Wednesday, 31 March 2010

Easter Recipe 1: Hot Cross Buns with a Twist

Continuing the Easter theme for this week I'm going to get straight into a recipe for Hot Cross Buns but in true Devnaa style I've given this recipe a slight Indian twist, I hope you enjoy... =)

Ingredients:
150 ml Warm Water
55g Caster Sugar
1 tblsp Dried Yeast
450g Plain Flour
1 tsp Salt
1 tsp (heaped) of Mixed Spice
1/4 tsp Ground Cardamom
80g Currants
25g Chopped Almonds
20g Chopped Pistachio Nuts (Shelled)
50ml Warm Milk
1 Egg, beaten
50g Melted Butter

3 tblsp Water
3 tblsp Caster Sugar
1/4 tsp crumbled Saffron Threads

Method
  • Stir 1 tsp of the caster sugar into 150ml luke warm water. Sprinkle in the yeast and leave until the surface develops a good layer of froth
  • In the meantime sift the flour, salt and mixed spice into a bowl and add the cardamom, remaining sugar, currants, almonds and pistachio nuts. Lightly toss these together
  • Make a well in the centre of the flour mixture and add the yeast mixture, warmed milk, egg and butter and mix together with a spoon
  • As the mixture comes together use your hands to combine it and transfer to a floured surface. Knead for about 5-7 minutes to produce a smooth, stretchy dough
  • Dip your fingers in a little oil and lightly grease the surface of the dough
  • Return the dough to the mixing bowl and cover with cling film. Leave in a warm place to rise for about 1 hour or until the dough has doubled in size
  • Bring the dough back onto your work surface and knead back to its original size
  • Divide the dough into 12 portions, forming each portion into the round bun shape and use a knife to mark them each with a deep cross
  • lightly oil the surface of each bun, cover with cling film and leave to rise again for about 30 mins
  • Bake for 15 minutes in an oven that has been pre heated to gas mark 7
  • While the buns are baking make the glaze by gently warming the 3 tblsp of water and sugar and the saffron together in a pan over a gentle heat until the sugar has melted
  • When the buns have baked brush them with the glaze whilst they are still hot. Allow to cool and then enjoy warm or cold =)

No comments:

Post a Comment