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Since he shot to fame after winning the first ever series of The Great British Bake Off, Edd Kimber has gone from foodie strength to foodie strength. Baker, food writer and TV personality, Edd set up the Instagram account @TheBoyWhoBakes, which has 258k followers at time of writing. He is the author of three cookbooks: The Boy Who Bakes (2011), Say It With Cake (2012) and Patisserie Made Simple (Oct 2014), and his latest book One Tin Bakes will be published June 25 2020. Here, the baker-extraordinaire gives us his recipe for perfectly sticky vegan hot cross buns.
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Vegan Hot Cross Buns Recipe
¡®Hot Cross Buns are a British classic, served only around Easter. When I was growing up, baking was a regular occurrence ¨C my first memory was standing on a stool in the kitchen helping my mum bake, I guess that¡¯s what set me on a path to make baking a career. Hot Cross Buns were a childhood favourite and I still look forward to their annual appearance. Whilst they are traditionally associated with the UK, they are popular across the Commonwealth and in the US. Traditions change with location, in the US I¡¯ve seen versions where the cross is made from custard, royal icing or even just with a dusting of icing sugar, in Australia I¡¯ve even heard of a coffee version. Traditionally, the dough is lightly enriched, made with butter and eggs, flavoured with a variety of spices and packed with dried fruit. This version stays pretty classic but I have made a couple changes to make them vegan. I use spelt flour because I love the flavour and texture it lends to the buns but you can use regular bread flour, just increase the kneading time to about 5-10 minutes.¡¯
INGREDIENTS
The buns
500g spelt flour (I used a mix of Doves Farm white and wholewheat spelt flours)
1 1/2 tsp fine sea salt
2 tsp mixed spice
1 tsp ground cinnamon
50g caster sugar
7g fast action dried yeast
300ml almond milk (other plant milks should also work fine)
65g vegan ¡®butter¡¯ block (I used stork block as it seems like the easiest to find in the UK)
150g dried fruit (you can use raisins and sultanas as is classic or you could use cranberries and pistachios for a nice twist)
Vegan Egg Wash
3 tbsp almond milk
1 tbsp maple syrup or brown sugar
The cross
3 tbsp spelt flour
3-4 tbsp almond milk
Apricot Glaze (optional)
2 tbsp smooth apricot jam
METHOD
To make the dough, place the flour, salt, spices, sugar and yeast into the bowl of a stand mixer and add in the milk and fat. With the dough shook attached, mix on low speed until a shaggy dough is formed. Now at this point it is worth noting the differences when using spelt flour: the flour has gluten but it breaks down a lot easier than regular wheat flour so don¡¯t be tempted to knead this for a long time, do it another 2-3 minutes on low speed just until the dough becomes smooth and looks a little elastic.
Tip the dough out onto the work surface and press into a flat disc. Add the cranberries and pistachios and lightly press them into the dough. Briefly knead the dough so the additions are evenly distributed. Add the dough to a lightly oiled bowl, cover and set aside to prove for about an hour or until doubled in size.
Tip the dough out onto the work surface and divide into 12 equal sized pieces. Roll each piece into a neat ball and place onto a parchment lined baking tray, in rows of three set a couple inches apart. Lightly cover the buns and set aside for about 45 minutes to an hour or until the buns have almost doubled in size. Whilst the buns proof preheat the oven to 190C (170C fan).
When the buns have risen, make the cross. Simply add the flour to a small bowl and mix in enough milk to form a thick but pipeable paste. Scrape the mixture into a piping bag. At this stage, you would normally add an egg wash, which you can do if keeping the buns vegan is not a concern, but if it is you have a couple options. The dough has sugar so the crust will naturally brown, so you can just leave it off. But if you want something that more closely resembles traditional buns, you can make a simple plant milk/syrup mixture. Take the almond milk and add the maple syrup or brown sugar and mix together to combine. Brush a thin layer onto the buns.
Cut off the end of the piping bag to make a small opening and pipe a cross onto each bun. Bake in the oven for about 25 minutes or until golden brown. Remove and allow to cool before serving. In a sealed container, these will keep for a couple days but they can also be frozen for up to a month.
For the optional glaze, place the jam and an equal amount of water in a small saucepan and bring to a boil until syrupy in consistency. Brush over the buns whilst still warm. The jam mixture will give the buns a wonderful shine and that characteristic sticky crust. Enjoy!
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