Recipe review - Hot cross buns EDC - with photos :)

[achookwoman]

twistiebrinkley,  i think this recipe needs 4 teaspoons of dried yeast and don't cook them untill they rise to nearly double.  Good luck and try again.  I have posted a recipe that certainly works on my blog.

[Moo2]

Tip:  don't add Choc chips to warm dough which is what I did.    Was in a hurry and didnt think. They melted through and made a bit of a sticky mess. Buns tasted ok but were a bit heavy. Nothing like the batch I did with fruit and which were perfect.

[twistiebrinkley]

Thanks for your replies, I'm just in the proving stage of my 2nd batch of HCB's - and they are still looking a little flat, I used 4tsp of yeast.    They are now in the second proving stage and have been for 25 mins and they don't seem to be doubling too well,  I'll keep waiting and see what happens.

Achookwoman - how do I find your recipe?

[Cuilidh]

Here's Chookwoman's HCB recipe: http://achookwoman.blogspot.com/2010/03/hot-cross-buns.html
 and the image is here http://achookwoman.blogspot.com/2010/03/hot-cross-buns_28.html

[Depome]

4tsp is a hellovalot of yeast  And way more than I'd want to add... Rising results are affected greatly by temperature and humidity, but I find that with all bread rolls I need to substitute some bread flour for gluten flour. Rolls just need that extra strength to rise upwards. Normal bread usually fills a bread tin while it proofs, and bread rolls try to do the same unless you've got a stiff dough mix designed for rolls, and not simply a bread dough that you're using for a different purpose.

I normally swap 2tsp of bread flour for gluten flour and it makes a big difference to the result.

I'm going to try choc chip buns today but without cocoa.

[Twitterpated]

Does the gluten flour really make that much of a difference Depome? And as Professor Sumner Miller would say: "Why is it so?"

[KerrynN]

Here's Chookwoman's HCB recipe: http://achookwoman.blogspot.com/2010/03/hot-cross-buns.html
 and the image is here http://achookwoman.blogspot.com/2010/03/hot-cross-buns_28.html

I made these today and the verdict from everyone is "Delicious"!

I didn't heat the milk first, thinking that the first stage would achieve this - i *know*, it didn't really make sense to me at the time either but...

I didn't have any craisins on hand so used raisins instead. They didn't rise quite as well as I expected (but this seems  a bit normal for my bread - very hit and miss on the rising) but that's probably the cold milk.

Regardless, they were all delicious and I will be making a batch for my DS9 to take with him when he goes on a sleepover during the week. Nothings says, "Thanks for having my child" like a batch of home made HCBs for breakfast.

Kerryn

[cookie1]

Twitterpated I believe that the gluten in the flour helps it to stay 'risen'. I think it's developed when we knead. I'm not too sure. We need Chookie.  I'll have a look in one of my bread books and get back to you.

[cookie1]

This is from the 'Bourke Street Bakery'book.

"Gliadin and glutenin are two proteins that exist in flour and when these are mixed they form strands of gluten. The gluten's job is to trap bubbles of carbon dioxide that will rise up and form a larger structure.

With bread making there are stages when you need to 'rest' the dough.  This allows time for the gluten strands to relax back to their original position. It is much like a muscle in the body that has been working and then relaxes back to it's original position-the dough is develiping all the time even when it is resting."

I always find if I am having trouble shaping or rolling the dough if I rest it for a while it becomes much easier.

[Chelsea (Thermie Groupie)]

I am debating how to make my hot cross buns for Friday breakfast.  I really want them fresh out of the oven for breakfast (not reheated) and don't want to get out of bed at 5am. Last year I put the dough in the fridge after the first rise and it took FOREVER to get back to room temperature and be shaped ready to start the second rise.  I am now debating whether to freeze them half baked and finish baking on Friday morning or put them in the fridge when they are shaped (and already had their second rise).  Any suggestions?  What are others doing? 

[faffa_70]

Chelsea I am going to shape them and put them in the fridge to do the second rise over night. They should be ready to cook in the morning then - and I do this straight from the fridge. I do this with my bread in the summer and cook it first thing when I get up and it is always well risen.

[CreamPuff63]

cooked a trial batch today, and had a look after 17 mins in the oven - just as well they had started to slightly burn, and saved them in the nick of time.

In the meantime here is Maddy's Chocolate Hot Cross Bun recipe if anyone prefers chocolate to citrus peel 

[judydawn]

I must be a bit funny but I prefer my hot cross buns toasted, DH doesn't even eat them so I am lucky I can freeze them for Good Friday's breakfast without having to do a last minute cook up.

[cookie1]

I have a problem with Hot Cross Buns-I like them anyway. My Mum loved hers toasted to Judy. I'm going to make a batch of Chookie's tomorrow afternoon for morning tea on Friday and then another batch for DD to take to work on Sunday. I might even make some without the cross to take away to Monkey Mia, no glaze either as they stick in the plastic bag if I do that.

[judydawn]

I'm not keen on the glaze as you more or less have to give your guests a warm flannel to wipe their hands after eating one. Just wondering if an egg glaze before they go into the oven would work just as well but it wouldn't be sticky.