Hot Cross Buns

Serves/Yields: 15 buns Category: Confectionery
Prep/Cook Time: 1 hour and 30 minutes Difficulty: Easy
Ingredients


4 cups plain flour
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsps dried yeast
1 1/2 cups milk - warmed(not hot)
1/2 cup sultanas- optional
60g butter melted
1/4 cup sugar
1 egg beaten
1/2 tsp mixed spice
1/2 tsp cinnamon


Directions


1. Dissolve the yeast in 1/2 cup warm milk.
2. Sift together Flour, salt, sugar, and spices.
3. Make a well in the flour mixture, and add the butter, remaining milk, egg, sultanas, and finally dissolved yeast.
4. Mix it all together until you have a nice dough mix. Cover with a clean cloth and leave it to stand in a warm place for about 40 minutes.
Dough should be starting to rise.
5. Lightly flour a pastry board or clean bench. Put some flour on your hands and pull the dough out of the bowl and put it on the pastry board.
6. Knead the dough by pushing the outside edges into the middle of the ball of dough and turning it round in circles. Keep doing this until you have a nice smooth ball of dough which isn't sticky. You may need to keep adding flour to the pastry board to take away any stickiness.
7. Cut dough into three equal pieces, cut each piece into five, making 15 buns. Knead each into round shape. Put buns in lightly greased 18cm x 28cm lamington tin, stand in warm place 10 to 15 minutes or until buns each top edge of tin.
8. Sift 1/2 cup plain flour, mix to paste with 1/3 cup water. Fill into small plastic bag with small hole cut across corner. Pipe crosses on each bun.
Bake at 230 C for 15 to 20 minutes.
Remove from oven immediatly brush with glaze made by dissolving 1 tablespoon sugar and 1 teaspoon of hot water. Cool buns on wire rack.


Source:
Contributed By: kangarose on 04/-11/2003