers. Even after the first rising it was still sticky. Any ideas what I did wrong? I used Katie Stewart's recipe - I regard her as bullet-proof, unlike Delia or Nigella, say.
ReplyDeleteSticky usually makes for a light - hence the "wetter is better" mantra. But if you kneaded a lot and it was still sticky it suggests the gluten wasn't developed. What sort of flour did you use? Bread flour is higher gluten and preferable for HXBs.
DeleteHi Mal,
ReplyDeleteit was strong white flour - the bread type. How long did you knead yours?
Still tasty tho!
Yeah, taste is most important. (My dough gets a good battering in my bread making machine.)
DeleteI am a devout light kneader as I have weak wrists and only knead if I feel like it. Sticky dough could be the sort of flour you use. All flour is not the same. I expect that following the terrible harvests we had last year, flour quality, particularly in the cheaper sorts will suffer as most millers will be having to mix imported flour in with our sad wheat to get anything decent.
ReplyDeleteI didn't make hcbs this year but if you want them to bunch as it were, just put them two to three cms apart on the tray as they will bunch as they prove. Shape them really tightly too and use a bit of flour on your hands when you do, that way they will bunch but not merge. Well those are my thoughts!