Hot Cross Buns (Delia Smith's)

Happy Easter!

Easter and you think of sun and blue skies; April Showers (rain); young lambs frolicking in the fields; fluffy chicks; new beginnings; lots of chocolate and my favourite of all - Hot Cross Buns.
My mum enjoys these too and I remember making these when I was younger - they often turned like rocks the next day though.  Large supermarkets have in-store bakeries that churn out stacks and stacks of these buns so it's cheap and easy to buy them these days.

I saw something intriguing on another blogger's post, it was Cook Like A Star where a celebrity chef is chosen and participants cook any dish by the said chef.  This occasion it's the turn of Delia Smith in the spotlight.  I have watched Delia Smith on TV cookery programmes from when I was a child and some of my favourite cake recipes are in fact from one of her books.  So what better excuse to look up recipes to cook and join in the blogging and cooking fun!
(Thank you Anncoo for your delicious post on Chocolate Drop Mini Muffins with Red Noses - as that is where I saw the Cook Like A Star blog hop event!)

Hot Cross Buns (recipe adapted from Deliaonline - Hot Cross Buns)

Ingredients
450g strong bread flour
50g caster sugar
5g salt
7g easy-bake yeast
125g dried mixed fruit (raisins, sultana, currant & mixed peel)
1 tsp ground cinnamon
50g butter
1 egg
50ml milk
150ml water
Crosses
3 tsp plain flour
3 tsp water
Glaze
1 tsp honey
2 tsp warm water

Sift flour, salt and cinnamon into a mixing bowl and add the sugar, yeast and dried mixed fruit. Stir to mix everything together and make a well in the centre.

Melt the butter in a jug, add the milk, crack the egg in and mix together.  Pour this into the dry ingredients, add most of the water (saving a couple of tablespoons back in case dough gets too wet), mix with a spatula until a dough begins to form, then put your hand in to squeeze and bring everything together.

Transfer dough to a clean surface and knead until it feels smooth and elastic - about 6 minutes.  Pop it back into the bowl, cover the bowl with a lightly oiled sheet of cling wrap and leave in a warm place to double in size (it will take about an hour).

Turn it out and knead lightly until it has returned to original size.  Divide dough into 12 equal pieces and roll them into balls.  Place them on a lined baking sheet leaving room for them to rise.  Cover with the oiled cling wrap and leave to rise again (about 25 minutes).

Preheat the oven to gas 7 / 220 C / 425 F.

Mix the plain flour with the water in a small bowl to a smooth paste.  Use this to gently pipe crosses onto the risen buns.

Bake the buns for about 15 minutes.

Mix the honey with the warm water and brush the buns when they are hot from the oven to make them shiny and sticky.

Transfer to a rack to cool.

This is my submission to the blog hop event Cook Like A Star (March 2013) organised by: Zoe (Bake For Happy Kids), Baby Sumo (Eat Your Heart Out) and Mich (Piece of Cake)

Hi!

I've not disappeared!  Just enjoying time as a mum and watching little "leaf" develop into a funny little, cheeky, lovable chappie!  So I apologise for not keeping you all posted! 

Minh's first birthday has come and gone and I will have to load up some photos of his grand day.  We decided to get caterers for the food but I made all the desserts.  This was a mighty affair!  We had: Lemon Cheesecake; Blueberry Cheesecake; Fresh Fruit and Cream Gateaux; Tropical Fruit salad (ok, this one was bought in!) and Minh's crowning glory, a 3-tier birthday cake!  Tiers were: lemon with homemade lemon curd, vanilla with homemade jam and to top, a gluten-free carrot cake with lemon butter icing!  I also made iced biscuits for the children's party bags!  Yes!  It was hard work especially as cakes cannot be made too far in advance!  Can you understand why we had caterers in now? 


Just thought I'd share a Steamed Bun recipe - it's a favourite of mine as it uses baking powder as the raising agent - not yeast which I find can taint the taste of steamed buns.  (I'm sure I'd promised to share the recipe?)  Little Leaf and Daddy Leaf enjoyed the buns and its lovely to see them sat on the bottom step opposite the door to the kitchen sharing a bun.  (Little Leaf doesn't eat the filling - he's a bit funny like that!)

Still not quite as white and cloud-like as restaurant buns but tasty all the same :)

Steamed Barbecue Buns

Ingredients:

Bun Dough

250 g (2.5 cup) Special Bun Flour  (I use chinese bun flour as the UK supermarket flour makes an off white dough and doesn't result in a white fluffy bun)

18 g (3.5 tsp) baking powder

45 g (3 tblsp) caster sugar

30 g (2 tblsp) white vegetable fat (Trex) or vegetable oil (or lard)

120 ml (1/2 cup) water (approx)

1/2 teaspoon white vinegar

Method:

• Sift flour and baking powder into a bowl add sugar and mix, rub in the vegetable fat/lard with your fingertips until evenly distributed. (If using oil, just add oil with the vinegar and water.)
• Add water and vinegar together and knead until a fairly soft dough.
• Shape into a ball and let it rest, covered, for 30 minutes.

To make the buns

• Divide the dough into12 portions.
• Mould each into a smooth ball.
• Roll each out on a lightly floured surface to a circle about 4 inches across.
• Put a heaping teaspoon of filling in the centre and gather the edges inward, folding and pleating to make a neat join.
• Twist dough to seal.
• Put each bun, join upwards, on a flattened paper cake case, in a steamer.
• Cover and steam for 15 minutes.
• Serve warm.

The filling for today's buns was Barbecue Pork -  I'm fortunate enough to have a supplier for this - also known as my mum, "Mrs Plum".  Here's how I made my filling:

Barbecue Pork Filling:

160 g barbecue roast pork (thinly sliced into 1cm sized pieces)

1 shallot (very finely diced)

100 g water

1.5 tsp Lee Kum Kee “Char Siu Sauce”

1 tsp oyster sauce

15 ml water

1 tsp cornflour

Fry shallot in a little oil, add finely sliced barbecue pork and fry gently for 2 minutes. Add water, char siu sauce and oyster sauce. Simmer for 3 minutes. Thicken with cornflour/water mix. Taste sauce for seasoning. Allow to cool slightly before using as bun filling.

Recipe adapted from www.recipezaar.com/11087

I will upload some piccies of the steamed buns later - the buns have disappeared so quickly I'm off to make another batch!

Hot steamy action!

I hope you are enjoying the festive period and are enjoying time with friends family and some great food!

My two taste-testers!  If the son & hubbs approve it must be good! :D

Boxing Day Bun Bakery

Was woken early by the "Boss" (also known as Baby Minh) so I thought I'd might as well get on with baking the buns I'd prepared the night before. 

 Tuna mayo buns are a favourite of mine from hols to Hong Kong so I recreated them at home.

 Sausage buns were a childhood favourite so I'm reliving some memories.  Although they were mainly just rolled around the sausage - a bit like a mummified sausage.

 Had to make some Char Siu Chan Buns too!

Tray of buns ready to take to my parents house later.


** I did this post in a hurry & have now included links to the recipes where available.

Bun Bakery - Char Siu (BBQ Pork) Bun 叉燒餐包, Pineapple Bun 菠蘿包 & Custard Bun 奶黃包

PlumLeaf Bakery with four trays of buns ready for the baking!

Had a crazy bout of bun bakery this weekend!  I doubled the quantity in EEWIF's Sweet Bread Dough recipe as I intended to give some buns to my brother and his family who are visiting my mum whilst my niece is on half-term holiday.

Char Siu Piggy hiding next to the Pineapple buns!

Piggies fighting in oven?!  Out of place ears and snouts!

Custard Filled Hedgehog

Tray of Custard Buns

We always loved Char Siu Buns as kids and sometimes Dad would buy buns from Chinese Bakery in Chinatown as treats.  I also tried some different toppings and fillings.  My bro' likes Bor Lor Bao ~ Pineapple Bun 菠蘿包 so I thought I'd try recreate that one.  There are several different recipes for pineapple topping floating around the internet but I like the sound of this one from Bao/Bread and as it was enough for 6 buns it gave me opportunity to whip up a batch of custard filling as my third bun flavour.

Char Siu buns had more room on tray at front - ugly ones at back of queue!

I must remember to space out my buns better as I had Char Siu Buns that had merged into one another (like my red bean ones did a few weeks back).  Instead of being beautiful burnished domes of porky bun goodness, it resembled burnt honeycomb.  Not a good look.  Had fun making a couple of Char Siu Pigs though!  Those two had slightly more filling than the rest (only 5 g extra) so I thought I'd make fat pigs out of them!  They did swell out - looked almost ready to burst!

Custard Buns

Have still yet to make my Hong Kong favourite - Tuna Bun 吞拿魚包.  Also got to dream up of some more tasty fillings! Yum Yum!  Am loving this recipe so much!  I have to thank Everybody Eats Well In Flanders again for sharing an excellent recipe!

More Buns...

I'm hiding the bun's ugliness round the other side of the bun!

I was so pleased with the BBQ Pork Buns (Baked Char Siu Buns) that I thought I'd expand a little and try out some more fillings.  Hubbs likes Red Bean Filling and when I first tried making buns from my Alex Goh book, he pointed at the Matcha Red Bean Buns but I had decided to make the Butter Coconut Buns - I said I'd make them next time and he's still waiting as that next time hasn't come round for him yet!  As EEWIF has such a great sweet bun dough recipe I thought I'd make a batch and fill with red bean.  I have a can of red bean paste and my mum gave me a can of whole red beans (from Tesco).  I thought I'd combine the two so I would get a paste with more texture - a bit like the Japanese filling but less dry.  It kinda worked - but some of the canned whole beans are a little too hard.  Perhaps they could do with being cooked a little longer?  Or maybe mashed a little?

I split my dough into 16 pieces this time instead of 10 and filled half with the red bean paste.  I then wrapped and transported it to my mum's to finish off.  I figured that they'd still prove in their 35 minute journey to mum's.  As it turned out, they didn't travel that well as they stuck to one another and didn't look like the flower shapes I wanted them to be.  I still baked them and they were the most ugliest buns ever!  Not round as I'd cut the edges to replicate flower petals and besides, they were pretty close neighbours with one another and some were beginning to merge as one!  So I'm blushing with the memory of their misshapeness!  The inside of the bun looked okay though!

Wanted a photo with steam coming out of the filling.  I guess I'd have to grab a steaming hot bun and be standing in a walk-in freezer to get that shot!

With the other half of the bun dough I decided to make ham and cheese buns as in EEWIF blog as I thought they looked so good.  These I thought were very tasty (although I didn't do the cheese & mayo topping) and I really love that bread dough recipe!  It's really, really good!  I think it's as good as from a Chinese Bakery!

This was my breakfast a few days ago, see the airy bubbles in the ham 'n' cheese bun?  The other is a toppled over nutella & almond spiral - I ran out of ham 'n' cheese.

I still want to make Tuna Bun as these are my fave buns from Hong Kong Bakery!  So deliciously soft and savoury!  My older bro' likes Bolo Bao (Pineapple Buns) so I guess I'll make those too in a couple of weeks when he visits my mum.  There is a half-term holiday at the end of October and he usually spends a few days with mum so she can get to see her granddaughter Sophie.

Butter Coconut Buns 椰子麵包

As mentioned in earlier blog here is the recipe for Coconut buns  that I made the day before Junior was born.  It's from Alex Goh's Baking Class - Bread.

Ingredients

One portion of basic sweet bun dough

Filling
60 g butter (softened)
150 g sugar
1 egg
150 g desiccated coconut

Method

- Prepare filling: Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.  Add egg and cream until smooth.  Add desiccated coconut and mix until well blended.

- Shape filling mixture into 30g balls and set aside.  (This gave me enough for 25 balls.)

- Divide the basic sweet bun dough into 60 g portions, mould into balls and leave to rest for 10 minutes.  (I managed to get 30 balls from my dough.)              

- Lightly roll them flat.  Put the coconut filling on the sweet bun dough.. Wrap them up.

- Roll the dough flat to 14cm round, fold into half moon shape then in half again.

-  Using a knife cut an opening in the middle of the round edge.  Then pull the opening apart gently and make a v-shape.  Carefully open  up the inner face so you can see the filling.  Place onto a greased pan.

- Leave to prove for 45 minutes or until they double in size.

- Brush with egg wash and bake at 190C for 12-15 minutes or until golden brown.

Basic Sweet Bun Dough ~ Sponge and Dough Method

This recipe is taken fron Alex Goh's Baking Class - Bread.  In his book, Alex has three different sweet bun dough recipes.  According to Alex, this method produces a softer, bigger loaf which keeps longer.

Basic Sweet Bun Dough ~ Sponge and Dough Method
Ingredients

(A)Sponge Dough
2 tsps Instant Yeast
2 tbsps Water
420 g Bread flour
1/2 tbsp Sugar
220 ml Cold water

(B)Main Dough
120 g Plain flour
60 g Bread flour
1 tsp Instant yeast
110 g Sugar
10 g Salt
20 g Milk powder
40 ml Cold water
1 Egg
60 g Butter



Method
For the sponge, mix instant yeast and water and set aside for 10 minutes.  Add the remaining ingredients (A) and knead to form dough.

Cover the dough with clear film and let it prove for 2 1/2 hours.  Then, add the sugar, salt, eggs from the main dough ingredients (B).  Mix till well blended.  Then add flour, instant yeast, milk powder and the water.

Mix all ingredients till well blended.  Knead to form a dough.

Add the butter and knead to form a smooth and elastic dough.

Mould it into a round and cover it with clear film.  Let it prove 10 minutes.  Then it's ready for use in making bread or buns.

Bun in Oven and Still Baking!

Coconut Bun 椰子麵包

Those who don't know English slang, having a "Bun-in-the-oven" means you are pregnant.  I am officially overdue - well, not me as such.  Junior is.  Estimated Due Date is was Saturday 7 August.  I guess Junior doesn't fancy that day as it's birthday and so is waiting until their lucky number comes up!

I don't mind too much, I've had it fairly easy throughout my pregnancy.  I'm finding the swollen feet and ankles annoying as it makes walking a little more sore and having a big bump in front of you certainly slows you down and gets in the way when you drop something (which is ALL the time!). 

Anyway, I digress.  Thought I'd check out the other new kitchen toy that hubbs bought - the Food Mixer.  For some unknown reason I wanted to bake my own bread.  I tell you, it certainly was quick and easy when there is a machine that does the messy mixing and kneading for you! 

The Kenwood in action!

Well.....why stop there at one loaf I heard a voice in my head.  I love to blog-surf and have bookmarked many a recipe with the view of trying them out.  Some of the recipes I find are just going around the blogosphere from one blogger to another.  Others try out recipes they've read from books and I thought I'd do the same.  I ordered this book along with some others and have yet to try any recipes out.  (Personally I think I just collect books I like the look of - especially baking books!)  It's from "Alex Goh's Baking Class - Bread" and I know bloggers have been raving about his cakes and bread and I thought I'd put the Kenwood to some good use!

Afternoon Tea anyone?

Seeing as I had a machine that was going to do the hard work I decided to choose the Sponge and Dough Method to make the Basic Sweet Bun Dough.  His reasoning is that it produces "...a softer, bigger loaf which keeps longer".  Time is not of the essence with me today and in all honesty I'd prefer a loaf or buns that stayed soft and obviously kept well.  There's only the two of us at the end of the day and although I'm sure I'll give some buns away to my mum, there's only so many buns you can gorge yourself silly on!

I had a crazy day in the kitchen and in the end this is what I've made...........

Mountain of Coconut Buns and some Cinnamon & Raisin Buns (ran out of coconut filling)

I think I might have got a bit carried away!  At least I know how many buns are made out of a portion of Alex's Basic Sweet Bun Dough! 

I also made 4 jars of Three Berry Jam (Raspberry, Blueberry and Blackberry) - I decided to make room in the freezer and these frozen berries were taking up too much room!  Home-made jam is so much tastier than store-bought,  Somehow there is an intensity of fruit flavour that I don't get from a shop-bought jar.  These berries were just on special offer at the time and found their way into the freezer for jam-making.  Haven't been picking any raspberries from Mum's garden this year. 

I was going to buy a loaf of bread from the bakery yesterday but seeing as hubbs had bought a new toy - we'd thought we'd make our own.  I like my toast in the morning - hubbs is seems is not a big bread lover.

I'll post up the bread and buns later on separate posts.  Too tired now!