Hot Cross Buns

I thought I would be back in my routine of making at least one recipe a week but that really has not happened, mainly due to Sci Formal at Queen's University. I will not go into much detail but I have had a lot of work to do for it. If you're at all interested here is the website Sci Formal that will give all the information you need. The past years have been pretty cool!

This picture doesn't really do it justice

Hot cross buns have quite a history behind them. They modern notion of the buns were originally made for Good Friday with the cross being a symbol of the crucifixion of Christ. This version was not seen until 1773 while the origin of this bun could date as far back as the ancient Greeks. Saxons were believed to have eaten crossed  in honour of the goddess Eostre of which the word Easter is most likely derived. In the late 1500s it was illegal to sell hot cross buns unless there was a burial, it was Good Friday or Christmas. One final tidbit, English folklore says that a hot cross bun baked on Good Friday will not go stale or mouldy for the upcoming year. Whither you believe that one or not is up to you.

Hot cross buns are not much more than a sweetened and spiced bread with icing. If you have ever made a loaf of bread before this is no different. My recipe comes from the Joy of Cooking and the recipe is good overall, although I needed a lot more flour than the recipe said in order to bring the dough together. Flour is a tricky thing especially when measuring by volume and not weight. Depending on how much the flour is packed in the measuring cup you could end up with a very different result. I say this but I still don't measure by weight, I have never got around to getting a scale. Also depending on the humidity of the day the flour can absorb more or less water. Crossing the buns was a little harder than I thought, my icing was not really the right consistancy. I also had a lot left over so I just decided to pretty much dump the remaining icing on top of the buns. Did not look as nice but tasted so much better!

Verdict: would make again.