After seeing lots of new variations of the traditional hot cross bun hit the market this year, The Postal Pantry Co. thought they’d have a go creating their own flavour combination. A rich cocoa bun with a melt in the middle centre, sweet glacé cherry chunks and raisins, glazed with honey and spread with a little salty butter. Heaven.
You will need a 25cm x 35cm baking tray lined with parchment paper. In total the time to make these is 3 hours, including all the proving time. This recipe makes 9 generous size buns.
All ingredients (apart from Semi-Skimmed Milk) can be found on their website.
Ingredients
- 50 g Salted Butter
- 50 g Golden Caster Sugar
- 2 tsp Mixed Spice
- 200 ml Semi-Skimmed Milk
- 1 large Free Range Egg
- 400 g Strong White Bread Flour
- 50 g Cocoa Powder
- 7 g sachet of Dried Yeast
- 150 g Dark Cooking Chocolate
- 80 g Raisins
- 75 g Glacé Cherries
- 3 tbsp Runny Honey
Instructions
- Place the butter, sugar and mixed spice in a pan over a low heat and warm gently until melted, stirring occasionally.
- Remove from the heat, pour in the milk. Crack in the egg and whisk to combine.
- Sprinkle the yeast over the wet ingredients and leave to sit for 5 minutes.
- Sift the flour and cocoa powder into a large bowl. Make a well in the middle, then gradually pour in the milk mixture, stirring until a rough dough forms.
- Knead on a flour-dusted surface until smooth and springy (about 5-7 minutes). Transfer to a flour-dusted bowl, cover with a clean damp tea towel and prove until doubled in size. In a warm place this should take approximately 1 hour 30 minutes.
- Chop half the chocolate into 9 equal-sized pieces and put aside, then finely chop the remaining chocolate into tiny chips.
- When the dough is ready, transfer to a clean surface and use your fist to knock out the air. Roughly stretch and flatten out the dough, sprinkle over the chocolate chips, cherry chunks and raisins, then knead for a few minutes until smooth again, pushing any chocolate or fruit that escapes back into the dough.
- Preheat the oven to 180ºC/350ºF/gas 4.
- Divide the dough into 12 equal pieces. Flatten one piece slightly, push a piece of chocolate into the middle. Fold the dough back over the chocolate to trap it inside, then shape the dough into a neat ball and place on the prepared tray. Repeat with the remaining dough, leaving a small gap between each bun. Cover and leave to prove in a warm place for around 45 minutes, or until doubled in size.
- Mix 2 tablespoons of flour with enough water to give you a thick batter consistency, then transfer to a reusable piping bag. Pipe thin crosses across the top of the buns.
- Bake for 25 minutes, or until golden, then transfer to a cooling rack. Whilst the buns are still warm brush the honey over the buns to glaze.
- Serve straight out of the oven with a layer of salted butter, or toasted the next day.