Chocolate Orange Hot Cross Buns
Soft, yeast raised Easter bread flavoured with cocoa powder, spices, orange, chocolate chips and candied peel.
Servings 15 buns
Ingredients
Buns:
- 500 g (4 cups) white bread flour
- 45 g (½ cup) cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon mixed spice (pumpkin/apple pie spice)
- 10 g (1 ½ teaspoons) table salt
- 100 g (½ cup) caster or granulated sugar
- 12 g (4 teaspoons) fast action (instant) yeast
- 280 g (⅔ + ½ cup) unsweetened non-dairy milk (I use soy)
- finely grated zest of 2 large oranges
- 80 g (⅓ cup) orange juice
- 70 g (5 Tablespoons) vegan block butter softened
- 150 g (¾ cup) chocolate chips
- 150 g (1 cup) mixed dried fruit (I used a mix of raisins, sultanas, currants and candied peel)
Crosses:
- 3 heaped Tablespoons plain (all-purpose) flour
- 5 Tablespoons cold water
Glaze:
- 2 heaped Tablespoons marmalade
Instructions
- Place the bread flour in a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook and add the cocoa powder, mixed spice, salt and sugar to one side and the yeast to the other. Mix it all together.500 g (4 cups) white bread flour, 45 g (½ cup) cocoa powder, 1 teaspoon mixed spice (pumpkin/apple pie spice), 10 g (1 ½ teaspoons) table salt, 100 g (½ cup) caster or granulated sugar, 12 g (4 teaspoons) fast action (instant) yeast
- Add the milk, orange zest and juice to the dry ingredients and stir until it forms a rough dough.280 g (⅔ + ½ cup) unsweetened non-dairy milk (I use soy), finely grated zest of 2 large oranges, 80 g (⅓ cup) orange juice
- Knead the dough on medium speed for about 6-7 minutes until smooth and elastic. Alternatively turn it out onto an un-floured surface and knead for about 10 minutes by hand until smooth and elastic. The dough should be quite firm but sticky to the touch.
- Knead in the butter a little at a time. The dough will become quite soft and sticky, keep kneading until it is smooth (it will still be very sticky). If you are kneading by hand use a bench scraper to scrape the dough off the work surface and shape it into a ball.70 g (5 Tablespoons) vegan block butter
- Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl and cover with clingfilm. Set aside to rise in a warm place until doubled in size, about 2-3 hours.
- Flatten the risen dough out into a rectangle and scatter over the dried fruit and chocolate chips; roll the dough up to enclose the filling then knead briefly until they are well distributed. Line a 23 x 33 cm/9 x 13 in tin with baking paper.150 g (¾ cup) chocolate chips, 150 g (1 cup) mixed dried fruit (I used a mix of raisins, sultanas, currants and candied peel)
- Divide the dough into 15 equal pieces and shape each one into a ball by going round the piece of dough stretching the edges up and over the centre, keep going until you have a neat ball then pinch the edges together to seal them. Try and make sure that the dried fruit is inside the dough, not on the surface as it can burn in the oven. Flip the ball over so that it is seam side down, cup it with your hands on either side and roll it until it is smooth; you are trying to create surface tension but don't go so far that the surface tears.
- Place them slightly spaced apart in rows in the lined tin. Loosley cover with oiled clingfilm and set aside to rise until puffy, about 1-2 hours.
- Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 200°C/180℃ fan/400°F/gas mark 6. To make the crosses, place the flour in a bowl and slowly whisk in enough water to form a thick, pipe-able consistency; you are looking for something with a similar consistency to wallpaper paste. Place the paste in a disposable piping bag and snip off the very tip (or put it in a piping bag fitted with a small round nozzle).3 heaped Tablespoons plain (all-purpose) flour, 5 Tablespoons cold water
- Pipe a cross on the top of each risen bun then bake them for about 25 minutes. They should be well risen and browned; if you have a probe thermometer then the internal temperature should reach at least 94°C/201°F.
- While the buns are baking prepare the glaze. Place the marmalade and a splash of water in a small pan; heat while stirring until the marmalade is melted. Press the warm marmalade through a fine mesh sieve to remove the peel. Add a splash of boiling water as needed to make a brushable glaze consistency.2 heaped Tablespoons marmalade
- Once the buns are baked, remove them from the oven and brush the tops liberally with the glaze. Allow to cool for at least half an hour before serving.
Notes
- See post above for tips, details and step-by-step photos.
- For the best results make sure that you follow the recipe closely. As always, I highly recommend using the gram measurements (with a digital scale), rather than the cup conversions. Cup measurements are simply not accurate enough for baking and I cannot guarantee the best results if you use them.
- If you have a stand mixer with a dough hook I would really recommend using it for this recipe. The dough is quite sticky and it’s much easier to work with in a mixer.
- The best way to tell if bread is baked properly is to check the internal temperature with a probe thermometer. It should reach at least 94°C/201°F.
- The hot cross buns are best eaten on the day they are baked but they will keep in an airtight container for a couple of days in which case they are best served toasted.