This is my attempt at making Hot Cross Buns. I've been searching for Hot Cross Buns for Easter but they're just not available in the US the way I like them. I contacted a few different shops here, that specialize in foods other than American; no-one stocks them. I mentioned to one shop owner that I was going to have a go and bake my own. He said, "if they turned out well, I will order from you". Hmmmmm....I think not.
Its all a bit of a fiddle really and takes about 2 hours to make. They have to "rest" for an hour and 1/2 before being baked. Mine don't have that mushy almost fluffy consistency that I grew up with. The actual "cross" turned out well as I made it the authentic way, with flour and water, not icing (counterfeits).
I think I'll leave it to the mass produced experts who make millions of them at a time. These won't go to waste though - I will serve these to my unsuspecting friends, toasted with pounds of butter. And a creme egg chaser.
13 comments:
When I lived in L.A., I had the same dilemma sourcing Hot Cross Buns, granary bread sans added sugar/honey and loose tea (have an aversion to the ubiquitous Lipton's tea bags!) and so on. No luck on the buns/ bread front but did eventually track down delicious loose tea in a gorgeous Indian deli on the other side of town. Bliss!
Nora
P.S. The buns look scrumptious & the creme egg chaser sounds truly divine!
I'm about to dig into the good ole edmonds to give the hot cross buns a try!
It's funny I don't love the taste of them but I do feel like they are a necessary for Easter a.m. I do prefer them dunked in hot tea with milk and sugar than to eat them on their own.
Hi Nora: I have been lucky enough to find PG Tips, but have become more of a coffee drinker so I don't go through my stash so quickly.
Lovely to see you.
C.
thecatskillkiwi: I looked at the recipe in the Edmonds and Alison Holst. The recipe I used was from (don't laugh) Paddington Bear's cookbook - I did an extensive search on the net. It wasn't so fiddly for the first turn. Myabe I should have used the ole faithful.
Oh can't wait to hear how yours turn out. Good luck.
LBR: I think its an Anglo thing. The hot cross buns that are sold here are very different from the "buns" that I am used to. They are just not the same. I eat them toasted with lashings of butter. Delicious.
xC
These look SIGNIFICANTLY better than the ones I tried to make with Four last year which turned out like rocks. Not rock buns, you understand, but actual rocks with dark, pellety currants in them. We used Delia, the only book I had to hand and the recipe seemed authentic enough but I was confused and made anxious by references to different types of yeast. I hate them anyway, so no great loss. It was just that she liked the song..
Funnily enough you can buy all sorts of UK things at our local ALBERTSONS (we are just up the road from LA in a lovely seaside town) including Jammie Dodgers, Digestives, HobNobs ($5 a packet) Robinson's Barley Water, Ribena and the ubiquitous PG Tips. I actually rather like Trader Joe's Earl Grey tea bags in a pinch, but then was never a fan of ordinary tea anyway. I want a large Crunchie Easter Egg. I will not get. WAHHH!
The picture alone is good enough to eat.
Mothership: Lovely to see you. Honestly in the end, the Hot Cross Buns turned into hockey pucks.
xC
Corine: well you are always so lovely, aren't you. xC
Oh you are so clever making your own hot cross buns. I am now inspired, after whining on and on about not being able to get them here. Thank you!
ps creme egg chaser -- brilliance
Santa Monica - that tea room over by the Kings head pub. There is a little shop with baked goods that has hot cross buns this time of year.
Santa Monica has the best brit stuff, large expat crowd.
You might also want this info - http://stickytoffeepudding.com/
Sheer brilliance. Mine looked a little like these last year, but were heavy like little round rocks. Of course I still ate them. An inch of butter makes most food bearable. LLGxx
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