Hot Cross Buns

I think its important to document the disasters.  Not that this was a huge disaster but its not the pretty picture I would like it to be.  I haven't been doing this blog thing for very long but already I am caught up in the visual, the pretty, the popular.  I sometimes forget that I started to blog to help me learn. And we can't learn without making mistakes.  And we can't learn from others if we don't share those mistakes.  So in an effort to share the ugly truth, here are my hot cross buns.  They tasted good (or so i was told) but certainly don't look that great.  The very squished hot cross 'cake' resulted from me using a pan that was smaller then the one called for. I tried to squash it all in, it didn't work.  And the crosses, well I piped them too thick.  So what did i learn? Use the pan the recipe calls for, and hot cross bun crosses spread when baking.    

Hot Cross Buns

Recipe from AWW Bake

Ingredients

1 tablespoon (14g) dried yeast

1/4 cup caster sugar

1 1/2 cups warm milk

4 cups plain flour

1 teaspoon mixed spice

1/2  teaspoon ground cinnamon

60g butter

1 egg

3/4 cup sultanas

Flour paste

1/2 cup plain flour

2 teaspoons caster sugar

1/3 cup water, approximately

Glaze

1 tablespoon caster sugar

1 teaspoon gelatine

1 tablespoon water

Method

1. Combine yeast, sugar and milk in small bowl or jug.  Cover; stand in warm place about 10 minutes or until mixture is frothy.

2. Sift flour and spices into large bowl; rub in butter. Stir in yeast mixture, egg and sultanas; mix to a soft sticky dough. Cover, stand in warm place about 45 minutes or until dough has doubled in size.

3. Grease 23cm square slab cake pan or deep 23cm-square cake pan.

4. Turn dough onto floured surface; knead about 5 minutes or until smooth.  Divide dough into 16 pieces, knead into balls.  Place balls into pan; cover, stand in warm place about 10 minutes or until buns have risen to top of pan.

5. Meanwhile , preheat oven to 220C/430F.

6. Make flour paste for crosses; place in piping bag fitted with small plain tube, pipe crosses on buns.

7. Bake buns about 20 minutes. Turn buns, top-side up; onto wire rack.

8. Make glaze; brush hot buns with hot glaze.  Cool on wire rack.

Flour paste: Combine flour and sugar in cup. Gradually blend in enough of the water to form a smooth firm place.

Glaze: Stir ingredients in small saucepan over hear, without boiling, until sugar and gelatine are dissolved.