Good Friday, Hot Cross Buns!

Hello my lovelies,

As you all know for this bank holiday Easter Weekend, I’m doing a blogpost each day and today is Good Friday, one of the most heartfelt and spoke about days within the Christian religion.

Why you ask? Well Good Friday is a Christian holiday commemorating the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. So I thought I’d tell you in as little as possible the story of Jesus’ death; Crucifixion was a cruel form of death reserved for criminals and slaves. Just before Jesus was crucified, Jesus was beaten by Roman soldiers. He was then made to carry his cross to the place of execution, the cross was placed between two other men who were being crucified that day. The soldiers nailed Jesus to the cross and left Him to die. They put a sign on the cross to mock Jesus that said, “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.” Around noon strange things began to happen, darkeness shadowed the land for three hours straight, then Jesus cried out, “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit,” and then He died. It was Friday afternoon, and the Sabbath would start at sundown. It was also a very special Sabbath because it was Passover. The Jewish leaders wanted all the bodies buried before the Sabbath started because they were not allowed to do any work on the Sabbath. One of Jesus’ followers, a man from the town of Arimathea named Joseph, went to Pilate and asked for Jesus’ body. He took Jesus’ body and hastily put it in a new tomb that had been carved in rock. He rolled a large stone in front of the tomb to seal it.

So today I’m bringing you my Hot Cross Bun Recipe as let’s be honest, what fits more perfectly with Good Friday then these ? Let’s get started;

Ingredients For Hot Cross Buns:

50g of butter
150mls of full-fat milk
50g of caster sugar
Zest of 1 orange
400g strong white bread flour, plus extra for dusting
1 x 7g sachet of fast action yeast
100g of raisins or mixed dried fruit
2 teaspoons of mixed spice
2 eggs, 1 to make egg wash

Ingredients For Cross:

6 teaspoons of plain flour

Ingredients For Sugar Glaze:

25g of caster sugar

How To Make Hot Cross Buns:

Firstly, gather together all your ingredients, equipment and line a baking tray with greaseproof paper.
Secondly, in a pan melt together the 50g of butter, the 150mls of milk, 50g of caster sugar and orange zest until the sugar dissolves and set aside.
In a separate bowl, mix together the 400g of flour, sachet of yeast, 100g of raisins and 2 teaspoons of mixed spice. Pour in the warm milky mixture, followed by one of the eggs and combine to form a sticky dough.
Next, on floured surface, knead by hand for 10 minutes until you have an elastic dough. Form into a ball and place in a lightly-oiled bowl. Cover with a tea towel and leave to prove for one hour or until it has doubled in size.
Now knock the dough back and split into 12 balls, shaping into round Buns.
Put on a baking tray and don’t worry if they touch – it’ll create a nice tearing effect. Cover with cling film and allow to prove again for another hour until the Buns have risen again.
Preheat the oven to 200oc / 400of / Gas Mark 6.
Once you’ve preheated the oven, make an egg wash by whisking one egg with one teaspoon of water. Brush the risen Buns with the egg wash. Then for the CROSS combine flour with two teaspoons of water, if it’s too runny add a little more flour. Transfer to a piping bag and pipe a cross onto each bun.
Bake the Buns for 15 minutes or until golden brown. While the Buns are in the oven, prepare the sugar glaze by dissolving the sugar in 20mls boiling water.
Finally, brush the glaze on as soon as the Buns are out the oven and enjoy with plenty of butter.

And that my loves, is your gorgeous, moist and tasty Hot Cross Buns prepeared, baked and ready to be eaten. As I mentioned above, make sure you eat with plenty of butter, makes them taste even better! Yum.

I really hope you enjoyed today’s blogpost. If you give this recipe a go, make sure you let me know below or on my social media accounts as I’d love to know – tag me in your photos too. I love seeing you guys bake, it gives me such inspiration and happiness.