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

[Chelsea (Thermie Groupie)]

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.

Thanks Kathryn.  That is very helpful!!! 

[Huon100]

Where would  find this recipe so I can make it today, it sounds like a winner (hotcross buns)

[judydawn]

It is in the Everyday Cookbook that came with your machine Huon100.

[faffa_70]

Judy has also posted it in this thread on either page 2 or 3 

[judydawn]

So I did Kathryn 

[Depome]

Yep Twitterpated, makes a big difference. You can see what gluten is doing in all of those stringy elasticated fibres that you can see when you stretch a good dough. When you cook buns close together, and tear them apart after baking, it's the result of cooked gluten 'fibres' that you can see. It adds strength to bread dough, and that's why high protein (high gluten-potential) flour is called 'strong flour' in the UK, or baker's flour. I think 12% is the magic gluten number for baker's flour. Yeast may form the air pockets in your dough when it respires, but you need gluten fibres all around it to hold the ceiling up. Free-form bread dough in the shape of rolls, or Vienna or cob loaves really benefit from extra gluten or they grow in the width more than height. If you can get hold of gluten flour (not often found in an Aussie supermarket) then your free-form doughs (no bread tins) will definitely benefit.

[Lellyj]

Hi everyone

Well it's hot cross bun tme again and I'm thinking of making some with my grade 1/2s tomorrow.  Have a few kids away on early school holidays, so I'm wondering if anyone out there can advise me if this recipe would yield 17 smallish buns, or do you think I should do 2 batches.  Made some last year, but can't remember how many I made!

[cookie1]

Lelly I would make the batch of dough and then divide it into what ever number I wanted. One batch will keep you busy, unless of course the 'helpers' like to taste as they go.

[achookwoman]

Lellyj,  You  could make 1 1/2 times the amount.  Lucky kids.

[KerrynN]

Lelly I know it's too late now, but the week before last I made two batches of Chookie's recipe in the morning and then once they had risen took them into my sons' school. One batch was for the Preps and we ended up just halving and halving again until we had enough (in total there were 24 pieces). The second batch was for DS7's Grade 1 class and that made 24 as well, although I combined some of the smaller ones together. The kids all had a ball rolling their own bun!

I made up the cross mixture but it was obviously not thick enough as once they were baked you couldn't see the crosses at all - which wouldn't have been a big problem except that we had put the kids initials on them instead of crosses (to identify their own bun but also because there were 2 Jehovas Witness children and they aren't allowed to have Hot *Cross* Buns so their initials on menat they could still have one).

At the time I thought they didn't get to do too much themselves and therefore wouldn't have enjoyed it as much, but I have since had quite a few parents telling me how their children kept talking about it, and one, who is a new TMX owner, asked me which recipe I had used because they weren't having too much luck with the EDC ones. All in all it went well! Since then I have been thinking of all sorts of ways to bring cooking into the classroom.

[Cornish Cream]

Lelly I know it's too late now, but the week before last I made two batches of Chookie's recipe in the morning and then once they had risen took them into my sons' school. One batch was for the Preps and we ended up just halving and halving again until we had enough (in total there were 24 pieces). The second batch was for DS7's Grade 1 class and that made 24 as well, although I combined some of the smaller ones together. The kids all had a ball rolling their own bun!

I made up the cross mixture but it was obviously not thick enough as once they were baked you couldn't see the crosses at all - which wouldn't have been a big problem except that we had put the kids initials on them instead of crosses (to identify their own bun but also because there were 2 Jehovas Witness children and they aren't allowed to have Hot *Cross* Buns so their initials on menat they could still have one).

At the time I thought they didn't get to do too much themselves and therefore wouldn't have enjoyed it as much, but I have since had quite a few parents telling me how their children kept talking about it, and one, who is a new TMX owner, asked me which recipe I had used because they weren't having too much luck with the EDC ones. All in all it went well! Since then I have been thinking of all sorts of ways to bring cooking into the classroom.

Sounds a very rewarding cooking session Kerryn.Do you think you also recruited a potential new member to the forum

[Lellyj]

Thanks everyone.  I did what Cookie and Kerryn suggested, just divided unti I had enough--18 buns in all.  With so much kneading by deft little fingers the buns rose beautifully and they were big enough for grade 1/2s.  I never thought of making 1 1/2 batches, which I will try to write down to remind me next year, great idea, Chookie!

Kerryn, I mixed the buns in the thermomix in the classroom, all the kids got to tip one thing in.  I talked about grams and showed them a little block which weighs one gram and how we can't measure big things with kilograms (we had done a previous lesson where we weighed ourselves--children still amazed that someone can weigh 89 kg!!).  I also put some yeast and warm water in a glass and talked about how yeast was alive and ate sugar and gave off gas as waste . . . etc, they were amazed to see the yeast bubbling away in the glass.  I let the dough rise and then divied it up so that every person had a litte bun and this is my trick for figuring out whose bun is whose, I write their name with greylead on the baking paper.  I always do this, whenever I make bickies etc in the classroom.

 Everyone played with the dough a fair bit--seriously they turned out to be the best hot-cross buns ever--and then shaped them into a bun shape and I piped the crosses on.  My crosses usually turn out pretty faint, but you could see them well enough.   I turned the oven on at recess while the buns did the second rise and someone was supposed to come and put them in the oven for me; however, someone didn't arrive so the whole class traipsed off to the staffroom, where we looked at the dial of the oven and figured out it was set on 220C (lucky!) and then played on the playground for 12 minutes.  The look of delight on the chidren's faces when I pulled out the buns was magical--I'm so glad my oven helper didn't show up!

I love traditional hot crossed buns WITH PEEL, but succumbed to pressure and used some mixed spice and choc chips in the buns. I let the dough cool a little bit before adding the chips, but they still melted a little; however the combination of the chips, the spice and the little bit of chocolate that melted through the mix was quite tasty and all the kids loved them. I took lots of pictures of the kids eating their buns, I wish I could post them here but it's not allowed for privacy reasons, they were too cute!!  So all in all it was a really positive experience and like you, Kerryn, I got fabulous feedback from parents so I would definitely do it again.  Thanks again for your comments ladies

[Cornish Cream]

You certainly had a great time cooking with your class Lesley.I bet they will remember those buns

[achookwoman]

LellyJ,  thanks for the feed back.  What a wonderful time those lucky kids had.  What a inspirational teacher you are.

[cookie1]

It sounds such fun Lelly.

When I was teaching in a 4 teacher school in a little country town Friday mornings was always a cooking activity for the entire school. We took it in turns to organise it and do the activities for the children (year 1-7). We also had parent helpers. It was so good for the children. When I returned to the city I did it again with 3 year 1 classes. It is amazing fun.