Soft, gently spiced and best served with butter, you can tell its April and time for Easter celebrations when the air is filled with the aromatic hints of ground cinnamon, all spice and of course freshly baked Hot Cross buns. Although these currant buns can now be found all year round, traditionally, they are enjoyed by families around the world on Good Friday. Our Hot Cross Bun Bread Recipe brings a twist to the traditional!
Legend has it, that if a bun is strung from your kitchen rafters on Good Friday, it will remain fresh and unspoilt all year round, and that those who share a sticky fruity bun will also share a “fruitful” friendship equally as long.
If you are a fan of these fruity fun buns like we are, you will definitely enjoy our hot cross bun bread recipe with a few alternative spins on the tradition.
Although traditionally baked as bite size buns, we’d like to begin a break in the traditional by baking these buns as a bread loaf instead. Our 31cm silicone loaf pan’s non-stick surface and metal frame made this baking experiement a breeze! Give it a try and let us know what you think!
Ingredients:
Bread:
- 300 g all-purpose cake flour
- 2 tsp instant dried yeast
- 1.5 tsp salt
- 1/3 cup castor sugar
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 cup sultanas
- ½ cup of chocolate chips
- 40g melted butter – cooled 500 ml room temperature water
- 250ml warmed milk
- 2 egg yolks
Cross:
- ¼ cup flour
- ¼ cup water
Method
- Place the yeast and 2 teaspoons of caster sugar in a bowl. Slowly add the milk, mixing until yeast and sugar is dissolved. Set aside in a dark, warm area (the microwave works quite well for this).
- Sift together the flour, the remaining sugar, and cinnamon in a large mixing bowl. Add 1 egg yolk and the melted butter.
- Check on the yeast mixture – it should have started forming bubbles on the surface. Add it to the flour mixture and, using your hands, combine the ingredients.
- Add the saltanas and chocolate chips and mix into the dough. Knead for 10 – 15 minutes. Dough should be smooth and slightly elastic.
- Cover the bowl with a dishcloth and set aside in a dark warm space for about an hour.
- Preheat the oven to 180°C.
- Grease your Eetrite loaf pan with butter.
- Place the dough into the prepared loaf pan.
- Whisk together Cross ingredients and, using an icing pen, pipe the mixture onto the dough – once length ways, and 3 times across the width. (Or get creative with your own design)
- Paint the top of the dough with a light coating of a beaten egg yolk.
- Bake for 35-40 minutes until golden brown and cooked through.
- Remove from the oven and allow to cool.
- For a tasty glisten to your loaf – heat 2 tbs of apricot jam with 1 tbs of water in a saucepan and using a basting brush, paint the top of the bread.
- Serve with a dollop of butter 🙂
We hope this Hot Cross Bun Bread recipe brings a new twist tO your Easter traditions! This Hot Cross Bun Bread recipe is sure to tempt tastebuds with its toasty goodness!