Today is Good Friday and it just seemed like making homemade hot cross buns was called for. I found a recipe on deliaonline.com and got to it, hoping that my buns would not be worse for wear for being made with yeast that expired 3 years ago.
I love kneading dough - a simple pleasure I've only recently discovered - so really enjoyed making these little guys. I didn't have any mixed spice so whooshed together some ground cloves, ginger and nutmeg and then crushed some cinnamon sticks in my mortar and pestle and whacked the grounds into the mix. I'm not a natural baker, precision not being my forte, so I daringly added extra fruit and fortunately, this recipe seems robust enough to accommodate my cavalier attitude to candied peel.
After waiting for an hour for the mixture to double in size, sitting on a window ledge outside, out of reach of hairy dog snouts, I joyously pummelled it into submission and divided it up into bunlike portions. The crosses were made with water and flour and a lot more pummelling and rolling. After about 25 minutes for bun rising, I popped them into the oven and drummed my fingers for 15 minutes until I could whip them out. They emerged golden and everything you could want from a bun, which in my case, is quite a lot. Piping hot, with the daintiest slathering of butter. Blissful spiciness!
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