Spring is here which means that Easter is just around the corner. This is a time that most Christian families come together to share a traditional Easter dinner. Like our family, many of you move from place to place and aren’t always able to spend Easter with your family; thus making it extraordinarily important to start a tradition you and your family can do together to make your Easter dinner special.
Hot cross buns have been a tradition for most everyone including Egyptians, Greeks, Romans, the Aztecs and Incas, as well as the Anglo-Saxons who made the buns in honor of their goddess Eastre, whose name-day fell in the spring. With the advent of Christianity in Britain, bakers started making the buns with a cross to ward off the evil of Good Friday. This year, start a tradition making hot cross buns. They are plump and sweet, filled with raisins or currants, criss-crossed with frosting and served while still warm. Delicious!
Hot Cross Buns
1 package (1 tablespoon) active dry yeast
1 teaspoon sugar
½ cup lukewarm water, 105-115 degrees
¼ cup butter or margarine, cut into small pieces
½ cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup scalded milk
2 eggs, at room temperature
4-5 cups flour
½ cup raisins or currants
In a small measuring cup, dissolve yeast and 1 teaspoon sugar in water. Set aside.
In the large bowl of an electric mixer, place butter or margarine, ½ cup sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt. Add scalded milk and cool to lukewarm, 105-115 degrees. Add yeast mixture and eggs and mix together until well blended. Add 2 cups flour and beat on medium speed for 2 minutes, or mix well by hand.
By hand, gradually add enough flour to make a soft dough, and turn out on a floured board. Knead for 8 to 10 minutes, adding raisins or currants and additional flour as necessary to make dough easy to handle.
Place dough in a greased bowl and turn dough upward to grease top. Press dough down evenly and cover with a towel. Place in a warm place, and let dough rise until double in bulk, about 1 ½ hours.
Lightly grease a baking sheet and set aside. Punch down dough and break off pieces of dough about 2 inches in diameter. Shape into buns and place on a prepared baking sheet. Cover and let rise in a warm place for about 50 minutes, or until double in bulk.
Just before buns have risen, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake for approximately 20 minutes, or until buns are golden. Transfer to a wire rack. Cool slightly and crisscross with Vanilla Glaze (recipe follows.)
Yield: About 15 buns.
Vanilla Glaze
1 cup confectioners’ sugar
1/8 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 ½ to 3 tablespoons milk
Place sugar and extract in a small bowl. Add as much milk as necessary to make a thin glaze. Yield: Abut 1/2 cup.
For more information, reservations and availability, please call us at 661-259-MEAL. Check out our website at www.savoringthymechef.com for pricing and more details.