Hot Cross Cruffins
Every second person on my feed has been baking away their isolation blues. I don’t eat a lot of bread, and my partner doesn’t like banana bread, so I wanted to find a recipe we could both enjoy. With Easter coming up I knew everyone would soon be baking hot cross buns - and I’ve made them before so I wanted to level up!
I’d never tried a laminated dough before but I was up for the challenge. Especially with a 4 day weekend and restrictions in place for social distancing - I has some time on my hands.
I came across With Spice’s recipe for Chai Spiced Breakfast Buns (Cruffins) and after reading through her process I figured it was a winner and definitely worth the challenge.
I adapted her recipe slightly for a hot cross bun flavour - adding cinnamon to the dough, changing the filling to a spiced raisin puree and topping with a pastry cream cross!
With Spice has an amazing visual guide and a comprehensive timeline overview so you can plan ahead. I simplified some of the overview to suit my way of working. But you can find your happy place somewhere between.
DAY 1 - make dough and butter block, chill in refrigerator
DAY 2 - laminate dough, make raisin spread, shape, refrigerate overnight. Make pastry cream
DAY 3 - Proof for 1 hr, bake, Make spiced sugar.
Butter Block
220g cold butter
Make the butter block
Pull the butter out of the refrigerator and let sit at room temperature for about 5 minutes.
Meanwhile, prepare a parchment paper packet to shape the butter block. Cut off a 15” x 18” piece of parchment paper and fold in half to 15” x 9”. Measure 4” from the top and bottom edge (or what were the long edges) and fold along the mark to make a 7” x 9” packet. Finally, measure 2” from the open edge and fold along the mark to make a 7” x 7” packet. Set aside while you prepare the butter.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter on low speed until it is soft, malleable and smooth (we’re not trying to beat air into it), 1- 2 minutes.
Unfold the parchment paper packet and scoop the butter onto one of the 7” x 7” squares. Fold the parchment back along the original creases to enclose the butter in the packet. Use your fingers or a rolling pin to smoosh the butter evenly into the packet so the corners and edges are filled and the butter is a perfect 7” x 7” square. Place in the refrigerator while you make the dough.
Brioche Dough
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
3 tbsp sugar
1 1/2 tsp kosher salt
1 tbsp instant yeast
2 tsp cinnamon
3 large eggs, beaten
1/4 cup milk, room temperature
143g, sliced into pieces, room temperature
Filling
125 ml water, boiled
125 ml raisins
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ground nutmeg
1 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp cardamom
1 tsp vanilla paste
Spiced Sugar
1 cup sugar
1 tbsp ground cinnamon
1 tbsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground cardamom
1 egg, beaten with 1 tsp water, for egg wash
Make the brioche dough
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook, add the dry ingredients and whisk by hand to briefly mix. Pour in the eggs, milk and butter and mix on low speed for about 1 minute until dry ingredients are moistened. Increase speed to medium and knead until the dough cleans up the bowl and is smooth and shiny, 20- 25 minutes.
Form the dough into a ball (it’ll be very soft), place it in a lightly greased bowl, cover and let rise for 1 hour. Refrigerate for several hours, or overnight, until well chilled.
Laminate the dough
Remove the butter block from the refrigerator to soften slightly. When it’s cold but malleable, begin to roll out the dough.
On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough out to a 7 1/2” x 14 1/2” rectangle then use a pastry brush to brush off any extra flour. Place the butter block on the left half of the dough, leaving a 1/2” border on the top, left side and bottom. Use your fingers to smoosh the butter to within 1/2” of the edges, if needed. Fold the right side of the dough over the butter block and firmly pinch the three edges to seal.
Lightly flour the surface, then rotate the dough so the folded edge is on the top of the rectangle, furthest away from you. Roll the dough out to an 8” x 16” rectangle so the long edges are parallel with the countertop edge.
Use a pastry brush to dust off flour from the surface, then fold the dough in thirds, starting with the right side. Dust flour off the surface of the folded right side, then fold the left side over top. Make sure all of the edges line up and the corners are directly on top of each other. This is one turn. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate the dough for 30 minutes.
Remove the dough from the refrigerator and place it on a lightly floured surface with the long folded edge furthest away from you. Repeat the rolling and folding to complete a second turn. Refrigerate for another 30 minutes, then repeat the third and final fold. Refrigerate dough for at least 1 hour.
Combine the boiling water and raisins. Set aside for 15 minutes to cool. Strain and blend until fine. Mix in spices and vanilla.
At this point, the dough can be refrigerated overnight or frozen for up to 3 months.
Shape and bake
Roll out the laminated dough to an 8” x 18” rectangle. Brush egg wash over the entire surface, then spread the raisin mixture over all but 1/2” along one long edge. Start with the long edge that’s covered with raisin mixture and roll up the dough into tight log. Let it rest on the seam to prevent it from unrolling.
Use a sharp knife to trim an inch off each end of the roll and discard. Then slice the roll into eight 2” pieces. Place the buns in a muffin pan, loosely cover and let proof 1- 1 1/2 hours, until very puffy but not double in size. Towards the end of the rising, preheat the oven to 200°C
Gently brush tops and exposed sides with egg wash and bake for 18- 20 minutes, or until golden brown and the internal temperature at the centre is 87°C
Let cool for a few minutes, then carefully remove from the pan and toss in reserved spiced sugar mixture. The warmer they are when you toss them, the better the sugar will stick (but don’t burn yourself!). Set aside on a rack to cool.
Vanilla Orange Blossom Pastry Cream
Recipe from The Busy Spatula (I halved it here - and there was plenty leftover!)
2 cups whole milk
1/2 cup granulated sugar, divided in half
1.5 egg yolks
1 large eggs
1/4 c. corn starch
1 pinch of salt
2 tbsp. unsalted butter
1 tsp. vanilla extract
¼ tsp. orange blossom water
In a large saucepan, bring milk and ½ c. sugar to a boil.
While the milk is heating, whisk egg yolks, eggs, ½ c. sugar, cornstarch and salt in a medium mixing bowl.
When the milk boils, slowly add milk to the egg mixture while whisking, one ladleful at a time.
Once half of the milk mixture is added, add the egg mixture back into the milk mixture.
Continuously whisk the mixture over medium heat until the cream thickens.
Once thickened, take the mixture off the heat and mix in the butter until completely incorporated.
Stir in the vanilla extract and orange blossom water.
Strain the mixture through a sieve and place a piece of plastic wrap directly on top of the pastry cream to prevent a skin from forming. Refrigerate until ready for use.
The last step is just to pipe some crosses onto the buns - you could also stick the nozzle inside and fill them up if you like too!
