Hot Cross Buns with Vino Cotto
Hot Cross Buns with Vino Cotto
There is nothing like the aroma of hot cross buns baking in your oven to help celebrate Good Friday morning breakfast. These little pleasures are moist and dense and the Vino Cotto soaked fruit infuses the buns with a lovely fragrance and flavour that the whole family will enjoy. Finish off the buns with a sugar glaze to give them a high-gloss and sticky finish. Happy Easter!
Ingredients
220 gm sultanas (or a mixture of currants, sour cherries, cranberries, raisins)
¼ cup Vino Cotto
65 gm raw caster sugar
14 gm (2 sachets) dried yeast
1½ tbsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp mixed spice
Finely grated rind of 1 orange and 1 lemon
845 gm plain flour
420 ml milk
100 gm butter, coarsely chopped
1egg, lightly beaten
½ tsp olive oil
Spice glaze
50 gm caster sugar
½ tsp mixed spice
2 tbsp Vino Cotto
Method
Place sultanas and Vino Cotto in a bowl, stir occasionally, set aside to allow fruit to steep for minimum 30minutes. Best if left overnight.
In an electric mixer bowl, add 770gm flour, sugar, yeast, spices, rinds and 1 tsp salt. Gently mix to combine with a wooden spoon. Add the sultanas and any remaining Vino Cotto from the bowl. Using a dough hook attachment, mix mixture on low speed to combine.
Heat milk and butter in a small saucepan over low heat until butter melts, set aside to cool slightly, then add egg and whisk.
Add milk mixture to flour mixture and knead until smooth and elastic (8-10 minutes, dough will be quite soft).
Place dough in a lightly buttered bowl and cover with kitchen plastic. Wrap bowl in a blanket or tea towel and stand in a warm place until doubled in size (50 minutes to 1 hour).
Knock back dough in a lightly floured surface, divide into 18-20 pieces, then roll each piece into a smooth ball.
Arrange dough balls in concentric circles on a large baking tray lined with baking paper, leaving 1cm between each piece for dough to expand.
Cover with a tea towel and stand in a warm place until doubled in size (30-40 minutes).
Preheat oven to 220C.
Combine remaining flour, olive oil and 60ml cold water in a bowl and stir to a smooth paste.
Spoon into a piping bag fitted with a small nozzle and pipe a cross on each bun.
Bake for 10 minutes, then reduce oven to 200C and bake until buns are golden and sound hollow when tapped (8-10 minutes). Set aside to cool slightly.
For spice glaze, stir sugar, spice, Vino Cotto and 50ml water in a small saucepan over medium heat to dissolve sugar, bring to the simmer, then set aside to cool.
Brush glaze over buns and serve buns warm or at room temperature with butter or your favorite jam spread.
Hot cross buns are best eaten on the day they are baked.
Enjoy!
Buy the Vino Cotto you need for this recipe online. Click here.