Hot Cross Bun Loaf
Following the success of her delicious Lemon Drizzle Easter Muffins, Catherine from @peartreecottagelife has very kindly shared her recipe for a hot cross bun loaf.
The perfect recipe for a sunshine-filled Easter weekend!
Equipment
Kitchen mixer and 1kg/2lb bread tin, pastry brush or piping bag and mixing bowl
Temperature
180°C, Fan 160°C, 350°F, Gas 4
Cooking time
35-40 minutes plus overnight for proving
– What you’ll need –
Fruit Bun Starter
50g butter, melted
300g Doves Farm Organic White Spelt Flour
1 tsp Doves Farm Quick Yeast
50g sugar
¼ tsp salt
1 tsp mixed spice
1 egg
150ml tepid milk
Hot Cross Bun Loaf
1 orange rind
75g sultanas
50g mixed glacé peel
butter, for tin
flour, for dusting
Hot Cross Bun Topping
25g Doves Farm Organic White Spelt Flour
2 tbsp water
1 egg yolk
– Method –
Fruit Bun Starter
Measure out and melt the butter
Put the spelt flour, quick yeast, sugar, salt and mixed spice into a bowl and stir to combine
Break the egg into the bowl, add the milk and mix everything together well
Stir in the melted butter and salt without over mixing
Cover with an upturned bowl and leave overnight
Hot Cross Bun Loaf
Rub some butter around the inside of a 1kg/2lb bread tin
Grate the orange rind into the bowl
Add the sultanas and glace fruit and stir to make a sticky dough
Gather together the dough and knead it briskly in the bowl for 100 presses, it will become less sticky!
Dust the work surface with flour, put the dough in the middle and lightly dust the top
Cut the dough into 8 equal pieces and roll each into a ball
Arrange the dough balls, in two rows of four, in the bread tin
Cover the tin with an upturned bowl and leave in a warm place for the dough to rise, for about an hour
Pre-heat the oven
Hot Cross Bun Topping
For the cross topping, put the flour into a bowl, add the water and stir to make a paste
Using a teaspoon, pastry brush or piping bag, dribble or paint a cross onto each bun with the paste
Bake for 35 minutes
Remove the loaf from the oven, and carefully brush the top of the dough with egg yolk
Return the loaf to the oven for a further 5 minutes
Take the loaf out of the oven, turn it out and leave to cool on a wire rack
Enjoy!
