I am rather lazy about baking hot cross buns. I have used the same bread machine (Panasonic SD253) since December 2004 for much of my bread-making, including dough for buns. In fact, I haven’t bought a supermarket loaf of bread since 2004 (though I do occasionally buy real bread from the Oxford farmers market and elsewhere). Also, after the closure of Palms Delicatessen in Oxford’s Covered Market, I haven’t found an alternative source for fresh yeast (one day I will do it properly with a sourdough starter…). So, for hot cross buns, into the bread machines goes organic strong wholemeal flour (250g), dried yeast, a little organic sugar, salt, organic olive oil, cinnamon, mixed spice, water and as much organic dried mixed fruit as the bread machine’s raisin dispenser will hold. The resulting dough is divided into eight buns, proved for 25 minutes, brushed with a cross paste of wholemeal plain flour and water, and then backed for 12 minutes at gas mark 7. The finished buns are glazed with a demerara sugar and water syrup. We ate today’s buns with clotted cream…
