Hot Cross Buns! There is always great debate as to whether these Easter staples should be available in the stores year round. I personally love them showing up once a year (earlier and earlier, mind) as a little treat. I also love making them once a year, and having made a batch today, I can assure you they were the best yet. They were light and fluffy, rather than being quite dense and resembling a scone. I read up on it and discovered that the more you knead the dough, the fluffier your Hotties will be!
So here is what I did.

INGREDIENTS:

1 1/2 cups warm milk
2 teaspoons dried yeast
1 tablespoon caster sugar
60g melted butter
1 egg
4 cups of plain flour
2 tablespoons caster sugar
1 teaspoon salt
3 teaspoons mixed spice
1 cup sultanas
1/4 cup currants
1/4 cup mixed peel

METHOD:

Combine the warm milk (I heated in the microwave for one minute), yeast and 1 tablespoon of caster sugar in a jug and set it aside until the yeast starts to foam.
Once foamy add the 60g melted butter and 1 egg and whisk well to combine.
In a separate large mixing bowl add the flour (sift it in) and then pop the rest of the caster sugar, salt, mixed spice, sultanas, currants and mixed peel in. I also added a few extra shakes of cinnamon.
Make a well in the centre and add the yeast/milk mixture in and slowly combine it through.
Lightly flour a work bench and give the dough a really good knead. You will get great results doing it for 10-15 minutes. You want the dough to be smooth and elastic.
Place the dough in a large bowl and rest for 1 hour in a warm, draught free spot. I fill the kitchen sink with a little bit of warm water, place the bowl in (you don’t want any water getting in) and cover with a tea towel. This is pretty much the only thing I recall learning at school, and it’s brilliant!
Preheat the oven to 200 degrees celsius.
When the hour is up you will notice the dough has risen substantially. This is the fun part! Clench your fist and punch the dough until it deflates and returns to the original size.
Give the dough another knead for 2-3 minutes or until it looks the same size as before it was resting in the warm water.
Divide the dough up into 16 equal portions and roll them into balls.
Grease a 23cm cake tin (I used two smaller ones) and place the the dough balls side by side. Set aside in a warm draught free place for 30 minutes. They should rise a little bit. My trays wouldn’t fit in the sink, so I rested them over the sink and it worked.
To make the mixture for the cross, simply combine 1/2 cup of flour and 1/3 cup of water in a jug and combine to make a smooth paste. Then pour it into a sandwich bag and snip a tiny bit of the bottom corner off.
Once the dough is ready pipe a continuous line across the centre of each row and then up the other way in order to form a cross.
Bake for 10 minutes at 200 degrees and then reduce to 180 degrees for 20 minutes.
Once cooked, the buns should sound hollow if you tap on them. Place on a wire rack and let them cool.
In a small saucepan combine 1/3 cup of water with 2 tablespoons of caster sugar (I reduced this amount by around half) and allow it to boil for five minutes. Then with a pastry brush cover the tops of all your hot cross buns.
Grab a bun, slather in butter, consume!