By Emily Gray
Published 29/03/2021
This week our diets will be mainly consisting of chocolate and hot cross buns, which is why we're very excited that The Acai Girls have shared this recipe for chocolate orange hot cross buns with us. After all, with over a year of lockdown baking under our belts it's time to progress on from banana bread and sourdough...
If you want to try making them at home here's how:
Ingredients
For the Bun
- 500g White Bread Flour
- 45g Cocoa Powder
- 1/2 tsp Cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp Ground Ginger
- Pinch of Nutmeg
- Pinch of Salt
- 100g Caster Sugar
- 14g Instant Yeast
- 60g Dairy Free Butter
- 300ml Almond Milk
- 1 Large Egg (or 1 Flax Egg)
- Finely Grated Zest of 2 Large Oranges
- 125g Chocolate Chips/Terry's Chocolate Orange/ Bourneville Chocolate Orange
- 80g Candied Orange Peel
- 100g Currants
For the Cross
- 75g Flour
- 5 tbsp. Water
For the Glaze
- 2 tbsp. Golden Syrup
Method
- Put the flour, sugar, cocoa powder and spices into a large bowl and mix together. Then add the salt and yeast, placing them on opposite sides of the bowl. (Salt and yeast don’t like touching each other).
- Put the butter, milk and orange zest into a pan and gently heat until the butter has melted - leave to cool slightly.
- Add the cooled milk and the egg (or flax egg) to the dry ingredients and mix with a spoon, then use your hands to fully incorporate.
- Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for about 10 minutes until smooth and elastic. At first the dough will be very sticky, but the more you knead it, the smoother it will become.
- Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl and cover with cling film and set aside in a warm place to rise for an 1 hour, until it has doubled in size. Ensure the cling film isn’t touching the dough.
- After 1 hour, tip the dough out again onto a lightly floured surface and flatten out. Scatter over the dried fruit and chocolate chips and knead until they are well incorporated. Divide the dough into 12 equal pieces and shape each one into a ball.
- Place them slightly spaced apart on a deep baking tray, lined with parchment. Cover the baking tray with cling film and set aside to rise again for another hour. Ensure the cling film doesn’t touch the dough.
- After 1 hour the balls should have risen again, now preheat the oven to fan 200°C while you make the crosses.
- To make the crosses, mix 75g plain flour with about 5 tbsp. water to make the paste – add the water 1 tbsp. at a time, you are looking for a wallpaper paste consistency.
- Spoon the paste into a piping bag with a small nozzle. Pipe a line along each row of buns, then repeat in the other direction to create crosses.
- Bake the buns for 20 mins on the middle shelf of the oven.
- Once the buns are baked, remove them from the oven. Heat the golden syrup in a small pan for around 1 minute until it becomes very runny. While the buns are still warm, generously brush the buns with the syrup to create a glaze.
Image: @lateef.photography
