Hot cross buns

You will need strong wheat flour to “hold up” the added creamy milk (please don’t use semi-skimmed), butter and eggs, which give hot cross buns their resonant flavour. The basic dough for this recipe is interchangeable with that of other classic buns, such as Chelsea buns or iced buns. It is simple and needs little work, and will be light and soft (though not “cakey”) when baked. Just be careful not to heat the milk above lukewarm, or the dough when it is rising, because you will kill the yeast. If there is a tricky side to hot cross buns, it is adding the crosses themselves. Sweet shortcrust sablée pastry is ideal – but make it in advance because it is fragile if handled when freshly made. If you can’t bear to fiddle around, you can always score the buns before baking with a card cutter or scalpel. I put raisins only in my buns, but try to find a combination of golden yellow raisins to mix with the traditional type, and – because the Prince family have an aversion to finding it in a bun – no citrus peel. You can still get the flavour of orange and lemon if you grate a little into the flour with the spices. Makes 12-18 buns, depending on the size required Ingredients 500g strong white plain flour 5g fine salt 90g softened butter 1 level tsp ground cinnamon 1 level tsp mixed spice ½ tsp ground mace Grated rind of half an orange Grated rind of half a lemon 100g raisins 30g fresh yeast (15g dried yeast) 300ml whole milk, heated until lukewarm 60g caster sugar 1 egg For the crosses Either use bought sweet shortcrust pastry, rolled thin and cut into strips, or combine 170g plain flour with 125g softened butter and 1 dessert spoon of icing sugar. Bind to a paste with a small amount of cold water, and chill before rolling. For the stickiness Mix five tablespoons of warm milk with 60g caster sugar until slightly syrupy, then cool. Method • Put the flour and salt in a large mixing bowl and quickly rub in the butter. Add the spices, citrus zest and raisins and set to one side. Stir the yeast into the warm milk until dissolved, then add the sugar and egg. Make a well in the centre of the bowl containing the dry ingredients, and add all the yeast mixture. Mix well then dust your hands and the counter with extra plain flour, scrape the dough out of the bowl onto the counter and knead, stretching and pulling the dough until it is soft and elastic. • Put the dough back in the bowl, cover with cling film and put in a warm (up to 29C/84F) place for 1 ½ to 2 hours or until doubled in size. Remove from the bowl, knock the air out, then cut into 12 equal pieces. Shape into rounds, and place about 3cm apart on a greased baking sheet (or one covered in baking paper). Cut strips from the rolled out sweet pastry, and stick crosses to the surface of the bun with a little milk. • Leave the buns to prove, uncovered, in a warm place until doubled in size again – for about 40 minutes. Preheat the oven to 230C/450F/Gas 8 and bake for about 10 minutes until pale brown. You do not want them to be too dark, but they should sound hollow when tapped on the base. Cool on a rack; brush with the sticky milk and leave it to set. Eat warmed with butter.