Ingredients:
250g flour
7g dry yeast (or 1 sachet)
2 tablespoons sugar
125g sultanas and citrus peel
1 tablespoon cinnamon powder
1 tablespoon mixed spice
25g butter or margarine
75ml warm milk
1 egg
1 tsp orange blossom water(optional)
1/2 tsp salt
Ingredients for the Cross
50g flour
50ml water
Additional Ingredients (optional for glaze)
3 tablespoons apricot jam or honey to be melted or 1 tsp golden syrup heated with ½ tsp water)
2 tablespoons milk for brushing
Method:
Preheat the oven to 180C.
Combine the yeast, sugar and milk.
Stir then cover and set aside for 10 minutes while you prepare the dry ingredients.
Sift the flour, cinnamon and mixed spice.
Add the sultans and citrus peel.
Add the margarine.
Combine to form a crumb like texture.
Add the egg and orange blossom water
Add the milk/yeast mixture to the flour mixture.
Combine until a soft dough forms.
Don’t add any additional flour as this will render the dough too tough to work.
Continue kneading the dough continuously for 10 minutes then cover and place in a warm spot for 1 hour.
Press the dough flat then knead for 2-3 minutes.
Break the dough into 4cm diameter buns.
Place the buns about 1cm apart in a lined baking tray.
Cover and allow to rise a further 15 minutes while you prepare the mixture for the cross.
Combine the water and flour then place in a piping bag.
Pipe across the buns then bake in a preheated oven for 30 minutes.
After 10 minutes in the oven brush the buns (not the cross) with milk, this helps give the buns the soft texture.
Brush with milk once more 5 minutes before removing from the oven.
Remove from oven.
Brush with melted apricot jam or a mixture of golden syrup and water.
Recipe credit: Reshika Singh
Prepared, tried and tested by: Preshana Singh
