sourdough discard not hot cross buns

sourdough discard not hot cross buns

18 Apr 2022

I just love hot cross buns so each year I make a batch. Coming from a family that doesn't celebrate Easter I usually make not hot cross buns. I'm also not very good at piping so when I do try and pipe crosses, I often end up making a big mess.

 

 

 

As you know I've been on a bit of a sourdough adventure of late. I don't normally have much discard, and if I do I usually add it to my pizza dough. Recently I had to perk up my starter which left me with about 200g of sourdough discard in the fridge. Rather than waste it, I decided to add it to the hot cross bun dough. I also added a few additional stretch and folds to the dough a la Sarah Keiffer, otherwise it's my standard hot cross bun recipe which was adapted from a Flour and Stone recipe.

 

If you don't have any discard, just add an extra 60g flour and an additional 60mls/g of milk or water to the dough recipe. Here's the recipe for you which makes 12 buns. For all my recipes I use a 250 ml cup, a 20 ml tablespoon, unsalted butter and 60g eggs. My oven is a conventional oven so if you have a fan-forced oven you may need to reduce the temperature by 20°C. 

Sourdough Discard Not Hot Cross Buns – makes 12 regular size buns.

Fruit Mix

60g each sultanas, raisins and currants

200mls boiling water

1 Earl Grey tea bag

50g dried apricots, chopped

1 tsp finely grated orange rind

Bun Dough

140g milk

10g dried yeast

1 egg

60g soft brown sugar

340g bread flour

120g sourdough discard

1 tsp fine salt

2 tsp ground cinnamon

¼ tsp each ground nutmeg, ground allspice and cloves

60g softened unsalted butter

Crossing Mixture (optional)

100g plain flour

100 mls water

2 tbs sunflower oil

½ tsp ground nutmeg

Glaze

100g caster sugar

2 tbs water

2 tsps finely grated orange rind

125mls strained orange juice

To serve

Butter and jam

Fruit soak

Place the sultanas, raisins and currants, tea bag and 200mls boiling water in a bowl. Set aside for an hour or until the fruit is plump. Remove the tea bag and drain fruit well, discarding the liquid. Pat the fruit dry with a paper towel. Add the dried apricots and 1 tsp orange zest just before incorporating into the dough.

Dough

Gently warm the milk then add the dried yeast and stir to combine. Cover and leave for 10 minutes until bubbles appear in the mixture. Mix in the egg and brown sugar and stir to dissolve.

Place the flour into the bowl of a stand mixer. Add the sourdough discard, salt, spices and the egg mixture to the bowl, then using the dough hook, mix for about 5-6 minutes until the dough starts to come together and all clumps have disappeared. The dough should start to pull from the sides of the bowl but it will not completely remove from the bottom. With the mixer on low, add the butter one piece at a time, waiting to add each until the previous is absorbed. When all the butter has been added, increase the speed to medium and beat the butter into the dough until all the little butter pieces are incorporated and the dough is very smooth and elastic - this could take around 8-10 minutes. The dough should feel tacky.

Scrape the dough into a greased bowl. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let rise for 30 minutes. Add the fruit mixture with the first fold. Place your fingers or a spatula underneath the dough and gently pull the dough up and fold it back over itself. Turn the bowl and repeat this folding again. Continue 6 to 8 more times, until all the dough has been folded over on itself. Re-cover the bowl with plastic and let rise for 30 minutes. Repeat this series of folding 3 more times, for a rise time of 2 hours and a total of 4 foldings. At this stage I cover the dough and refrigerate it overnight.

 

 

The next day, remove the dough from the fridge and knead for 1 minute, then divide into 12 equal pieces. Use your hand to roll each piece on the work surface to form a round bun. Place buns close together on a baking tray lined with baking paper. Cover and set aside for 1-2 hours or until risen and soft to the touch. While the buns are proving, make the crossing mixture (if using) and preheat the oven to 190°C, conventional.

Crossing mixture

Place all the ingredients for the crossing mix in a bowl and whisk to form an elastic batter. If it’s too thick, add a little extra water. Fill a piping bag fitted with a 5mm plain nozzle. Once the buns have risen, pipe a cross on the top of each bun. Place the buns on the centre rack and bake for 15 minutes. Rotate the tin and bake for a further 7-10 minutes until dark golden. While the buns are in the oven, make the glaze.

 

 

Glaze

Combine the sugar, water, the orange rind and the juice and bring to a boil. Simmer for 10 minutes or until syrupy. Remove from the oven. Brush hot cross buns with the glaze and cool a little, then slide the baking paper and buns onto a wire rack. Serve warm with butter. These buns are best served on the day they're made or toasted the following day.

 

 

I shared the buns with my neighbours and froze the rest. These were easily the best hot cross buns I've ever made. They tasted great and the buns were so soft and fluffy. I don't know if it was the sourdough discard or the extra stretch and folds I added but for the future I'll be doing both.

 

I hope you enjoyed the Easter break with your families. See you all again next week with some more baking from my kitchen.

 

Bye for now,

 

Jillian

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hot cross buns 2020

hot cross buns 2020

6 Apr 2020

Each year I make a batch of hot cross buns but as I dispense with the crosses I call them spiced fruit buns. I store the buns in the freezer until Passover has been and gone when they're devoured. I've made these buns twice this week, once for Everten and again for my own blog. As we're practising social distancing this year I shared the buns with my next door neighbours otherwise with all this baking, I'll be the size of a house once Covid-19 has been and gone. I think it's known as 'fattening the curve'.



For this years batch, I adapted the hot cross bun recipe from the Flour and Stone cookbook. The first version were pull apart hot cross buns, complete with wonky crosses. The pull apart hot cross buns were delicious but a bit small so the second time I made them, I made 12 regular sized buns. The second time I made the buns I changed the technique from the original method to the one I always use when making sweet buns. I like to pre-activate the yeast because sugar retards the action of the yeast and the buns don't tend to rise as well when dry yeast is used and I always melt the butter first in warmed milk.



I made the dough on Saturday, stored the shaped buns overnight in the fridge then baked them on Sunday morning. I had one for my breakfast and it was so delicious, I think these will become my go-to hot cross buns for the future. The orange scented syrup which dowses the buns is the real winner here.




Here's the recipe for you which makes 20 small pull apart buns or 12 regular size buns. For all my recipes I use a 250ml cup and a 20 ml tablespoon, unsalted butter and 60g eggs. My oven is a conventional gas oven so if your oven is fan forced you may need to reduce the oven temperature by 20ºC.  




Hot Cross Buns adapted from a Nadine Ingram recipe from the Flour and Stone Cookbook.
  
Fruit Mix
75g each sultanas and currants 
200 mls boiling water 
1 Earl Grey tea bag 
50g dried apricots or candied orange, chopped
1 tsp finely grated orange rind

Yeast Mixture 
10g dried yeast 
1 tsp plain flour 
1-2 tbls water

Bun Dough 
125 mls milk
60g unsalted butter, chopped
400g bread or plain flour
1 tsp fine salt 
2 tsp ground cinnamon 
¼ tsp each ground nutmeg, ground allspice and cloves 
60g soft brown sugar
1 egg

Crossing Mixture
100g plain flour
100 mls water
2 tbs sunflower oil
½ tsp ground nutmeg 

Glaze
100g caster sugar
2 tbs water
1 tsp finely grated orange rind
Strained juice of 1 orange

To serve 
Butter and jam 

Fruit soak
Place the sultanas, currants, tea bag and 200mls boiling water in a bowl. Set aside for an hour or until fruit is plump. Remove tea bag and drain fruit well discarding the liquid. Pat the fruit dry with a paper towel. Add the dried apricots and 1 tsp orange zest and set aside until needed.

Yeast Mixture
Place all ingredients into a small bowl and mix to form a paste. Cover and leave for 10 minutes or until small bubbles form. If bubbles don't form after 1 minutes, discard the batch and start again.

Dough
Heat the milk in a small saucepan or in the microwave until lukewarm. Add the chopped butter and allow the butter to melt. Sift the flour, salt and spices into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook. Add the sugar, the yeast mixture and egg. Mix together on a low speed adding enough of the milk mixture to form a sticky dough. Once incorporated, increase the speed to medium and mix for 7 minutes. The dough will have pulled away from the side of the bowl forming a ball. Add the fruit mixture and continue to mix until incorporated. The dough will be quite sticky at this point. Place the dough into a large lightly greased bowl. Cover and place in a warm place until doubled in size, about 2 hours.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and gently knead until no longer sticky. Divide into 20 equal pieces if making into a circle or 12 pieces if using a lamington tray. Use your hand to roll each piece on the work surface to form a round bun. Place buns close together on a baking stone or pizza tray lined with baking paper, cover with a tea towel and allow to prove until doubled in size, about 45 minutes. While the buns are proving, make the crossing mixture.

Crossing mixture
Place all the ingredients for the crossing mix in a bowl and whisk to form an elastic batter. If it’s too thick, add a little extra water. Fill a piping bag fitted with a 5mm plain nozzle. Once the buns have risen, pipe a cross on the top of each bun then take the baking paper and gently remove the paper with buns from the baking stone as the stone needs to be preheated before use. 

If using a baking stone, place the baking stone in a cold oven on the middle shelf and then turn the oven to 200ºC (conventional). Allow to heat for 15 minutes before carefully placing the buns onto the pre-heated stone. Return the baking stone to the oven and bake for 15 minutes or until the buns have risen a little. Rotate the baking stone or tray and bake for a further 10 - 15 minutes or until dark golden brown.  If you’re using a pizza tray or a lamington tin, place the tray in a pre-heated 200ºC oven and bake for 25-30 minutes or until the buns are a dark golden brown.

Glaze
While the buns are in the oven, make the glaze. Combine the sugar, water, 1 tsp of orange rind and the juice and bring to a boil. Simmer for 5 minutes or until syrupy. Remove the buns from the oven and place on a cooling rack. Brush hot cross buns with the glaze and cool a little, then slide the baking paper and buns onto a wire rack. Serve warm with butter and jam. 



I think these are best served on the day or reheated the next day in the microwave or toasted with butter and jam.

Wishing you all a safe and happy Easter.

Bye for now,

Jillian

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hot cross babka

hot cross babka

29 Mar 2018

I just love hot cross buns and every year I either try out a new recipe or a new iteration. Today I'm taking a break from Passover Week to share with you my newest take on the classic hot cross bun. 




This year as I'm still enamoured with all things 'babka', I decided to make a hot cross babka, albeit without the cross.




I used my regular babka dough but reduced the sugar as I knew I'd be adding a load of dried fruit to the mix. 



I decided to forgo the complicate divide and twist and went for a simple twist instead. As the babka dough is so full of fruit I knew the cinnamon filling would be barely visible once baked.



For the past few years I've plumped the dried fruit in Earl Grey tea but instead of dousing ;the babka with a sugar syrup once it came out of the oven, I decided to use the leftover liquid from the soaking process which tasted of orange rind and apricot. The whole babka thing is a labour of love. I soaked the fruit on Friday night; made the dough on Saturday then shaped, baked and ate the babka on Sunday. I had my slice still warm from the oven topped with a knob of butter. The verdict - absolutely delicious!



Here's the recipe for you, which makes one loaf. For all my recipes I use a 250 ml cup, a 20 ml tablespoon, unsalted butter and 60g eggs. My oven is a conventional gas oven so if your oven is fan forced you may need to reduce the oven temperature by 20°C. 

Hot Cross Babka - makes one loaf

Dried Fruit Soak
75g each sultanas and currants
50g dried apricots, chopped
1 cup hot Earl Grey tea
2 tsp finely grated orange rind

Yeast Mixture
2 tsp dried yeast
1 tsp flour
1 tsp sugar
1-2 tbl water

Dough
75 g unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 tsp vanilla
1 egg
2 cups plain flour, plus extra for dusting
40g caster sugar
½ tsp mixed spice
1 tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp salt
1 to 2 tbl milk or water, if required

Filling
80 g soft unsalted butter
100 g brown sugar
1 tsp golden or maple syrup
4 tsp ground cinnamon
50 g almond meal

Syrup
⅓ cup of the fruit soak liquid
2 tbs caster sugar

A few hours before making the dough, prepare the fruit soak. In a small bowl place the dried fruit, then pour over the hot tea. Let soak for one to 2 hours or until the fruit is plump and juicy. Drain the fruit, reserving the liquid, then add the grated orange rind to the fruit and set to one side.

In a small bowl, combine the yeast with 1 tsp flour and 1 tsp sugar and sufficient water to make a paste. Cover and set to one side for about 10 minutes until the mixture froths up, then continue on with the rest of the recipe.

In a small bowl, combine the cooled melted butter and vanilla. Add the egg and mix until well combined. Sift the flour, spices and salt together into the bowl of a stand mixer then stir in the sugar. With the dough hook attached, add the yeast mixture, the well-drained fruit and sufficient liquid to make soft dough. If the mixture is looking a bit dry, add another tablespoon or so of milk or water. Mix the dough for about 10 minutes before removing the soft dough and placing into a greased bowl. Cover the bowl with a cloth and leave in a warm place for about an hour before placing the dough in the fridge to rest overnight. 

Bring the dough back to room temperature while you prepare the filling. In a small bowl, cream together the butter, sugar, the syrup and the ground cinnamon. Mix in the almond meal to form a paste, ensuring there are no lumps in the mixture.

Grease and line the base and sides of a loaf tin with baking paper. Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface into a rectangle measuring 15 by 11 inches (38 by 28 cm). Trim the sides to make them even, then position the dough so that a long side is closest to you. Use an offset spatula to spread the filling over the rectangle, leaving a ¾ in/2 cm border all around. Brush a little bit of water along the long end farthest away from you. Use both hands to roll up the rectangle like a roulade, starting from the long side that is closest to you and ending at the other long end. Press to seal the dampened end of the roulade and then use both hands to even out the roll into a perfect thick cigar. Rest the cigar on its seam.

Trim about ¾ in/2 cm off both ends of the roulade with a serrated knife then gently press the 2 ends together to form a loop then twist each end of the loop in the opposite direction (like wringing out a towel) to create a simple twist. Gently lift the babka into the loaf pan then cover the pan with a large plastic bag, knotted loosely and leave to rise in a warm place for 1 to 1½ hours. The cake will rise by 10 to 20 percent.

Preheat the oven to 375°F/190°C, making sure you allow plenty of time for the oven to heat fully. Remove the babka from the plastic bag and place the babka on the middle rack of the oven, and bake for about 45 minutes, until dark brown and a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean. If not ready, return to the oven for another 5-10 minutes.

While the cake is in the oven, make the syrup. Combine the fruit soak and sugar in a saucepan; place over medium heat and bring to the boil. As soon as the sugar dissolves, reduce the heat and simmer the syrup for a few minutes until slightly thickened. As soon as the cake comes out of the oven, brush the syrup over. It is important to use up all the syrup. Leave the cake until it is just warm, then remove the cake from the pan and let cool completely on a wire rack before slicing the babka and serving it with a dab of butter.



I'll be taking a break from posting tomorrow and will be back on Monday with the last of my Passover bakes.

Wishing every-one a peaceful Easter.

Bye for now,

Jillian

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hot cross buns

hot cross buns

24 Apr 2017

Passover coincided with Easter this year so I wasn't able to taste these hot cross buns until after Easter was over. I don't like posting a recipe until it passes the taste test, so apologies for bringing this recipe to you after the event, but let's face it, hot cross buns are good at any time of the year.



I've been making hot cross buns for years using this Margaret Fulton recipe but this year I decided to tweak the recipe a little. I doubled the quantity of dried fruit in the recipe and swapped dried apricots for the mixed peel (which many people don't like) then soaked the fruit in earl grey tea.



I defrosted one of the hot cross buns on Saturday; toasted it before slathering the bun with butter and enjoyed it with a cup of tea. 




The hot cross bun was delicious and I think the chopped dried apricots added a nice zing.



Here's the recipe for you. Please note, I use a 250 ml cup and a 20 ml tablespoon. All eggs are 60 grams and my oven is a conventional oven not fan forced, so you may need to reduce your oven temperature by 20°C.

Hot Cross Buns adapted from a Margaret Fulton recipe - makes 8

Ingredients
¼ cup currants, sultanas or a mix of both
¼ cup chopped dried apricots
1 Earl Grey teabag
2 cups plain flour
½ tsp mixed spice
½ tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp salt
7g (1 sachet) dry yeast
30g butter, diced
50g caster sugar
125mls lukewarm milk or water 
1 egg, lightly beaten

Paste for cross
2 tbs self-raising flour
2 tbs plain flour
2 tbs cold water
1 tsp sugar

Glaze
¼ teaspoon powdered gelatine
2 tbs water
1 tbs sugar

Method
1-2 hours before preparing the dough combine the dried fruits, the early grey tea bag and half a cup of boiling water in a small bowl. Steep the fruit until plump then drain well, discarding the tea bag.

Sift the flour, mixed spice, cinnamon and salt into a bowl. Rub in the butter, then mix in the well drained fruit. Stir in the dry yeast with the sugar. Combine the milk or water with the beaten egg  and add to the flour. Mix to form a soft dough. Turn onto a lightly floured work surface and knead until smooth and elastic.

Shape into a ball, place in a clean, greased bowl and turn the ball over so that the top of the dough is greased. Cover with a damp tea towel and leave to rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk. Turn the risen dough onto a lightly floured work surface and gently press out to 1 cm thick. Divide the dough into 8 pieces and shape each into a small ball. Place balls on a greased baking tray, at least 2.5 cm apart, or arrange in greased round cake tins. Cover and leave to rise in a warm place until doubled in size and soft to the touch. Preheat the oven to 200°C.

To make the paste for the cross, combine the flours, sugar and water and beat to a smooth paste. Put into a baking paper funnel or a small piping bag fitted with a plain nozzle. Pipe the prepared paste into cross. Bake the buns for about 20 minutes.




While the buns are baking make the glaze by sprinkling the gelatine over the water in a small saucepan. When softened, dissolve over a low heat. Add the sugar and stir until dissolved. Remove from the heat. Remove the buns from the oven and brush with the glaze while still hot. Stand the buns in a warm place, such as near the opened door of the turned off oven. This helps to set the glaze. Serve warm with lashings of butter.

I'll be back again next week so until then,

Bye for now,

Jillian

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hot cross bun and butter pudding

hot cross bun and butter pudding

8 Apr 2013

Do you remember me moaning about my inability to consume hot cross buns during Easter? Well I've rectified that and perhaps I've over compensated a little because my freezer is now filled with hot cross buns. So what to do with all those leftover buns?



The weather in Sydney has been down right miserable the past few days. A week ago it was 30ºC and on Thursday it was only 16ºC. As it's been so cold and wet, on Saturday I decided to use a few of those hot cross buns to make a bread and butter pudding.



Now the best bread and butter pudding I've ever eaten has been at Matt Kemp's restaurants. Where Matt goes, so does the bread and butter pudding so I've eaten it at Restaurant Balzac, Montpelier Public House and the Burlington. I think these days he's cooking at Gazebo Wine Garden and I hear a version of his famous bread and butter pudding is on the menu. I tracked down his recipe and discovered the secret to it's deliciousness, apart from lashings of egg yolks and milk. Matt sprinkles the pudding with icing sugar and brulees the puddings just before serving.



I made 2 individual serves of the pudding in small dishes using one mini hot cross bun per dish. You could make a larger pudding using 4-6 hot cross buns. Just adjust the quantities accordingly.

Hot Cross Bun and Butter Pudding (serves one) printable recipe
1 mini hot cross bun
softened butter
1 egg
1 tablespoon caster sugar
¼ teaspoon of vanilla
100 mls milk
1 tablespoon cream

To serve
1 tablespoon icing sugar
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon

Method
Slice the bun horizontally in 3 and butter each slice. Place the buttered bun in a small dish. I made one pudding with the cross side up and one with the cross side down. I suggest placing the bun upside down as the top browns too quickly.
In a small bowl, mix the egg with the caster sugar and the vanilla. Add the milk and cream and mix until well combined.

Pour the mixture through a sieve over the sliced bun in the little dish. Let the pudding rest for about 20 minutes so the custard soaks into the bun. Preheat the oven to 180ºC/350ºF. 

Place the pudding into a bain marie of cold water and bake in a moderate oven 180ºC/350ºF for 30 - 45 minutes. When the top is brown, the pudding has puffed up and the custard is set, take the pudding out of the oven.



Before serving, sprinkle over the combined icing sugar and cinnamon and caramelize the top with a brulee torch or place under a heated grill. 



Voila - one piping hot, hot cross bun and butter pudding just perfect for this weather.

See you all again on Wednesday with some more baking.

Bye for now,


Jillian

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hot cross buns

hot cross buns

21 Apr 2011

Do you remember a few months ago, I bemoaned my inability to bake bread? Well I checked the yeast I was using and it had expired quite some time back. A fresh tin of yeast and my yeast cooking disasters were over. One of my favourite Easter treats are hot cross buns and with my yeast cooking mojo back in action, I decided to make a batch.

I used a recipe from my Margaret Fulton cookbook.

I think I made my first batch of hot cross buns when I was still in high school and this would have been the recipe I used. It's still a good recipe even after all these years. 

As soon as they were out of the oven I had to try one, topped with a little bit of butter. Well actually, I had to try two! I took the rest into work and stored a few in the freezer to eat once Passover is over.



Do you have any favourite Easter treats you like to make?

This week has been a bit of a trial so I'm glad it's at an end. I'm really looking forward to my 5 day break. Have a great Easter and try not to eat too many Easter eggs and hot cross buns. 

I'll see you all again next week,

Jillian

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Hot Cross Buns

Hot Cross Buns

24 Mar 2008

As promised I finally baked a batch of easter buns on Sunday. I took out my much loved, much used and much stained Margaret Fulton Cookbook and whipped up a batch of hot cross buns minus the crosses. 




I had 2 of the buns for my breakfast and as Dad had decided to celebrate Easter with a roast turkey with all the trimmings, I failed to do lunch justice.



Dad had decided to celebrate Easter with a roast turkey with all the trimmings, I failed to do lunch justice. We were all overfull at dinner time so it was a piece of toast for me, a piece of fruit for Mum and a bowl of rice bubbles for my Dad.




I hope you all enjoyed the Easter break,

Jillian

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