Hot cross buns

Mmmm, hot cross buns. Baking and eating hot cross buns is one of my favourite Easter activities. I have experimented with a few different recipes for hot cross buns and keep coming back to the original one in my Panasonic breadmaker book with a few variations.

I don't usually bother with glazing the buns (we certainly don't need more sugar in our diets) but this is easily made by boiling together 3 T each of milk and caster sugar until syrupy, then brushing over the cooked buns as soon as they are removed from the oven. I also use sultanas instead of currants and leave out the citrus peel.

Hot cross buns

Ingredients

• 3 t Surebake yeast
• 450 g high grade flour
• 1/2 t salt
• 2 T milk powder
• 6 T (90 g) butter
• 3 T brown sugar
• 4 t spices (see below)
• 200 ml water
• 1 medium egg
• 3/4 c sultanas

Spices
Any combination of spices that adds up to 3-4 teaspoons will work. Here's my favourite combination:

• 1 t cinnamon
• 1 t allspice
• 1 t cloves
• 1/2 t mixed spice
• 1/2 t nutmeg

Crosses

• 3 T flour
• 1 T canola oil
• water to mix

Method

1. Add ingredients to the pan in the order specified by your breadmaker instructions. Set to BASIC - DOUGH RAISIN (2 hours 20 minutes). Remove dough from pan when finished and leave to rest for another 20 minutes.
2. Divide dough into 12 equal portions. [I weigh mine into ~80 g balls to ensure they rise evenly.] Roll each portion into a smooth ball and place onto an oven tray lined with baking paper. Space each ball with a 1 cm gap in between.
3. Lightly spray with canola spray and cover loosely with cling film. Leave to rise in a warm place (30-35°C) for 30 minutes or until doubled in size. [I use the proof dough setting on my oven.]
4. Preheat oven to 200°C. Prepare the crosses by mixing together flour and oil then adding water to make a thick paste. Thin with more water until smooth. Spoon mixture into a piping bag and pipe crosses over the buns. [I do this in long lines across the whole mixture, firstly horizontal then vertical.]
5. Bake uncovered for 20-25 minutes until golden brown. Brush with glaze while still hot, if desired.

Hot cross buns

Easter break

The Easter break has changed so much for me over the years. This 4-day weekend is now my favourite holiday time during a busy year. There is something so appealing about being forced to take a break at the same time as being awarded a licence to eat copious amounts of chocolate, all the while being unable to do normal things (read: shop for stuff I don't need and rush about stressing over things that really don't matter) for just a couple of days each year. I look forward to the long weekend with probably more excitement than I should and eagerly embrace the time out.

Yesterday, we headed to the Horowhenua with a bunch of friends to spend the night in a friend's newly built log house. Set amid a 2 acre plot of land strewn with 40 metre gum trees, we were looking forward to the overnight stay that had long ago been promised. We loaded up the car with heaps of food, wine, Easter eggs for hiding and a few board games, then were on our way. The property had been hit pretty hard during the storms this week so there was some trepidation about what state we might find the grounds in, but the house was beautifully unscathed.

I'd had romantic ideas of us waking up on Easter Sunday to the smell of freshly baked hot cross buns and set about making dough to bring with me. What I hadn't anticipated was our friend not having an oven yet in his temporary kitchen. Plan B: I could use the warming rack beneath the woodburner and cross my fingers that it would successfully bake bread.

My oven for the night

The biggest challenge was getting enough heat. I needed 200ºC for the hot cross buns to cook but apparently it's rare for the oven to get above 130ºC (enough to slowly toast muesli but that's about it). We solved this by cranking up the burner, adding heaps of wood, pouring some wine and waiting. The buns doubled in size while proving in front of the heater, then it was into the fire to see what would happen.

Just the right size to bake a dozen hot cross buns

Success! Not only was the gap between the metal plates just big high to bake twelve hot cross buns on a tray, but they cooked perfectly with just the right amount of colour on top. I am so proud of my first ever (and potentially only ever) batch of woodburner baked hot cross buns! It was even more satisfying to produce them for an eager audience who oohed and aahed while they were baking and drooled over the smell as they were cooling.

The best part is that we have arrived home relaxed and armed with a cache of chocolate, along with a few spare hot cross buns for breakfast tomorrow. They will be perfectly matched with freshly brewed coffee after one more morning of sleeping in ... so long as the cat remembers that it's a holiday and doesn't wake me up for work at 6:30 am. (I don't rate my chances of that happening but at least I know breakfast will be good!)

Hot cross bun truffles

Ah, Easter. Nowhere to rush to, no list of presents to buy, no work ... and plenty of time for baking. It really is my favourite holiday of the year and I am counting down the minutes to 3 o'clock! Being a huge hot cross bun fan, I realised today that I haven't bought a single store-baked hot cross bun this year but instead have baked several batches of my own. Woo hoo!

Wandering through The Pantry at Kirk's recently, pieces of hot cross bun fudge on display caught my eye. I got to thinking about how I could make these myself. The base recipe is the one I've use to make cookie dough truffles from the fabulous Baking Makes Things Better blog. The truffles were a huge hit when I last made them, so I wondered how they'd turn out moulded into squarish shapes with piped white chocolate crosses on them. Very well, it seems!

The truffles last about one week in the fridge in an airtight container. A double batch has seen me through today's office shout, with some left over for a family Easter dinner and the occasional snack during the week.

Hot cross bun truffles

Ingredients

• 100 grams butter, softened
• 80 g white sugar
• 140 g brown sugar, tightly packed
• 50 ml cream 
• ½ teaspoon vanilla essence
• 1¼ cups all purpose flour
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ½ cup chocolate drops or chunks (milk and/or dark)
• white chocolate buttons, melted

Method

1. Beat the butter and sugars with the paddle attachment of your mixer until light and fluffy (about 2-3 minutes). Mix in cream and vanilla essence.
2. Sift in four and salt. Mix on a low speed until combined.
3. Stir in chocolate chunks.
4. Mould teaspoonsful of dough into squarish (or round, if you prefer) shapes. Place on a tray lined with baking paper and freeze for at least 30 minutes or put in the fridge for a few hours.
5. Pipe melted white chocolate over truffles to form a cross. Makes 30.

Hot cross bun truffles

Buona Pasqua a tutti!

Hot cross buns at Easter

It's no secret that I love hot cross buns. They easily make it on to my list of heaven foods. Even as a child, I couldn't get enough of them. Although my birthday is not until August, my mother would save the last pack of hot cross buns from Easter for me so I could enjoy them for breakfast on my birthday. Somehow they survived those cold, dark months in the freezer without being eaten before then, something that is highly unlikely to happen in my own freezer these days.

I decided to add making hot cross buns to my Easter baking binge this weekend. I'd never successfully made them before and wanted to try out my breadmaker's dough setting. I say 'successfully' because I did have a go several years ago. My attempt produced buns resembling rocks that refused to rise despite hours in the sun and didn't taste much better. A closer inspection of my ingredients revealed high grade flour past its use by date - a mistake that is easily remedied but one that left me feeling more than a tad nervous about attempting the recipe again.

Yesterday, the weather conditions were perfect and I proudly made hot cross bun dough in my breadmaker, leaving them in the sun to rise for a few hours then baking them in the oven. Oh, they smelled (and tasted) so good! I don't know why I left it so long between my first failed attempt and trying again.

Baker's dozen

We tucked into the first few then brought the rest around to my parents' place for lunch today. I was immensely pleased when Dad asked, "Where did you buy these from?" Woo hoo - they looked just like bought ones!! I then read a story in a Sunday magazine about a baker who bakes 90 kg of hot cross bun dough a day in the weeks leading up to Easter. While I love hot cross buns and baking, a standing order like this would probably put me off both these things for life and that would be a shame.

Have you ever baked your own hot cross buns? How did they turn out?

Easter guilty pleasures

Everyone has a guilty pleasure or three. Whether it is food, boy bands, rom coms or trashy magazines, there is always something that those around you secretly love but are hesitantly to openly admit - and the guilty pleasures often don't appear to 'match' the person hiding the secret.

Apart from chocolate, hot cross buns and other goodies, I have a couple of musical guilty pleasures that I only indulge at Easter. There are two albums in my music collection that otherwise never see daylight at any other time of the year and I listen to them both in their entirety over the Easter weekend. Michael Flatley's Lord of the Dance is currently blasting while my breadmaker is kneading dough for hot cross buns and the New Zealand cast version of Jesus Christ Superstar will have its turn while I bake cupcakes this afternoon. So very 1990s. So very good just once a year!

So, what guilty pleasures do you confess to? You can remain anonymous if you're not brave enough to come clean publicly ... ;-)

It's a good Good Friday

How I love long weekends. This one is long overdue but, after getting off to a slightly shaky start, is finally here. I've stocked up on Easter eggs and even bought a few extra treats for ourselves, having been caught out in previous years staring at a pile of goodies to give away and none earmarked for us ... this year, I wasn't prepared to tempt fate again and I know now that our gifts will safely make it through to Sunday.

While I know that having buttermilk pancakes two Good Fridays in row doesn't exactly make it a tradition, it was a great way to start the long weekend. They went down really well with a mountain of maple syrup and an espresso made from Dr Mojo's Medicine coffee. 

It wouldn't be a long weekend without baking binge or two. I haven't made cupcakes in months and, given that it is practically compulsory to overload on chocolate this weekend, it makes sense to whip up some chocolate treats. I also want to try making hot cross buns using my breadmaker and am keen to give these maple syrup pikelets a go. Nom!

Although I plan to once again hit the books in a serious way this weekend, I do so in the knowledge that this weekend is entirely my own and that in itself is a very liberating thought. Heck, I might even do something really radical like read a book for pleasure!

Happy Easter, everyone. What are your plans for the long weekend?

Good Friday brunch

The long weekend has begun. Bring on the chocolate!

It was so lovely to sleep in for a while this morning. Of course, our kitten decided that it was time for us to wake up and play with her at 6.15 am (as per usual). I think her idea of a long weekend is enjoying having us at home for several days in a row with the sole purpose of playing with and entertaining her.

Later this morning, we had some friends over for a Good Friday brunch. We made buttermilk pancakes (soooooo yummy!) and we had hot cross buns with freshly ground coffee. It was great to catch up with a friend visiting from Germany. She is a specialist pastry chef and I am looking forward to gleaning as much baking expertise as I can muster from her during her stay.

This is the first of my 101 in 1001 activities I have belatedly picked up: #39 - Host a brunch for friends. I'm loving this Easter break!

Planning for Easter

I love the Easter break. It's the only time of the year when things truly slow down (or stop). A tradition of bad weather means that some long, lazy days can be had. As much as some people complain about the legislation dictating restricted Easter trading hours, I really enjoy a few days when there are few people about and even fewer places to be. Contrary to Christmas, there is far less pressure building up to the 'big event' and no requirements to be in several places at the same time. This year, Easter backs onto Anzac Day in New Zealand, essentially 'robbing' us of a public holiday; that's unfortunate, especially after missing out on Waitangi Day, which fell on a Sunday.

We aren't going away this Easter and will be at home for the holidays. There will be a fair bit of family time, some things to get done around the house and, hopefully, lots of relaxation. I am having an extended break and will be on leave for following week. I can't wait!

Here's what I've got planned for myself:

• Start a knitting project for winter.
• Have friends over for buttermilk pancakes and hot cross buns on Good Friday.
• Bake molten chocolate cakes for my family's Easter dinner.
• Bake a carrot cake for my sweetie's birthday dinner.
• Eat chocolate. Come on, it's mandatory at this time of the year!
• Get a haircut and get a real job. It's not the first time I've said that. I usually just get the haircut.
• Have our kitten spayed and microchipped. Oh, she's going to really love us after that. (She'll get over it.)
• Catch up with friends for coffee and lunch.
• Go for walks when the weather is fine enough to do so.
• Watch a few DVDs.
• Read, read, read.
• Sleep, sleep and sleep in. (Kitten, please take note!)

What are your plans for the Easter break?

Games night

We aren't going away this Easter so, for Good Friday, we had some friends over for a games night. After perusing the supplies at both of our parents' houses, we found some board games we'd enjoyed playing in the past. With daylight savings ending in New Zealand last week, it's now time for winter get-togethers to happen. The Easter bunny had popped in earlier and left some goodies.

My sweetie and I warmed up with a couple of matches of Connect 4 and Othello. As our guests arrived, and the drinks started flowing, we moved to some games which allowed more players to be involved. Scattergories is perfect for this, providing that everyone is using the same list to play. If someone chooses to play with another list, as we found, then the scoring can be incredibly difficult but extremely amusing. We had some really interesting debates about what counts as an acceptable word within a category; eg is "exit" a way to get from here to there? Is "European" really a thing you shout? (It turns out that European was meant to be written down as a type of ethnic food, the category above. We laughed about this one for hours afterwards!)

After dessert, we moved on to Balderdash. I hadn't played this game before; it is absolutely hilarious. You are given a very difficult word and have to make up a definition for it. One person collects up everybody's definitions and writes the correct one on a piece of paper, then reads out everybody's definitions to the group. Each person chooses which definition they think is the right one. Those who are correct score a point. You also score points if other people choose your definition, ie if you have fooled someone else with your convincing definition. As the evening progressed, the definitions became even more 'creative', and some were straight-out dodgy! It was great to see so many of our friends crying with laughter while playing this game.

My sweetie has never played Cluedo before, a game I absolutely love, so we will have to keep it out and get a couple of others to join us on another occasion. I'm so glad that I chose this to be one of my 101 goals: #28 - Play a board game with friends. I'm even more glad that we had such a fun evening with friends on a long weekend.

The Easter bunny came early

... and brought chocolate cupcakes instead of Easter eggs.

Home-made chocolates

I used to make Easter eggs and chocolates with my family when I was little. We didn't do it every year, but I remember some great weekends when the weather was cool, sitting around the kitchen bench with a pot of melted chocolate and a set of bulldog clips, making endless trips to the freezer. To aid my trip down memory lane, I was keen to add this to my list of 101 things to do: #95 - Make chocolates/Easter eggs.

My sister-in-law joined me in making chocolates this afternoon. I'd thought about going all the way and making Easter eggs, but couldn't really be fussed fiddling around with finding bulldog clips etc. I bought some second-hand moulds and fillings, and we set to work.

For a guide to chocolate making, Home Style Chocolates is a great place to start. It also has a wide range of chocolate making supplies. We had six moulds to work with and five fillings: whisky, Irish creme, mint, orange, and caramel. I also had some blanched almonds and three packets of milk chocolate melts - we were ready for action!

I've got to say that making chocolates by hand is quite a time-consuming process. After a few hours, we didn't have all that much to show for our effort but we'd had heaps of fun. We might not be setting up a hand-made chocolate business any time soon, but our results are promising (and quite delicious). I think we will need to repeat this activity again before Easter.