I have my baking mojo back! And, in a wonderful turn of events it's nearly Easter, so get ready for an onslaught of Easter themed bakes over the next fortnight...
Hot cross buns are an Easter staple. Whether you're a diehard fan of the traditional fruity ones, or have been tempted off the straight and narrow by the likes of M&S's chocolate and fudge variety, they're always a firm favourite over the Easter period. I was going to try and find a recipe and give them a go this year - oddly I've never attempted them before - but as soon as I came across this corker on the Delicious Magazine website I changed my mind entirely.
Baking hybrids are everywhere at the moment: cronuts, duffins, cruffins... if it's possible to combine products then odds are a bakery somewhere in the world has tried it. Well, why not at Easter too? Everyone loves scones, so what better invention than a Hot Cross Scone?! This recipe combines the fruit and spice found in a hot cross bun with the crumbly texture of a scone, and the result is pretty special indeed.
The original recipe can be found on the Delicious website here, but it's also below with my notes and photographs as ever. I doubled up on the quantities as I don't trust that scone recipes ever actually make as many as they claim to, but annoyingly this one did exactly as it said on the tin and I ended up with 28 (plus a dodgy one). Oops.
The scones are only tiny - think afternoon tea sized and more manageable than normal - and with these quantities you should make 25-30.
Ingredients:
Hot cross buns are an Easter staple. Whether you're a diehard fan of the traditional fruity ones, or have been tempted off the straight and narrow by the likes of M&S's chocolate and fudge variety, they're always a firm favourite over the Easter period. I was going to try and find a recipe and give them a go this year - oddly I've never attempted them before - but as soon as I came across this corker on the Delicious Magazine website I changed my mind entirely.
Baking hybrids are everywhere at the moment: cronuts, duffins, cruffins... if it's possible to combine products then odds are a bakery somewhere in the world has tried it. Well, why not at Easter too? Everyone loves scones, so what better invention than a Hot Cross Scone?! This recipe combines the fruit and spice found in a hot cross bun with the crumbly texture of a scone, and the result is pretty special indeed.
The original recipe can be found on the Delicious website here, but it's also below with my notes and photographs as ever. I doubled up on the quantities as I don't trust that scone recipes ever actually make as many as they claim to, but annoyingly this one did exactly as it said on the tin and I ended up with 28 (plus a dodgy one). Oops.
The scones are only tiny - think afternoon tea sized and more manageable than normal - and with these quantities you should make 25-30.
Ingredients:
450g self-raising flour, plus extra for dusting
150g butter, softened
80g light muscovado sugar
150g small sultanas (I ended up using currants and although it still worked, I'd recommend sultanas instead)
100g cut mixed peel
1 tsp ground mixed spice
2 large eggs, beaten
6 tbsp buttermilk or 8 tbsp milk, plus extra for brushing
100g plain flour
4 tbsp caster sugar
Method:
Sift the self-raising flour into a large bowl and rub in the butter with your fingertips. I hate getting my hands messy so I used a freestanding electric mixer with a paddle attachment for the most part and finished off the last few lumps by hand.
Stir in the muscovado sugar, sultanas, peel and spice.
In a jug, beat together the egg, buttermilk/milk and a pinch of salt.
Pour into the flour mixture and bring together to make a soft dough. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and gently knead together into a ball.
Roll out the dough to no thinner than 2cm: the thicker the better, so ideally aim for 3-4cm. Using a 4cm cutter, stamp out the rounds – try not to twist the cutter, as this makes the scones rise unevenly. Re-roll the trimmings and stamp out more. I used a 5cm cutter as it was the smallest I had, and it worked fine.
Transfer to a baking tray lined with baking parchment.
Now make the crosses. Mix together the plain flour and 2-4 tablespoons of water, and knead to make a smooth dough. Roll out thinly and cut into strips - I aimed for roughly 0.3cm in width, but after measuring the first few rows did the rest by eye. Also, it may seem like an odd choice, but a pizza cutter was much better for cutting this dough than a knife as it ensured a clean line and didn't warp the shape of the crosses.
Put a cross on top of each scone.
Brush with milk, then bake for 15 minutes, until well risen and golden.
For the glaze, dissolve the sugar in 4 tablespoons of boiling water. As soon as they come out of the oven, brush the tops of the scones with the glaze.
Cool slightly on a wire rack.
The scones are best served while warm, or split and toast the next day with a smudge of butter. (I had the most compliments when toasted and smothered in butter.) Enjoy!
These are just bursting with flavour - sort of like a regular rich scones on steroids. They'd be perfect as a part of an Easter-themed afternoon tea, particularly because they're so dainty, yet they really pack a flavour punch.
The only criticism I've had is that the crosses are super crunchy, so I'm assuming I added too much flour when rolling out the dough, making it too stiff. In future I'll try to keep it wetter to touch and hope that they're not as tough when baked.
Smothered in butter and jam these make a lovely treat. They're a wonderful alternative to regular hot cross buns as they have all of the flavour without being so stodgy.
So, what do you think? Are you a fan of baking hybrids? I promise I'll try making cronuts one day soon... Do let me know what you make of these Hot Cross Scones and if you give them a go in the comments below!
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