Make your hot cross bun cravings last that little bit longer with this delicious loaf.
Good things come in small packages, or so they say.
However, when it comes to baked goods, the more the better in my opinion, and for those of you who love hot cross buns and never feel like they last long enough, Doves Farm has just the recipe for you.
This spelt hot cross bun loaf will ensure your cravings for the Easter favourite are kept at bay with plenty for you to share with your household.
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Spelt hot cross bun loaf
(Makes 1 loaf)
Ingredients:
For the fruit bun starter:
- 50g butter, melted
- 300g Doves Farm Organic White Spelt Flour
- 1 tsp Doves Farm Quick Yeast
- 50g sugar
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1 tsp mixed spice
- 1 egg
- 150ml tepid milk
For the hot cross bun loaf:
- 1 orange, grated rind
- 75g sultanas
- 50g mixed glacé peel
- Butter, for tin
- Flour, for dusting
For the hot cross bun topping:
- 25g Doves Farm Organic White Spelt Flour
- 2 tbsp water
- 1 egg yolk
For the sourdough starter:
- 8-10 tbsp Doves Farm Organic Wholemeal Spelt Flour
- 8-10 tbsp tepid water
Method
- To make the fruit bun starter: Measure out and melt the butter. Put the spelt flour, quick yeast, sugar, salt and mixed spice into a bowl and stir to combine.
- Break the egg into the bowl, add the milk and mix everything together well. Stir in the melted butter and salt without over mixing. Cover with an upturned bowl and leave overnight.
- To make the hot cross bun loaf: Rub some butter around the inside of a 1kg/2lb bread tin. Grate the orange rind into the bowl.
- Add the sultanas and glacé peel and stir to make a sticky dough.
- Gather together the dough and knead it briskly in the bowl for 100 presses, it will become less sticky. Dust the work surface with flour, put the dough in the middle and lightly dust the top. Cut the dough into eight equal pieces and roll each into a ball.
- Arrange the dough balls, in two rows of four, in the bread tin.
- Cover the tin with an upturned bowl and leave in a warm place for the dough to rise, about an hour.
- Pre-heat the oven to 180°C, Fan 160°C, 350°F, Gas 4.
- To make the hot cross bun topping: For the cross topping, put the flour into a bowl, add the water and stir to make a paste.
- Using a teaspoon, pastry brush or piping bag, dribble or paint a cross onto each bun with the paste. Bake for 35 minutes.
- Remove the loaf from the oven, and carefully brush the top of the dough with egg yolk. Return the loaf to the oven for five minutes.
- Take the loaf out of the oven, turn it out and leave to cool on a wire rack.