HOT CROSS BUNS

In just under a week’s time I’ll be in sunny Italy shovelling into my face monster portions of gnocchi and pizza and proper Easter eggs (sorry British Easter eggs) and chocolate of all sorts, and the 60 pence brick-sized flapjack from the corner shop by the Shard and the packs of Fruit Shortcake bought out of desperation from quality-checking too many videos in Khmer will only be a distant memory. However, lately during my semi-sleepless nights that I euphemistically like to call ‘recipe development sessions’ I’ve found myself pondering over British Easter cakes and treats. It may or may not be that I’ve spent the last four days in bed with a broken stomach, and survived on boiled rice and corn cakes only. Or that in this timeframe I’ve watched all of Mary Berry’s programs five million times, alternating them with Masterchef for sanity (?). 

But it did take me back to Easter time in good olde Shropshire, where Easter lunch is like, cucumber on toast but then you have four different cakes for pudding. And then you have tea with four more half an hour later. Well Simnel cake deserves an honorable mention because it looks so pretty and there’s like a half a kilo of delicious marzipan in it. But we all know marzipan is terribly misunderstood, so when I decided to pick one Easter treat to veganise, I went for my mates fluffy sticky hot cross buns. They’re really easy to make (even with a hot water bottle carefully positioned onto your stomach) and they’re filled with all nice sorts of things ranging from cinnamon and spices to dried fruit and peel and covered in apricot glaze. Best enjoyed between a bite of cucumber on toast and two of Simnel cake. Or you can use them as the bun for a chocolate egg sandwich. Who am I to judge. Hah.

HOT CROSS BUNS

260ml (1 cup + 2 tablespoons) lukewarm soya milk or other non-dairy milk

100g (1/2 cup) sugar
1 tablespoon active yeast
2 tablespoons ground flaxseed
3 tablespoons lukewarm water
2 tablespoons orange juice
440g (3 ½ cups) plain flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon cloves
1/4 teaspoon allspice
1/2 teaspoon salt
55g (4 tablespoons) margarine, melted
zest of 1 orange
100g (3/4 cup) sultanas

2 tablespoons mixed peel

2 tablespoons plain flour

2 tablespoons water

3 tablespoons apricot jam

Mix sugar, soya milk and yeast together in a large bowl and let sit for 10 minutes or until it bubbles up. In the meantime in a separate small bowl, mix flaxseed and water together then leave aside to set. Whisk in orange juice, then add to the yeast mixture. Add flour, spices, melted margarine and orange zest and bring into a dough. Knead on a lightly floured surface for about 8 minutes until smooth, kneading in the sultanas and mixed peel at the end. Place the dough in an oiled bowl, cover, and let rise for an hour and a half or until doubled in size.

Line two baking trays with parchment paper. Divide the dough into 12 equal pieces of about 100g each, and shape into a ball. Place on the trays, cover again and let rise until doubled, about 30-45 minutes.
Heat the apricot jam over low heat to melt, brush over the top of the warm buns and leave to cool.
Next preheat oven to 200°C/400°F and while it heats up make the paste for the crosses. Mix the flour with water, adding the water 1 tablespoon at a time, until you get a thick paste. Spoon into a piping bag then pipe a line along each row of buns, then repeat in the other direction to create crosses. Bake the buns for 15 minutes or until they turn a deep golden brown.

Devour as they are or cut in half and go crazy with buttery spread.