RECIPE |Get ‘em while they’re hot – hot cross buns

At Emanuel’s Bakery, tradition is everything. The 60-year-old bakery has produced traditionally baked bread using methods passed on from generation to generation.

Mark Mangion has taken over the sweet department and making traditional Lenten sweets like hot cross buns and kwarezimal.

Mark’s day starts at the crack of dawn, with production starting at 5am to have soft and shiny hot cross buns ready for sale by 9:30am.

“The process takes around four hours to complete as you need to allow the hot cross buns time to prove. However the rest of the process is relatively simple,” he says.

Hot cross buns

Makes 20

Ingredients

• 50g sugar
• 337ml milk
• 540g flour
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 54g butter
• 1 eggs
• 100g sultanas
• 1 pkt yeast

For the crosses

• 75g plain flour

For the glaze

• 3 tbsp apricot jam

Method

1. Bring the milk to the boil, then remove from the heat and add the butter.
2. Leave to cool until tepid.
3. Put the flour, salt, sugar and yeast into a bowl. Make a well in the centre. Pour in the warm milk and butter mixture, then add the egg.
4. Using a wooden spoon, mix well, then bring everything together with your hands until you have a sticky dough.
5. Tip on to a lightly floured surface and knead by holding the dough with one hand and stretching it with the heel of the other hand, then folding it back on itself.
6. Repeat for 5 mins until smooth and elastic.
7. Put the dough in a lightly oiled bowl. Cover with oiled cling film and leave to rise in a warm place for 1 hr or until doubled in size.
8. Add the sultanas and spices and knead to make sure everything is distributed.
9. Leave to rise for 1 more hour until doubled in size.
10. Divide the dough into 20 even pieces.
11. Roll each piece into a smooth ball on a lightly floured work surface. Arrange the buns on one or two baking trays lined with parchment, leaving enough space for the dough to expand. Cover (but don’t wrap) with oiled cling film, or a clean tea towel, then set aside to prove for 1 hr more.
12. Heat oven to 220°C.
13. To make the crosses, mix the flour with about 5 tbsp water adding the water 1 tbsp at a time.
14. Spoon into a piping bag with a small nozzle. Pipe a line along each row of buns, then repeat in the other direction to create crosses.
15. Bake for 20 mins on the middle shelf of the oven, until golden brown.
16. Gently heat the apricot jam to melt, then sieve to get rid of any chunks. While the jam is still warm, brush over the top of the warm buns and leave to cool.

Emanuel’s Bakery is open from 3:30pm until 10pm for bread and from 6:00pm until closing for pizzas.

Emanuel’s Bakery

Triq il-Mithna

Qormi

Tel: 21482239

Recipe originally appeared in Gourmet Today.