Hot cross buns. Reclaim the bun!

Within the past week, I have had conversations in street and bus with older folk about how they object to the ubiquity of hot cross buns. Once, they appeared at Easter or you made them. You did not get them all year round and, though memory may not ratify here, apparently they did not used to be so doughy and squashy. I talked to an eighty year old chap about this on the bus last Thursday. He was on his way to hospital, his wife had died recently and he had just recovered from pneumonia. He was on his way to hospital because of the aneurism, though. They thought he was better now, but he was going for a follow up. "One of these days I won't come home", he said.."I don't get out much either. Although I did go to Asda to get some hot cross buns and, well, I was so disappointed by how doughy and soft they were, not like....".

So here, and I hope you are home and feeling a little more cheerful, is a hot cross bun recipe, just as my mother kept it. They are soft. but substantial and you can also get the top crisp. They have plenty of spice. Give them to all and sundry with a cup of tea. And have two for you.


For 14 hot cross buns

25g dried easy blend yeast
300ml warmed milk
1 teaspoon of caster sugar

Then
400 g plain flour, sieved, with 25g of unsalted butter rubbed in (although I reckon my mother used lard)
pinch of salt
50g caster sugar
1 or 2 teaspoons of mixed spice
50 g sultanas
To make the glaze and get the cross on top, keep to one side 2 tbs of water and 2 tbs of caster sugar

You just add the yeast to the warmed --not hot--milk and then mix in the flour followed by everything else. Leave this to rise in a warm place for about t 20 minutes, add a little more milk if it seems too floury and knead it just a little. Make the dough into 14 balls and put them on to prepared (i.e. greased) trays. Cut a cross in the top of each one with a very sharp small knife, leave for another twenty minutes (they will grow!) and then cook in a hot oven until they are golden. About twenty five minutes, during which time you make a simple syrup for the glaze by dissolving the sugar in the water. While your buns are still hot, you apply the glaze to the cross. Eat while they are still hot or toast later. A triumph! Not the mass produced supermaket squishy bun! Hoorah! Oh: if you want some extra spice, dust them lightly with cinnamom or nutmeg before you serve and maybe even sprinkle with golden caster sugar. But just a little.Best served with butter in the middle, too.