These spiced hot cross buns are a perfect sourdough recipe to use your discard with. Flavorful and tender, these buns are a great way to start your day.
325gmixed dried fruitI used raisins, prunes, cherries and cranberries but you use whatever combination you want
Zest of 1 orange and 1 lemonsave the orange for the glaze
200mlhot black tea
1large egg
50gramsmelted butter
50gramsgranulated sugar
1.5teaspoonsalt
Cross topping:
¼cupall purpose flour
2Tablespoonwater
Glaze:
3Tablespoonsboiling water
3Tablespoonsgranulated sugar
1teaspoonorange juice
Instructions
The night before, mix the levain: In a large bowl, mix together the ale, starter, spices and 250 g of the flour. In a medium bowl mix together the dried fruit and the hot black tea. Cover both bowls and allow them to sit on the counter overnight. The next day, mix the dough: Mixing the dough: In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the plumped up fruit (discard the tea), the egg and melted butter together. Stir in the spiced beer levain. Mix in the flour, sugar, and salt just until combined and allow to rest for 10 minutes. Bulk Proof + Stretch and Fold: Remember the dough will be sticky, and that’s ok! Use wet hands or hands that are lightly oiled in vegetable oil to stretch and fold the dough. Do not add extra flour or that will create buns that are hard as a rock. Stretch and fold the dough. Cover the bowl with a tea towel and let it rest for 30 minutes. Stretch and fold the dough, recover, and let it rest for another 30 minutes. Stretch and fold the dough, recover, and let it rest for an hour. Stretch and fold the dough, recover, and let it rest for 2 hours. *Recipe Note: These hot cross buns don’t have an overly sour sourdough flavor. If you want a more pronounced sourdough flavor, you can do a cold retardation of the dough here. Place the dough in the fridge for 12-18 hours, covered with plastic wrap. Let it come back to room temperature before moving on to the next step. Shaping of the dough: Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Lightly dust your counter with flour. Weight out 100 gram balls of dough (you should get 20), roll them into balls and place the prepared baking sheet so they are almost touching. Final Proofing: Cover the baking sheet with a tea towel and allow it to sit at room temperature for 3-4 hours. *Recipe Note: You can, at this point, refrigerate the dough and bake the buns the next day. Make sure to bring the rolls back up to almost room temperature before baking. Don’t let the buns get fully proofed before you stick them in the fridge or they could overproof. Baking: Preheat the oven to 350F. When the oven has preheated, make the paste for the crosses. In a small bowl whisk together the flour and water to form a paste. The paste should have no clumps and be a thick paste. Place the paste into a zip-top bag and snip off one corner. Pipe crosses onto the tops of the buns by tracing lines down the center of each row of buns first vertically and then horizontally. Bake for 30 minutes, or until golden brown, rotating the pan halfway through baking. While the buns are still hot, mix together the boiling water and sugar for the glaze (and orange blossom water, if you want), and brush over the top. This will help the buns stay soft and look shiny. Allow to cool for 20 minutes at least, then Enjoy!
Notes
The night before, mix the levain: In a large bowl, mix together the ale, starter, spices and 250 g of the flour. In a medium bowl mix together the dried fruit and the hot black tea. Cover both bowls and allow them to sit on the counter overnight.The next day, mix the dough: Drain the tea from the dried fruit. Discard the tea and save the fruit. In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the plumped up fruit, the egg and melted butter together. Stir in the spiced beer levain. Mix in the flour, sugar, and salt just until combined and allow to rest for 10 minutes.Bulk Proof + Stretch and Fold: Remember the dough will be sticky, and that’s ok! Use wet hands or hands that are lightly oiled in vegetable oil to stretch and fold the dough. Do not add extra flour or that will create buns that are hard as a rock. Stretch and fold the dough. Keeping the dough in the bowl, grab one edge and pull it upwards and then fold it over towards the center of the bowl. Rotate the bowl 90 degrees and do another stretch and fold. Continue stretching, folding, and rotating twice more, until you have done a complete circle around the bowl. Cover the bowl with a tea towel and let it rest for 30 minutes. Stretch and fold the dough again, recover, and let it rest for another 30 minutes. Stretch and fold the dough again, recover, and let it rest for an hour. Stretch and fold the dough again, recover, and let it rest for 2 hours. When this is over, the dough should have more shape and elasticity. *Recipe Note: These hot cross buns don’t have an overly sour sourdough flavor. If you want a more pronounced sourdough flavor, you can do a cold retardation of the dough here. Place the dough in the fridge for 12-18 hours, covered with plastic wrap. Let it come back to room temperature before moving on to the next step.Shaping of the dough: Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Lightly dust your counter with flour. Weight out 100 gram balls of dough (you should get 20), roll them into balls, tucking edges underneath so you have a nice smooth surface on the top. Place the prepared baking sheet so they are almost touching.Final Proofing: Cover the baking sheet with a tea towel and allow it to sit at room temperature for 3-4 hours to proof. They should almost double in size and spring back when you gently poke the dough with a finger. *Recipe Note: You can, at this point, refrigerate the dough and bake the buns the next day. Make sure to bring the rolls back up to almost room temperature before baking. Don’t let the buns get fully proofed before you stick them in the fridge or they could be overproofed. Baking: Preheat the oven to 350F. When the oven has preheated, make the paste for the crosses. In a small bowl whisk together the flour and water to form a paste. The paste should have no clumps and be a thick paste. Place the paste into a zip-top bag and snip off one corner. Pipe crosses onto the tops of the buns by tracing lines down the center of each row of buns first vertically and then horizontally. Bake for 30 minutes, or until golden brown, rotating the pan halfway through baking. While the buns are still hot, mix together the boiling water, sugar, and orange juice for the glaze. Use a pastry brush to brush over the tops of all the buns.This will help the buns stay soft and look shiny. Allow to cool for 20 minutes at least, then Enjoy!