Jamie Magazine
By Georgina Hayden
Chocolate cherry hot cross buns
1 hr plus proving time
Not Too Tricky
makes 12
About the recipe
Milk chocolate, cherries, kirsch – what’s not to love?
Recipe From
Ingredients
100g sour cherries
3 tablespoons kirsch or fresh orange juice
250ml milk
50g unsalted butter, plus extra for greasing
1 large free-range egg
2 tablespoons cherry compôte or jam
500g strong bread flour, plus extra for dusting
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 heaped tablespoons cocoa powder
2 x 7g sachets of dry yeast
75g quality milk chocolate chips
75g caster sugar, plus extra for glaze
50g plain flour
3 tablespoons runny honey
Method
Milk chocolate, cherries, kirsch – what’s not to love?
- The night before you want to make your buns, soak the sour cherries in the kirsch or orange juice.
- The next day, warm the milk and butter in a pan over a medium heat until the butter has melted. Take it off the heat and cool slightly, then whisk in the egg and compôte. Set aside.
- Drain the cherries (discarding the soaking liquid) and put them in a bowl with the strong bread flour, cinnamon, cocoa powder, yeast, chocolate chips and caster sugar, along with 1 teaspoon of fine salt. Mix well.
- Make a well in the centre and pour in the milk mix. Stir it together with a fork until it forms a smooth dough.
- Dust your work surface with flour, turn out the dough and knead for 10 minutes, or until it’s smooth and elastic.
- Lightly butter a clean bowl and pop in the dough. Cover with greased cling film and leave in a warm place for about 1 hour, until it’s doubled in size.
- Grease 2 baking trays and line them with baking paper. Tip out the dough onto a floured surface, and knock it back by kneading for 2 more minutes.
- Cut the dough in half and, using your hands, roll both into sausages. Slice each into 6 even-sized pieces (12 in total), then roll into balls and place on the baking trays.
- Cover with greased clingfilm and prove again in a warm place for 45 minutes, or until doubled in size.
- Preheat the oven to 190ºC/gas 5.
- In a bowl, mix the plain flour with water (about 5 tablespoons) until it’s a thick consistency. Put it into a piping bag (or sandwich bag with the corner snipped off) and pipe a cross on each bun.
- Place in the oven and bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until golden. When they’re done, remove from the oven and cool on a wire rack.
- While the buns are baking, make the glaze. Put the honey and 1 tablespoon of caster sugar in a pan and warm on a low heat for 5 minutes until the sugar has dissolved.
- Brush on top of the buns a few times to build up a lovely sticky glaze. Leave to cool and serve.
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