Good Friday seems a bit odd to celebrate at face value. A man betrayed by a friend, beaten, crucified and punished for other people’s wrong doings.
Yeah, when you say it like that, when you focus on the negative, it seems cruel.
However, this is not a ‘face value’ sort of occasion. We are celebrating the greatest sacrifice, something that makes giving up a vice for 40 days seem like chump change, tbh. God-made-man laying down his life for me? That’s pretty amazing. Why WOULDNT we celebrate today?!
We took some time for reverence earlier today, and after lunch I started the traditional Hot Cross Buns (you may of heard the song ;) ) to honor that sacrifice - the living bread, with a cross on top, filled with herbs like those put with Christ in the tomb. I stray from the traditional raisins and sub dried mango or apricot, but otherwise this is a pretty traditional recipe 💜 I know breads not easy, and right now yeast/flour aren’t in abundance so don’t feel like you HAVE to make these.
I start by warming my milk till it’s just warmer than my finger (or use a thermometer till 110* F), then pour it, a tablespoon of sugar and one of yeast as well into my mixing bowl.
I cover that, and let it chill until I get bubbles forming. This isn’t necessary but I do it every time just to make sure my yeast is still happy :) While that’s doing it’s thing, I get together the next batch of ingredients- I put 3 tbs into the same pan I heated the milk up (cause extra dishes are just ridiculous) and that residual heat usual melts the butter down for me - if it doesn’t, I pop it over the heat for about 20 seconds and done! I then put 2 eggs in the measuring cup for milk, and 1/3 c sugar all together, and a cup of dried fruit on the side. I usually just toss them all into the pan as I measure, but for the sake of visual representation, I did separate for y’all ^_^
Once my yeast mix is bubbly, I stir in the butter, eggs and sugar till combined. Letting that sit for just a second, I measure out 4 cups and 3 tablespoons of flour, 1/4 teaspoon each of ginger and nutmeg, a teaspoon of cinnamon and 1/4 teaspoon of salt, then whisk those together. I always, always, always, measure them separately on the flour then whisk together to keep anything from countering one another.
After mixing that all together, I add 1/3 (exactness not needed) of the flour mix into my yeast/milk mix, stir a few times, and one more 1/3 and the dried fruit, and then the final third of the flour mix.
I can usually stir that 3-5 times before I have to switch over to my handy-dandy…hands. I scoop around the edges of the bowl, then push straight down the center to help bring the rest of the dough together - usually about 5 minutes of this gives you a pretty happy dough.
From there I plop out my dough on a slightly floured surface and do a basic knead for about 2-3 minutes - I’m basically building up the gluten so it’s nice, light and fluffy :) If you’ve never kneaded (say that 5 times fast) before, it’s pretty simple and almost therapeutic once you get the hang of it! Grabbing the edge of the dough further from you, pull out, up and then back towards you, joining the furthest end to the closest end to you, then push down and out. Pull, up, push, down. Easy peasy!
Now at this point some folks like to take a clean bowl, butter it and rest their dough - I however just butter my bowl I mixed my dough in, and plop it back in there, cover and rest for about an hour. If you have a colder kitchen, I’d recommend going for 1.5 hours. While I wait I usually clean up my work area, wash dishes, etc., but first I want to take that same pan I used for milk/butter/flour and get my ‘cross’ paste ready. I measure out 1 cup flour and 2 tablespoons of sugar, and then in my liquid measuring cup I used for milk, I put 6 tablespoons of water and 2 tablespoons of milk - you can get ultra fancy and add a teaspoon of vanilla if you’d like ;) I wouldn’t recommend mixing these together until right before applying, because it will get very gummy and hard to pipe.
After the dough has doubled in size, I punch it down gently, put it back onto my bench and sort of squeeze it into a semi-uniform log, cut it in half, cut those halves in halves, and then into thirds, making 12 pieces total. Now you can instead weigh your dough, then divide that weight into 12 and then weigh out each piece for perfectly portioned buns. Buuuut I didn’t do that, and the buns look pretty good all in all.
I roll these dudes into little balls, and put them into a buttered pan - you can put them in one big one but I did two small disposable pans - cover these and let rest about 30 minutes, or until they bounce back when you gently push down the top. Heat your oven up to 325*, and NOW is the time to make your ‘cross’ paste. Honestly just dump it all together, stir until it’s incorporated, then put it in an icing bag or ziplock bag. That’s it! Cut off the tip of whichever you have, then pipe horizontal, then vertical (or vertical then horizontal, doesn’t matter) lines on top of the buns. It doesn’t have to be perfect :) For extra skill points, sprinkle sugar in the raw on top of your cross!
I then put these guys uncovered into the oven for 15 minutes, pull them and brush them down with heavy cream (half and half works too), then back in the oven for 13 minutes. While I wait I rinse the cup that had heavy cream, put 2 table spoons of apricot jam and 1 tablespoon of water in it and mix till it’s nice and blended, and after the last 13 minutes, I glaze the buns with apricot.
All that’s left to do is enjoy ^_^
Mix your warm milk, yeast and sugar together until it bubbles. Add in eggs, 1/3 c of sugar and 3 tablespoons of melted butter until just incorporated.
Mix your flour, spices and salt together in a bowl, then add in thirds into your milk mixture, on the second third add in the dried fruit, then mix with your hand until incorporated. Knead on a floured surface, then rest n a buttered, covered bowl 1-1.5 hours.
After risen, punch down dough, roll out and divy into 12 like pieces. Put pieces into a pan, cover and let rise for 30-40 minutes.
Create your Cross mix, and pipe horizontal and vertical lines on every bun - cook at 325* for 15 minutes, brush with heavy cream and bake for 13 more minutes until done, then brush with jam glaze. Best served hot, keeps for 3 days.
Full Recipe:
1 cup milk at 110*
1 tablespoon each yeast and sugar
1 cup dried fruit
1/3 cup sugar
2 eggs at room temp
3 tablespoons melted butter
4 cups + 3 tablespoons flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon each of nutmeg and ginger
1 tablespoon heavy cream
—Cross Mix—
1 cup flour
2 tablespoons of milk
6 tablespoons of water
—Glaze_
2 tablespoons of jam
1 tablespoon of water