I’ve always been put off making Hot Cross Buns because of the crosses.  I am fairly confident with buns now – I do a pretty good Chelsea Bun, with an enriched sourdough, and am quite adventurous in fillings and spices – so thought it was time to add a bit of piping to my baking.

Chelsea Buns, baked in square and round tins, with a little extra!

I thought I would use some Very Strong White with some Strong White and a mix of sourdough starter and instant yeast to generate the dough and give it a bit more flavour; and I soaked the dried ingredients in tea and spices overnight before mixing them in.  The crosses were made with a mix of gram and plain white flour, mixed with an equal weight of water, and piped using a piping syringe.

Overall, they were … OK.  I think a higher protein content on the flours would help and a richer dough, with more butter and two eggs instead of one.

Hot Cross Buns – batch 1 cooling and batch 3 waiting (batch 2 is in the oven!)