Sourdough Hot Cross Buns

The monthly challenge for the Sourdough Surprises Baking Group is Hot Cross Buns. As it happens, the 20th of the month (the day we normally post our breads) falls on Easter. And, my youngest son is celebrating his birthday this week. So I made these Sourdough Hot Cross Buns to commemorate both occasions.

 

I combined the ingredients from two different recipes and came up with my own method for making these delicious buns. I utilized the sponge method from Jeffrey Hammelman’s Hot Cross Buns, but instead of using dried yeast, I added 1/2 cup sourdough starter.

I wanted to take these rolls with me when I visited my son for his birthday so I added an overnight fermentation to the final dough. This allowed me to prepare the dough the evening before and bake the buns the next morning.

I used icing for the crosses instead of paste because I wanted something sweet to round out the tangy flavor of the candied orange peel and the honey/orange glaze. These Hot Cross Buns turned out to be a very special treat for Easter and a Birthday.

I was able to bake the rolls, glaze and ice them, and let them cool completely before wrapping them up for transport. I wrapped them in aluminum foil to keep the slightly sticky orange glaze from making a complete mess.

 

Sourdough Hot Cross Buns

Makes: 12 Buns

Adapted from: Bread: A Baker’s Book of Techniques and Recipes by Jeffrey Hamelman and Sourdough Hot Cross Buns by Kresha of Nourishing Joy

Sponge:

• 1/2 cup active (fed) sourdough starter
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tablespoon raw sugar

Dough:

• 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour, extra for sprinkling
• 1/2 teaspoon cardamom
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1 egg
• 1/8 cup raw honey
• 3 tablespoons milk
• 3/4 cup currants or raisins (soak in boiling water for 10 minutes, drain)
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/4 cup candied orange peel, finely chopped and packed
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

Crossing Paste:

I used store-bought icing to make the crosses on top of these buns. If you prefer to make a flour crossing paste, refer to the ingredients/directions in this Hot Cross Buns recipe. Or refer to Kresha’s method.

Glaze:

• 1 T Honey
• Juice of 1 orange

 

Prepare the Sponge:

Combine the sourdough starter, milk, all-purpose flour and sugar and mix just until smooth. It will be very thin. The desired temperature is 80 degrees F. Cover the sponge with plastic wrap and let it stand for 1-2 hours. It should be light and bubbly, but it should have some structure.

 

Mixing the Dough:

Place the sourdough starter, flour, and spices in a large bowl. Lightly beat the eggs with the raw honey and milk, then add to the sourdough/flour mixture. Mix until completely combined and a very sticky dough has formed. Cover and let sit for 20 minutes.

Sprinkle the salt over the dough.  Knead until the dough begins to look smooth and shiny. The dough will be a rather wet dough, but try not to add any flour at this point. Keep kneading until the dough is developed, then knead in the dried fruit and candied orange peel. I used the bowl scraper to help with this process.  It keeps the dough from sticking to your fingers and keeps the bowl clean.

Add in the butter, a little at a time. Knead until all the butter is fully incorporated. The final dough should be very soft, but not at all sticky. If it’s too sticky at this point, add a little extra flour.

Let the dough sit for 1 hour. After an hour, fold it over on itself a number of times on a floured board or in the bowl, then place it back in the bowl and let it rise another hour. After two hours, you can continue with the shaping below, or place it in the refrigerator to retard overnight. This is what I did.

 

If you retarded the dough overnight, take it out of the refrigerator and let it warm up to room temperature (1 –2 hours) before proceeding to dividing and shaping.

Dividing and Shaping:

Divide dough into 12 pieces and shape into a small round balls about 2.7 ounces each. Place the rolls on a greased sheet pan in an even configuration. Cover with plastic wrap to keep crust from developing on the surface. Let them rise at room temperature 1-2 hours. If you retard your rolls in the refrigerator, they probably won’t double in size during the final rise, but they should have pretty good oven spring once they are baked.

Baking/Glazing the Buns:

As I mentioned, I used icing to make the crosses. I baked the buns, then glazed them with the honey/orange glaze while they were hot. Once the glaze had dried, I piped on the icing.

If you prefer to make a flour crossing paste, follow the directions in this Hot Cross Buns recipe.  Or refer to Kresha’s method. You’ll want to pipe on either one of these pastes before you bake the buns.

Bake the rolls in a 375 degree Fahrenheit oven for 20-30 minutes until the rolls are golden and at least 190 degrees inside.

For the glaze, heat the honey and the orange juice over medium heat until it begins to simmer rapidly. Remove from the heat and brush the glaze over the rolls as soon as they are removed from the oven.

 

This was another great sourdough surprise.

 

Happy Baking!

Cathy

 

Check this awesome lineup from the Sourdough Surprises Baking Group: 

 

An InLinkz Link-up

Hot Cross Buns: Mellow Bakers

After I finished with the BBA Challenge, I joined the Mellow Bakers. We baked breads from Bread: A Baker’s Book of Techniques and Recipes by Jeffrey Hamelman.

The first bread we made was English Hot Cross Buns.  I had never made hot cross buns before so I was looking forward to this one. They sounded delicious!  And, let me tell you, they are delicious!

 

“Hot cross bun, a round bun made from a rich yeast dough containing flour, milk, sugar, butter, eggs, currants, and spices, such as cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, and cloves. In England, hot cross buns are traditionally eaten on Good Friday; they are marked on top with a cross, wither cut in the dough or composed of strips of pastry. The mark is of ancient origin, connected with religious offerings of bread, which replaced earlier, less civilized offerings of blood. The Egyptians offered small round cakes, marked with a representation of the horns of an ox, to the goddess of the moon. The Greeks and Romans had similar practices and the Saxons ate buns marked with a cross in honor of the goddess of light, Eostre, whose name was transferred to Easter. According to superstition, hot cross buns and loaves baked on Good Friday never went mouldy, and were sometimes kept as charms from one year to the next. Like Chelsea buns, hot cross buns were sold in great quantities by the Chelsea Bun House; in the 18th century large numbers of people flocked to Chelsea during the Easter period expressly to visit this establishment."
---Oxford Companion to Food, Alan Davidson [Oxford University Press:Oxford] 1999 (p. 114)

Source: http://www.foodtimeline.org/easter.html#hotcrossbuns

 

Traditional English Hot Cross Buns

Makes: 12 buns

Adapted from: Bread: A Baker’s Book of Techniques and Recipes by Jeffrey Hamelman.

You can find a variation of this Hot Cross Bun recipe on Wild Yeast.

 

I made the version in the book; however, I made a few adjustments myself.

When I got ready to bake this bread, I didn’t have any bread flour so I used a combination of unbleached all-purpose flour and freshly-milled white whole wheat flour. It worked out really well!

I also used homemade candied orange peel rather store bought.

This bread takes about 4 hours to make. I started the process Saturday morning.  I didn’t actually bake them until Saturday evening so it took me a little longer than 4 hours.

 

Sponge:

• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 7/8 cup milk
• 1/2 T sugar
• 2 1/4 tsp. instant yeast

Final Dough:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup home-milled white whole wheat flour
• 1 egg
• 2/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 T. Allspice, ground
• Sponge, all of the above
• 3/4 cup dried currants
• 1/4 cup (packed) candied lemon or orange peel, finely chopped

Crossing Paste:

• 1/2 cup butter, melted
• 3/8 cup milk
• 1 T. Vanilla
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 lemon peel, grated
• 1 small egg, beaten
• 1 7/8 cups cake flour, sifted

Simple Syrup:

• 8 T. sugar
• 1/2 cup water

 

Make the Sponge

You begin by making a sponge with the flour, milk, sugar, and yeast. The sponge will be very thin. Cover with plastic wrap and let stand for 30 to 40 minutes. 

The sponge will have risen to about 3 to 4 times its original height.  It should be quite light, but there should be structure to it.

 

Mix the Dough:

Place the flour in a mixing bowl and add the soft butter, and mix just until the butter is dispersed. Add the eggs, sugar, salt, and allspice and mix them all together. Then, add the sponge and mix until everything is thoroughly combined. 

At this point, I realized I was going to have to add more flour.  This is what it looked like after several minutes of mixing. The book said that strong gluten is not the goal of this mix, but enough dough development is necessary so that there is sufficient strength to lift the fruits and butter.  It was still a wet mess, so I added more flour.

When a moderate gluten development has been achieved, add the currants and diced peel.  Mix until these are evenly distributed throughout the dough.

This wasn’t happening with the mixer, so I transferred the dough to a counter sprinkled with flour and kneaded it until it all of the currants and candied peel were integrated and the dough was the right consistency.  I had to add more flour during this part as well, but I finally got a supple dough that was tacky and not sticky.

 

Bulk Fermentation:

Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let the dough ferment for 1 hour, with a light fold after 30 minutes.

I fermented the dough for about 2 1/2 hours because I had to run some errands.  I did do the light fold after 30 minutes, but then it fermented for another couple of hours.

Divide, Shape and Final Proof:

Cut the dough into 2.7 ounces pieces.  Round the pieces well, and place them on a sheet pan in an even configuration.

Cover the buns with plastic wrap to prevent crusting on the surface. Proof the Buns about 1 hour at 76 degrees.

I proofed them a little over 2 hours at room temperature.  It just worked out that way due to my schedule.  They didn’t seem to be any worse for the wear.

 

Prepare the Crossing Paste:

While the buns proof, make the crossing paste.  In a saucepan, melt the butter with the sugar and heat until the sugar is dissolved. Add the milk, vanilla, grated lemon peel, and beaten egg. Whisk all of these together, then add the sifted flour.  I used cake flour.

Using a round tip with a 1/4 to 3/8-inch diameter, fill a piping bag with the paste. I couldn’t find my round tip so my piping is a little more decorative.

When the buns are finally proofed, pipe lines in one direction on each bun, transecting the top of each bun.

When all the lines have been piped in one direction, rotate the pan 90 degrees and pipe lines again, so that the lines form an even cross.

 

Prepare the Simple Syrup:

Prepare the simple syrup by combining the sugar and water in a pan. Bring to a full boil, stirring once or twice so the sugar won’t burn on the bottom of the pan.  The syrup can be brushed while still hot onto the buns, or it can be made days ahead and kept refrigerated.  I made mine while the buns were proofing.

 

Bake the Buns:

The directions say to bake the buns at 440 degrees for 14 to 16 minutes.  I started out following the directions, then realized this was way to hot and way too much time to bake them!  I baked them for about 5 minutes or so, then checked them and realized I needed to turn the heat down or they would burn. 

I turned it down to 400 degrees then to 350 and baked them just a little bit longer.  They had some browning, but were still soft.

Once you remove them from the oven, brush them with the simple syrup.

The buns are best when eaten fresh, but day-old buns can be reheated and served. 

My taste tester read the part about the buns tasting best when eaten fresh, and he kept asking when we could eat them. I only let him have one because I needed to save the rest for the photo. I know I’m cruel that way!

These Hot Cross Buns were really good, but the crossing paste made way too much and it kept breaking off.  I didn’t mind, I just kept eating it. I have enough crossing paste left over for another batch.  Hmmm…that gives me an idea!  I’ll make more…

This bread has been submitted to BBD#28 hosted by Tangerine’s Kitchen. Be sure to visit her site to view all of the buns in the roundup.

 

 

The Mellow Bakers was started by Paul at Yumarama. We’ll be baking breads primarily from the book Bread: A Baker’s Book of Techniques and Recipes by Jeffrey Hamelman, but we probably won’t bake through the whole book. If you’re interested in baking at an easy pace, please join us!

 

 

Happy Baking!
Cathy