Hot Cross Buns
Hot cross buns are the second recipe that Megan and I made together. The second they were mentioned, Megan said she definitely wanted to make them. I had honestly never had a hot cross bun until this year and they are apparently commonly serves on Good Friday (tomorrow).
You can use any dried fruit that you like in your buns. When I was grabbing all the ingredients for our baking date, I grab a variety package of dried fruit. It had dried peaches, apriocots, dates, and I’m not sure what else in it.
We went with a King Arthur Flour recipe and found their blog entry about this recipe to be very helpful. Since they include some step by step photos, we were definitely checking it out more than just the printout of the recipe that we had.
Mixing up this dough was odd for both of us. You literally throw everything into the bowl, then start your mixer. It was weird, but it worked.
Once the dough was ready to be shaped, Megan showed me a trick that she learned while working at Flour bakery about how to shape the dough balls so they wouldn’t have any seams. It’s really hard to describe, so we decided to use my Flip again to take a video of it. It’s pretty quick, but hopefully it helps. I’m definitely going to try it out next time I’m shaping dough.
We used an ice cream scoop to portion out the dough and ended up with more buns than the recipe said we’d get. So they were a little crowded in the pan and rose into each other. This results in more square-shaped buns than pretty round buns, but that’s ok.
The buns tasted like a sweet bread with fruit in them. The icing on the top added just the right amount of sugary goodness to the mix. I took these into work and my coworkers enjoyed them with their morning coffees.
One Year Ago: Raspberry Curd
Two Years Ago: Raspberry Cheesecake Swirl Brownies and Homemade Oreos
Hot Cross Buns
Yield: 12-14
Ingredients:
For the Buns
1/4 cup rum (you can also use apple juice if you prefer)
1/2 cup mixed dried fruit
1/2 cup raisins or dried currants
1 1/4 cups milk, room temperature
2 eggs
1 egg yolk (reserve the white for the topping)
6 Tbsp butter, room temperature
2 tsp instant yeast
1/4 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground cloves or allspice
1/4 tsp freshly ground nutmeg
1 3/4 tsp salt
1 Tbsp baking powder
4 1/2 cups flour
For the Topping
1 egg white, reserved from above
1 Tbsp milk
For the Icing
1 cup + 2 Tbsp powdered sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
pinch of salt
4 tsp milk, or enough to make a thick, pipeable icing
Directions:
Lightly grease a 10" square pan or 9" x 13" pan.
Mix the rum or apple juice with the dried fruit and raisins, cover with plastic wrap, and microwave briefly, just till the fruit and liquid are very warm, and the plastic starts to "shrink wrap" itself over the top of the bowl. Set aside to cool to room temperature. Note: If you worry about using plastic wrap in your microwave, simply cover the bowl with a glass lid.
When the fruit is cool, mix together all of the dough ingredients except the fruit, and knead, using an electric mixer or bread machine, till the dough is soft and elastic. Mix in the fruit and any liquid not absorbed.
Let the dough rise for 1 hour, covered. It should become puffy, though may not double in bulk.
Divide the dough into billiard ball-sized pieces, about 3 3/4 ounces each. A heaped muffin scoop (about 1/3 cup) makes about the right portion. You'll make 12 to 14 buns. Use your greased hands to round them into balls. Arrange them in the prepared pan.
Cover the pan, and let the buns rise for 1 hour, or until they've puffed up and are touching one another. While the dough is rising, preheat the oven to 375°F.
Whisk together the reserved egg white and milk, and brush it over the buns.
Bake the buns for 20 minutes, until they're golden brown. Remove from the oven, and transfer to a rack to cool.
Mix together the icing ingredients, and when the buns are completely cool, pipe it in a cross shape atop each bun.
Recipe from Kind Arthur Flour
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I am Jen the Beantown Baker. Engineer by day and baking maven by night. Hubby serves as my #1 fan and official taste tester. We got hitched back in 2006. Barefoot. In the sand. With the waves crashing behind us. It was one of the best decisions we’ve ever made. 
that cake is so beautiful, and sounds delicious!
Wow! Your pictures are amazing! I would love to sink my teeth into that cake right now!
Well…. you’ve done it again! Now, I simply have to add this to my Christmas Eve repetoire. It is fabulous! So many recipes….not enough time!
http://www.simplysweeter.blogspot.com
wow! this look unbelievable. I might have to conquer my fear of baking just for this.
Wow, that is stunning! Nice job!
Whoa..this looks beyond incredible…I dont think my sweet tooth will be satisfied ever without this!
I have to do this for Christmas dessert! Thanks for sharing!
C’est magnifique! Great job!!
Seriously, that looks downright sinful and gorgeous!!! Just amazing Jen!
wow, this is over the top 🙂 but totally worth it!! looks awesome!
What a great combination of flavors! I can almost smell the cake. Yum!!
STUNNING! Good job on this, I want a piece!
…great cake!!! and happy bday to Z!!! Hugs, ciao Flavia
What am amazing cake! I love the bright red and contrasting white, simmply beautiful!
What a beautiful cake! My family would love this. Cheesecake and red velvet are my hubby’s favorites. Maybe I will make it for his birthday!
Talk about impressive! You go!
And just when I think you can’t keep coming up with brilliant ideas and delicious photos…this looks/sounds utterly amazing!
Cheesecake in between the cake layers… OMG. You so outdid yourself. That is amazing!
Wow. I saw a similar cheesecake but couldn’t fint a recipe so resolved to just make “plain ole red velvet cupcakes.” This looks so much better!
Oh My – this looks so amazing!
that looks awesome! I saw something similar in the Sam’s club add that I’ve been wanting to try but homemade would be even better
This cake looks so beautiful and I bet it tastes INCREDIBLE! I couldn’t print it out fast enough – I’m definitely trying it in the new year! Wow!
this has been on my ‘want to try’ list for a while! Maybe this will be the push i need to give it a try!
That cake looks gorgeous and delicious!
This is so cool! The only reason I like red velvet is the cream cheese frosting and this just takes it to a whole new level!
Wow, where to begin?! That bright red is gorgeous! The cheesecake hiding in the center sounds ridiculously delicious! Gorgeous photos too:)
this is a perfect holiday cake! great idea.
What a great idea! I love how the cheesecake layer looks so impressive sandwiched between the shockingly red red velvet layers!
Ok this looks amazing!
Hey girl, I am 100% sure I am going to make this for Christmas…it looks amazing! Just wondering…you used a 9″ springform pan for the cheesecake, right?
Joanne, Sorry for the delay, but yet, I used a springform pan for the cheesecake. I think that’s why it came out a tad bigger than the cake layers. Did you make it for Christmas? How did it turn out?
I made this for Christmas and it was absolutely AMAZING! My family really enjoyed it and I already have thoughts of the other cakes that would be incredible with a layer of cheesecake inbetween. What a great idea!
This looks amazing! I am making 60 red velvet cupcakes for my cousin’s homecoming. I used the red velvet recipe without the cheesecake…AMAZING! The best recipe I have found yet. Thanks, keep it up!