Hot Cross Buns

Measure out ingredients to make the buns and leave out on the bench top to come to room temperature.

Attach dough hook onto your stand mixer and add the dough ingredients in this order:

Cream

Milk

Egg

Sugar

Cake Flour

Ground Cinnamon

Bread Flour

Yeast

Salt

Turn on your stand mixer and mix on low for 12mins.

Now add in the dried cranberries and mix for another 5mins

Lightly dust the benchtop with bread flour.

Remove the dough from the stand mixer onto your prepared bench and quickly knead with your hands to form a ball. Place this ball of dough (seam side down) into a large lightly oiled bowl.

Cover with cling film and leave in a warm and dark spot to prove for about 1 hour.

Line the bottom of a 29ccm round baking tin with baking paper. Place a small ramekin or heat proof bowl in the centre of the tin.

Weight your dough then divide into 25 evenly weighted pieces of dough (you can divide into 26 if you want the middle hole filled with a bun as well). Cover the pieces of dough with a clean tea towel or cling film while you shape them.

Shape each piece of dough into round balls and place evenly around the baking tin. You should aim for two concentric circles of dough spaced evenly around your ramekin:

9 balls in the inner circle

16 balls in the outer circle

Cover with cling film and leave to prove for another hour (leave the ramekin in the centre of the baking tin. It should stay there until you finish eating all your hot cross buns).

Preheat fan-forced oven to 175C.

Make the Butterscotch Sauce

In a small pot, add cream, sugar and butter. Heat on medium heat until sugar dissolves.

Allow the sauce to simmer for a few minutes before turning off the heat.

Add the vanilla and pinch of salt.

Prepare to Bake

Mix the flour and water together in a small bowl until well combined and you have formed a loose paste.

Transfer to a piping bag/zip lock bag.

Pipe a cross onto each bun.

Bake at 175C for 28 mins or until buns are golden and sound hollow when tapped.

Finishing Touches

Once the buns come out of the oven, give them a shiny glaze by brushing the tops with warm butterscotch sauce.

Pour the remaining warm butterscotch sauce into the ramekin which is in the middle of your baking dish.

Serve warm.