Hot Cross Buns

We love making batches of hot cross buns to give away—especially since, legend has it, sharing a hot cross bun with a friend guarantees a year of good friendship.

MAKES: 12 buns

PREP TIME: 30 minutes

RISING TIME: 1 ½ to 2 hours

COOKING TIME: about 30 minutes

SETTING TIME: 40 minutes

INGREDIENTS:

BUNS:

• ¾ cup warm whole milk (about 110ºF)
• 4 tsp active dry yeast
• 3 large eggs
• ½ cup vegetable oil
• ⅓ cup granulated sugar
• Finely grated zest of 1 lemon
• ¾ tsp fine sea salt
• ½ tsp ground cinnamon
• ¼ tsp freshly grated nutmeg
• ¼ tsp ground cloves
• 3 to 3 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
• ⅓ cup currants
• ¼ cup finely chopped crystallized ginger or candied orange peel

GLAZE:

• ½ cup granulated sugar
• 3 Tbsp water
• 3 Tbsp water
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

FROSTING:

• ¾ cup icing sugar, sifted
• 1 Tbsp milk or cream

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. For the buns, mix together the warm milk and yeast in a large bowl. Let stand until puffy, about 5 minutes.
2. Whisk in the eggs, oil, sugar, lemon zest, salt and spices until well combined.
3. Gradually add the flour, 1 cup at a time, stirring well after each addition. Use only as much flour as is necessary to form a dough that pulls away from the sides of the bowl.
4. Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured work surface and knead well until the dough is smooth, 5 to 10 minutes. Knead in the currants and crystallized ginger.
5. Place the dough in a lightly oiled large bowl, turning the dough to coat it evenly with oil. Cover the bowl with a damp towel, or loosely with plastic wrap. Let stand in a warm place until the dough has doubled in size, 45 to 60 minutes.
6. On a lightly floured work surface, punch down the dough to remove the air. Divide it into 12 even-sized pieces and shape each piece into a ball.
7. Grease a 13-x 9-inch baking pan. Place the balls of dough, in a single layer, in the pan. Cover the pan with a damp towel, or loosely with plastic wrap. Let stand in a warm place until doubled in size, 45 to 60 minutes.
8. When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350ºF.
9. Bake the buns until browned on the top, 25 to 30 minutes. Put the pan on a wire rack and set aside while you make the glaze.
10. For the glaze, combine the sugar, water and vanilla extract in a small saucepan. Bring to a simmer over medium heat, stirring just until the sugar has dissolved. Remove the saucepan from the heat.
11. Brush the glaze generously over the tops of the warm buns, using up all of the glaze. Let the buns cool completely in the pan on a wire rack.
12. For the frosting, whisk together the icing sugar and milk until thick and creamy. Spoon the frosting into a piping bag (see sidebar) and pipe a cross on top of each bun. Let the frosting set before removing the buns from the pan. If well wrapped, the buns will keep fresh for up to 24 hours at room temperature.

TOOL KIT:

• If you don’t have a piping bag, spoon the frosting into a large freezer bag. Snip off one of the corners and squeeze gently to pipe the frosting.