Hot Cross Buns (Delia Smith's)

On a recent trip to New Zealand, Tina and I noticed that hot cross buns were sold everywhere - even two months prior to Good Friday (the traditional time for eating hot cross buns). A couple weeks ago, a British friend at church mentioned baking hot cross buns, and I asked her for her recipe. She used Delia Smith's recipe that can be found at Delia Online. With Good Friday approaching, I thought I'd try my hand at Delia's hot cross buns.

I started by gathering all my supplies according to the recipe: 50 mL warmed milk and 150 mL warmed water, 50 g sugar, 50 g melted butter, 450 g all-purpose flour, 1 teaspoon table salt, 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon, 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg, 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice, 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves, 1 large egg (beaten), 75 g dried currants, 50 g candied citron peel, and 1 tablespoon instant yeast (about two envelopes).

 I mixed the dry ingredients together (flour, sugar, salt, spices, currants, peel, and instant yeast) until everything was evenly distributed.

 As per Delia's instructions, I made a well in the dry ingredients and poured in all the wet. (I've often been suspicious of the "well" - as soon as you start to mix, everything gets wet, so why bother with the well?)

 I mixed it into a dough with a wooden spoon.

 Then I kneaded it with my hands until smooth and elastic. I put it back into a large bowl and covered with plastic to rise.

 While the dough was rising I fashioned the (optional) material for the cross. Delia's website simply says, "If you want to make more distinctive crosses, use a flour-and-water paste made with 4 oz (110 g) plain flour and approximately 3 tablespoons water. Roll out thinly and divide into small strips, dampening them to seal." So, I measured out 110 g all-purpose flour and 3 Tbs. water.

 I mixed the flour and water together and worked it until the water was evenly distributed and dough that I could roll out was formed.

 I rolled out the dough to a 1/8-in. thickness.

 I trimmed off the edges to form a rectangle of dough.

 Using a sharp knife, I cut the dough into thin strips. These strips will be used in pairs to form a cross on top of the bun. In the United States, a milk and sugar frosting is often used instead - but I wanted to stick with a more British recipe. I covered the strips with a piece of plastic wrap to keep them from drying out.

 After an hour, the dough for the hot cross buns had doubled in volume - a good sign.

 I kneaded the dough to deflate it and then cut it into twelve pieces.

 I the rolled the pieces into balls and evenly spaced them on a half sheet pan. I cut crosses into the top of each bun and covered them with plastic wrap to allow them to rise again.

 I started preheating the oven to 425°F (220°C). After about thirty minutes, they had risen again.

 I then laid the strips over the deep furrows in the buns and trimmed the ends with shears.

 At this point, I started wondering about the recipe a little. These strips of flour and water didn't seem too appetizing. Maybe if they contained butter or shortening like pastry dough. . . but in their current state, wouldn't it bake up dense and hard? Also, the picture on Delia's website showed a nice dark brown bun with a golden cross on top. How was it possible to produce that brown without glazing the buns with milk, egg wash, or a sugar glaze? I plunged along - following the recipe. No glaze, no wash, just slipped it into the oven. 

 Fifteen minutes later, I pulled them out of the oven and got this.

 The crosses were as hard as twigs and the color of the buns was, as I expected, not at all similar to the picture on the website.

 I decided to pull off the crosses (they are optional after all) so Tina wouldn't break a tooth while tasting the buns. I then dissolved 2 tablespoons (25 g) sugar into 2 tablespoons (30 mL) hot water to form a sticky, simple syrup glaze.