Hot Cross Buns are one of my favourite things about Easter in Australia. Every year for as long as they are available (usually a good two or three months), I buy the packs of a dozen hot cross buns from the supermarket and eat them every day, warmed in the microwave, with butter and jam. Germans don't 'do' hot cross buns, and while there are similar things available, such as Rosinenbrötchen, it's just not the same. So I decided to make some myself.
I used the recipe from taste.com.au, and they were perfect! The dough tripled in size while it was resting, and did so again after being shaped into buns, so we ended up with a dozen giant buns. I only put the cross on half the batch because I wasn't sure how it would turn out because I only had wholemeal flour left, and I normally I don't even like the cross because it's either hard or chewy. As you can see in the photos, the crosses didn't exactly work as planned; they're supposed be perfect white crosses on the buns. So I ended up with six perfect fruit buns, and six weird looking hot cross buns. I love the rustic look of the crossed ones though, they are my favourite.
The texture of the buns was absolutely perfect. Lovely and light and fluffy. Changes for next time: a little more butter, to help keep them moist for longer. More sultanas. My friend, flatmate, and fellow hot cross bun devotee, Fran, doesn't really like sultanas so I only put in half the recommended amount. I found it quiet upsetting having so few sultanas, because I absolutely love them, and even Fran admitted that there needed to be more. I will also make the batch into sixteen rather than a dozen, so that the buns are more normal sized, and so they hopefully last longer - the Germans liked them a bit too much!
