Chocolate and Orange Hot Cross Buns

Does a recipe ever leap at you from the page?  This one certainly did!  Delicious Magazine, my absolute favourite and source of many hours of food pleasure, popped this fabulous little number onto Facebook.  Once seen, I had to try it!   And now I am sharing it, as there's just time to get the ingredients ready to make your own for Good Friday.

What I tested here, apart from their fabulous recipe, was the overnight rising technique.  I make the dough up to the first rise, then put it into the fridge overnight, rescuing it at a time of my choosing the following day.  You have to leave it to rise/warm up for about half an hour or so, then continue with the rest of the recipe.  It's great to be able to produce fresh hot bread or buns for breakfast!!!

Spiced Chocolate and Orange Hot Cross Buns

Spiced Chocolate and Orange Hot Cross Buns

14oz/400g strong plain flour (bread flour) – plus extra for the crosses

1oz/25g cocoa powder

1 tsp mixed spice

1 tsp salt

3oz/85g butter (they use unsalted)

2 x sachets dried yeast

4oz/100g caster sugar

1 beaten egg

6 floz/190ml milk

3oz/75g raisins

3oz/75g milk chocolate, chopped

Grated zest and juice of 1 orange

3oz/75g cut mixed peel  

Crosses:     3oz/75g flour, 1tbsp oil, 5 tbsp cold water

Glaze:         orange juice (as above) 2oz/50g caster sugar

Oven 190 deg C

If the raisins and peel are a bit hard, bring to the boil 2oz sugar and 1/4 pint water, add the dried fruit and simmer for a few minutes, then leave it to steep while you get the next part of the ingredients together.  Drain it before using.  

In a large mixing bowl, put 4oz (100g) of the flour, cocoa, mixed spice and walt.  Add the butter and rub it in until it looks like breadcrumbs.   Stir in the sugar and yeast.   Whisk together the egg and milk and pour it into the dried mixture.  Mix it quickly with a spoon to incorporate it.   This makes a very soft dough.   Turn onto a floured worktop and knead it until smooth (10 minutes).  Put back into the big bowl, cover with a cloth or greased cling film, and leave to rise until doubled in size – about 1 – 1 ½ hrs.     

At this point, you can put the dough into the fridge overnight, covered in cling film.  When you take it out, knead it gently, then continue, allowing longer than 30 minutes until the rolls have warmed up and risen.   

After that, turn the dough out again, add the raisins, chocolate, zest and peel and knead it again (about 2-3 minutes minimum).     

Cut the dough into 12 pieces, and shape into rolls.  Put them onto a floured baking sheet, cover with oiled clingfilm or a light cloth, then leave for another 30 minutes to prove.   

Score the tops of the buns with a serrated knife with a cross (I didn’t do this).   Mix together the flour, oil and water to a paste and pipe the crosses over the score marks.    Put the buns into the oven. 

In a small pan, mix the orange juice and sugar.  Boil for 2 minutes.  

Bake for about 15-20 minutes until well risen and firm to the touch (watch that they don’t go over-brown – always hard to tell with chocolate).    When you take them out, glaze the buns with the orange syrup mix.  For best results, do this twice, then leave them to cool…. if you can resist them for that long.