Date & Chocolate Hot Cross Buns

Oops the post is a bit late isn't it! But it's never too late for hot cross buns.  It's never not a time for hot cross buns.

It's a beautiful day in Scotland today.  It honestly cannot get better than this.  I wish I could take a good enough photo to give it credit, but I cannot.  I kid you not, the view I'm getting looks photoshopped.  Everything is just so..high-definition and the colors so saturated. 

What a great way to celebrate the Easter weekend, guys. 

 So these are made with dates and chocolate, and in all honesty, ok, I need to confess something. I'd only had hot cross buns once before this and it wasn't very good, it must've been some standard supermarket ones, so I really shouldn't be making this if I don't know what good ones really taste like.  That said, my friends really enjoyed it.  I thought it could've used a bit more sugar, they're just lightly spiced rolls, great with jam in the morning.

The recipe is adapted from Jamie Oliver Magazine.


Recipe adapted from Jamie Oliver Magazine
Makes 12
Ingredients
80g sugar
7g dried yeast
450 bread flour
1 tsp allspice
1 tsp cinnamon 
90g dates, chopped
50g dark chocolate, chopped into small chunks
1 egg, beaten
50g butter
50g milk

Decoration
100g flour mixed with 50ml of water
3 tbsp  marmalade

Method
Mix 1 teaspoon of the sugar with the yeast and 150ml tepid water in a jug until frothy.

Sift the flour, 1 teaspoon of salt and the mixed spice into a large bowl, then add the dates, chocolate and the remaining sugar. Make a well in the middle and pour in the yeast mixture, then add the beaten egg, melted butter and 40ml warmed milk. Using a fork or wooden spoon, stir in a circular motion until you have a dough. Add a little more milk if the dough is too dry.

Place the dough on a clean surface dusted with flour and knead until it is smooth and glossy, about 5 minutes. Place the dough in a large mixing bowl and cover with a clean, damp tea towel. Leave in a warm place to prove until it has doubled in size, about 1 hour, then knock it back and knead again to its original size.

Divide the dough into 12 evenly sized pieces and shape into round buns. Place on a lightly greased baking tray, spaced well apart. Cover with a damp tea towel and leave to rise again until doubled in size, about 35–40 minutes.

Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 220C.   For the decoration, place the dough or shortcrust pastry on a clean surface dusted with flour and roll into a sausage about 1cm thick. Cut the sausage in half, and cut each half into 6 pieces. Roll out each piece again to make 2 thinner, 5mm strips of about 8cm long. You should have 24 strips in total. Brush the risen buns with the beaten egg and lay the dough strips on top in the shape of a cross. Brush with the beaten egg and bake for 15 minutes, or until golden.

Meanwhile for the glaze, place the marmalade in a pan over medium heat until syrupy. 

Brush the buns with the glaze and eat immediately, or cool and serve toasted.